Qualcomm Snapdragon Glance lock screen app for Android released on Play Store

Qualcomm, a popular mobile chip maker, has released a lock screen app for Snapdragon-powered Android smartphones, dubbed Snapdragon Glance Beta.

As the beta suffix suggests, the Snapdragon Glance app is not yet fully developed. as a beta version. Snapdragon Glance is essentially a lock-screen application that enables users to access a number of features in a quick and speedy manner directly from the lock screen. It is already available to download from the Google Play store, and only supports devices running Android 4.3 and above.

The Snapdragon Glance Beta will show users important data like appointments, weather forecasts, contacts and shortcut app launch icons on the lock-screen itself. The customized lock screen appears by itself once downloaded from the app market. To recover the original home screen, users can simply tap the 'Home' button or the 'Back' button.

Snapdragon Glance Beta requires another app by Qualcomm to run, the Snapdragon BatteryGuru app. "Snapdragon Glance uses information learnt by the Snapdragon BatteryGuru app to understand your behaviour, allowing it to suggest relevant apps and contacts," states the app page. This also means that the app will work only with Snapdragon-powered smartphones, as the BatteryGuru app has the requirement. The Snapdragon BatteryGuru can be downloaded from here.

At the CES 2014 event held last month, the firm said that it will focus more towards car-connectivity and tablets. The firm is betting big on future tablets with robust operating systems manufactured by leading tech firms like Nokia, Sony, Samsung and LG.

Alongside its rival, Nvidia, Qualcomm joined hands with the big wigs of automobile industry in the Open Automobile Alliance. It further hopes to bring its expertise in the automobile industry through its Snapdragon 602a chip, which was recently announced.