Copyright © 2022, Quiller Media, Inc.
AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content.
Customizable Lock Screens arrive on iPhone as part of iOS 16. We go hands-on with the new feature to test out how it works, what it can do, and what options Apple has included for us.
With each major iOS update, Apple includes hundreds of changes across the system. Some are minor and unnoticable, yet others can change how we interact with our devices. The new Lock Screen experience is more of the latter.
The iPhone's new Lock Screen experience was clearly inspired by the Apple Watch. Just as you long hold on an Apple Watch face to get into the editor, you can now long-press on your iPhone's Lock Screen to get into the new editing interface.
When you long-press on the Lock Screen, it sinks away, allowing you to swipe left or right to switch to a different face. It's simple to alternate between different Lock Screen designs throughout the day.
For more ambitious users, you can use Shortcuts to automate the change of your Lock Screen based on location or time of day.
By heading into the editing interface outlined above you can add a new Lock Screen to your device.
When you create a new Lock Screen, you'll be ushered to a new gallery where you can create your perfect design.
Once again inspired by watchOS, Apple's Lock Screen editing interface has plenty of options for designs and widgets. There's a row of inspiration, pulling from different design elements to give you a jumping-off point for your own Lock Screen.
When starting from scratch, you can choose from a variety of different backdrops. You can use your own images, colorful gradients, dynamic moving bubbles, or all-new backgrounds with unique animations.
Some will allow parts of the image to subtly overlap with the numbers of the posted time. It looks great with your personal photos where it's can detect people and place them just a bit over the time for a great depth effect.
The astrology background is particularly nice. As demoed on stage at WWDC, this features various images of earth or the moon. As you swipe up to unlock your phone, the planet or moon will animate away and towards the bottom of your Home Screen. It looks amazing.
Weather is also cool and will adjust your Lock Screen based on the current weather at your location. This differs from the ability to set the weather as a widget on your Lock Screen.
Once you've chosen your background, you can customize other aspects of the Lock Screen. The typeface and color of the time can be changed to various options, as can the date stamp just above the time.
There's a widget field just below the time and a narrow box above the time. During the beta phase, only apps from Apple have widgets but developers will be able to add their own widgets once it is fully released.
Apple widgets include News, Home, batteries, clock, Fitness, Reminders, Stocks, and Weather. Some have multiple widgets in different sizes — like Weather that can show the forecast or the temperature — while others are limited to a sole, single-sized widget.
One of our favorite features of the new iOS 16 Lock Screen is the ability to tie Focus modes to different screens. As an example, we set our dark Astrology Lock Screen with our battery widget and fitness widget to toggle on the Sleep focus.
Whenever we swipe to that screen, Sleep focus is enabled as we turn in for the night. If we need to wake up our phone, it has the info we need and isn't harsh on our eyes. Other uses could be setting a Lock Screen for while at work or while on a walk.
To tie a Lock Screen to a Focus mode:
At the moment, iOS 16 is currently in developer beta. A public beta is set to be released in July before a full release this fall. Stay tuned to AppleInsider as we walk through more features for Apple's upcoming software updates.
I noticed that mistake right away as well. Astronomy is the science that studies space and the phenomena it includes. Astrology is the wackadoodle belief that gas balls in space, otherwise known as stars, control our lives.
The question is was it AI or Apple that used Astrology for the name.
It's like getting a whole new iPhone for free! Isn't that the quote Steve Jobs use to say when a Mac OS update would come out? :) But in all seriousness, I am looking forward to this update!
WWDC is both exciting and nerve-wracking for developers as Apple adds new products that are great — but directly compete with them. Here are the announcements this year that will affect third parties.
Apple shared big updates coming to CarPlay at WWDC 2022. If the "Apple Car" is real we just got a sneak peek of its dashboard.
Apple has released an AirPods beta software update aimed at bug fixes, and improvements to Automatic Switching.
Dell's UltraSharp 32 4K Video Conferencing Monitor costs as much as Apple's Studio Display, but while it doesn't have the 5K resolution of its Apple rival, it makes up the shortfall with webcam benefits and other features.
The number of HomeKit-enabled locks continues to grow. To find out which is best, we put several of them to test to come up with our recommendations for your smart home.
Apple recently started selling officially refurbished models of the Apple Watch Series 7. Here is how they differ from retail versions and whether they are worth the savings.
Spotify and Apple Music are the heavyweights of the music streaming industry, but which is better isn't clear-cut.
Amazon has updated its Fire 7 tablet for 2022 to make it faster and boost battery life, but it's unlikely to draw many potential buyers away from Apple's standard 10.2-inch iPad or the iPad mini, except for the highly cost-conscious.
Hands on: Everything new with CarPlay in iOS 16
Everything Apple Sherlocked in macOS Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16
Everything the rumor mill got right — and wrong — about the M2 MacBook Air
Apple TV+ and Nike strike deal to develop series of sports films
In stock: Save $150 on Apple's M1 Max MacBook Pro 16-inch with 32GB RAM, plus $80 off AC
Tim Cook voices support for federal privacy proposal in letter to lawmakers
Tesla, BMW don't appear to be gearing up to join Apple's new CarPlay vision
Apple TV+ renews musical comedy 'Schmigadoon!' for second season
WWDC is both exciting and nerve-wracking for developers as Apple adds new products that are great — but directly compete with them. Here are the announcements this year that will affect third parties.
Apple shared big updates coming to CarPlay at WWDC 2022. If the "Apple Car" is real we just got a sneak peek of its dashboard.
Apple has released an AirPods beta software update aimed at bug fixes, and improvements to Automatic Switching.
Apple heavily featured CarPlay during this year's WWDC keynote. There are several changes planned — some imminent and some for down the line. Here is what's new with CarPlay and what we'll actually see in iOS 16.
Despite only getting a few moments on stage at WWDC, HomeKit is set to receive quite a few updates this fall with iOS 16. Here is everything new coming to Apple's smart home platform.
Customizable Lock Screens arrive on iPhone as part of iOS 16. We go hands-on with the new feature to test out how it works, what it can do, and what options Apple has included for us.
With iPadOS 16, iPad users can finally extend their display to an external monitor. Here's how the feature works in tandem with Stage Manager, another new feature in the forthcoming update.
Apple announced iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS Ventura at WWDC 2022 on Monday. Here are the five best features that users can look forward to.
GoCube, the maker of Bluetooth-enabled puzzle cubes, has released its newest product — GoDice. We took a look at these fun new dice to see if they'd be a worthy addition to game night.
The StarTech Thunderbolt 4 Dock adds ten ports to your Mac via a single cable with three downstream Thunderbolt ports at a high price.
The Iodyne Pro Data offers storage for creative professionals working in teams, combining multiple Thunderbolt connections with high capacity NVMe SSD storage, in an appliance accessible by multiple users.
The Monoprice 28-inch CrystalPro 4K monitor looks like a competitive budget monitor on paper, but audible coil noise and poor design ruin its potential.
Tronsmart's new Bang speaker can pair with up to 100 other Bang units to fill a large space with sound, but there are several spots where the speaker could see improvement.
AppleInsider is one of the few truly independent online publications left. If you love what we do, please consider a small donation to help us keep the lights on.
If you love AppleInsider and want to support independent publications, please consider a small donation.