Google has done a really great job creating a great stock experience compared to where the OS was just a few years ago. One of the coolest features about Android is the fact that you can customize just about every part of the system regardless. LockR for Android is an incredibly comprehensive lockscreen app that gives you total control.

The first thing you want to do when you install any lockscreen is disable the native one. A lot of the previous lockscreen apps I’ve reviewed previously have omitted a lot of key features that wouldn’t really make me comfortable doing that. Fortunately, the guys over at Datastream Technologies SA have thought of just about everything. So every security feature you’re used to having on your stock lockscreen can be done here as well.

When you first unlock your phone you’ll be met with the new lockscreen, and to be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of the way it looked. You can customize a lot of the colors and background images, but the design footprint still remains largely the same and I just found it to be ugly. It was something I’d expect to have been introduced when Android was using the Holo design theme.

Part of the issue is that there is perhaps too much information on the screen. Right off the bat you’ve got the time, date, temperature, location, weather and forecast, phone calls, and emails. That’s all inside just the top third of the screen. Underneath that you have your notifications and you can swipe left and right to have widgets. It’s almost like it wants to totally replace your homescreen.

What I didn’t like about the notifications were the quirky gestures that never worked. I couldn’t simply tap a text message, it wanted me to tap, hold, and swipe left or right. Unfortunately, all that did was try and switch to my other widget I had set up.

It also changes the way you receive notifications which is a little annoying. Rather than having everything just kind of read out in your notification bar it throws a card up on top of whatever you’re doing. So if you happen to be uploading, say, 25 pictures then you’ll get 25 annoying notifications and you have to swipe them all away individually.

LockR is an incredible lockscreen that offers more functionality than most people are probably looking for in an app like this. Unfortunately, the menu system isn’t very intuitive and the design language feels outdated.