Microsoft has quietly purchased Double Labs, the developer of popular Android app Echo Notification Lockscreen, which enables users to personalise what appears on their phone or tablet while its locked.

The app will be the second Android lockscreen replacement Microsoft owns, having launched the popular Microsoft Next lockscreen for Android last year. The app was developed by the companys research division, Microsoft Garage, and aims to provide users with enough information and controls to prevent needless unlocking of their phones.

According to Julie Larson-Green, Chief Experience Officer at Microsoft, the purchase of the second Android lockscreen app isnt redundant, but rather about enabling users to take “productivity to the next level” and moving away from default lockscreens that simply list app alerts in sequence.

“Its a list of what apps want you to know, not necessarily whats important to you,” said Larson-Green, speaking to Business Insider, who first reported the acquisition.

Microsoft appear to be using Android, which has a much larger user base, as a test site for features that may be rolled out to its own products, and that includes how notifications are managed.

Features that are added to the Next and Echo lockscreens may well appear further down the line on Windows 10, Microsoft Office products or anywhere else in Microsofts extensive ecosystem.

As Microsoft focuses increasingly on enterprise users and productivity software, shipping well-tested and user-friendly applications becomes more important, so having Android to run experiments in makes a lot of sense.

Analysts and developers who are keen to see what Microsoft has planned for contextual information and notifications in the future would be well advised to keep an eye on both Echo and Next over the coming months.