Apple is planning to update the iPhone lock screen with a new design that will make it more user-friendly. The company is also considering adding more features to the lock screen, such as a weather report and a list of recent calls.
Apple revealed a suite of new lock screen features for iOS 16 today at WWDC, mostly focused on customization. The lock screen on iOS and iPadOS today mostly looks the same on everyone’s devices, but with iOS 16 later this year, you’ll be able to switch between different fonts and colors for the text. Apple will also have a built-in collection of pre-made lock screen styles, if you want a fun look without tweaking everything yourself.
Even better, you’ll be able to add widgets to the lock screen, and app developers can customize the look of their apps’ widgets to fit in better with the lock screen. Notifications have also been moved to the bottom of the screen, where alerts are easier to reach on iPhone models with larger screens.
Many Android devices have offered lock screen customization options for years. Samsung phones have similar font, color, and background options, while ‘Material You’ on Android 12 and newer brought customizable colors (at the very least) to other Android phones and tablets. Microsoft also has a few options for the lock screen on Windows 10 or 11, though they don’t come close to what Apple will offer.
