An application miming in the foreground of the mobile device is run in the background when the mobile device enters a screen locked state. A display may be activated while the mobile device remains in the screen locked state, and an image is rendered over a lock screen of the mobile device, where the image providing a glimpse into the application running in the background while the mobile device remains in the screen locked state. The image displayed over the lock screen is iteratively updated to provide a continuous glimpse into the application running in the background of the mobile device that is in the screen locked state, without having to unlock the mobile device.