Apple at WWD22C revealed a new revamped Lock Screen experience on iOS 16. They have added a number of new features and made several changes that include Widgets & Live Activities to make the Lock Screen experience more personalized for the users.
Users will be able to create multiple Lock Screens and switch between them by simply long pressing, similar to the experience with Watch Faces on the Apple Watch. Apple has introduced several options for customization, including the ability to change the font & color for the time & date along with the ability to add several elements Lock Screen.
One can personalize the look of their Lock Screen by adding both Apple’s widgets as well as Third-party widgets (once they gain support) and by adding Photos as Wallpapers with options to shuffle them and filter the people on the photo.
Apple already has several preset Lock Screens that are ready for use on iOS 16. You can find them under Astronomy, Emoji, Color, and Pride. The “Suggested photos” section suggests photos that could be used on the Lock Screen. Subtle changes such as the smaller Lock icon which disappears when unlocked also add to the overall clean look of the Lock Screen.
a) Widgets: Users will be able to add Apple’s widgets as well as third-party widgets (once the third-party apps have implemented it to add more utility to the Lock Screen. You can add the Battery Widget which can display the Battery Percentage of your AirPods along with the Widgets for Weather, Fitness, Clock, Stocks, Calendar, News, Home, and Reminders.
b) Notifications: The notifications now start from the bottom of the Lock Screen so as to not hide the content of the Lock Screen. One can view notifications on the Lock Screen in an expanded list view, stacked view, or hidden view.
c) Live Activities: We all have that one app that constantly sends us notifications about updates. For example, a Sports Apps that send updates to you regarding the latest scores. These apps can now implement Live Activities for their apps for better notification management. Once implemented, iOS 16 will display a widget on the bottom of the Lock Screen that updates in real-time to help you stay on top of things. You can keep a check on the scores of a Sports match and easily track your food delivery order without even unlocking your device.
d) Focus: Apple has integrated Focus Modes with the Lock Screen on iOS 16. With this feature, users will be able to set different Lock Screens for different Focuses. For example, the lock screen can display the upcoming meetings and to-do lists when your Work Focus is enabled. This will avoid unnecessary information from popping up on your iPhone Display and keep the information relevant to the time of the day, your location, and your surroundings.
d) Focus Filters: Focus is now also integrated within apps for ease of use. When a Focus mode is enabled, it will only display the conversations that have been selected. The feature has already rolled out to Messages, Mail, Calendar, and Safari on iOS 16 and is expected to roll out to third-party apps as well. Apple has also added the ability to enable/disable Low Power Mode and Dark Mode when a Focus Mode is turned on/off.
Will you be updating your iPhone to the first beta of iOS 16? How excited are you for these new features? Let us know down in the comments below.
Author: Holden Satterwhite
Founder of Appleosophy and Redfruit Media. Twitter: @hesatter
