Lock Screen on iOS 16: In iOS 16, Apple changed the way the Lock Screen works. It now has a lot of customization options that let you make it your own. You can choose widgets, change the colors, and use emojis, photos, or the wallpapers that come with the phone.
This guide shows you how to use the new Lock Screen features and all the changes Apple made to the iPhone’s Lock Screen.
Editing Your Lock Screen
If you know how to edit widgets and the Home Screen, editing a Lock Screen in iOS 16 is pretty similar. You can get to all the controls to play with by unlocking your iPhone with Face ID or Touch ID, swiping down if you’re not already on the Lock Screen, and then long pressing on the screen.
From there, you can tap the “+” button to make a new Lock Screen or the “Customize” button to change the one you already have. You can choose different wallpapers, colors, and widgets, which we’ll talk about below.
If you have already made more than one Lock Screen and want to change it, you can also swipe through them. When you’re done making changes, just swipe up or tap to leave the screen and go back to your new Lock Screen.
Wallpaper Options
When you tap the “+” button to make a new Lock Screen or change an existing one, you’ll be taken to the wallpaper interface, where you can choose the one you want to use.
Apple has put the different wallpapers into groups that you can choose from at the top of the interface or by scrolling down. There’s even a “Featured” section that shows you some of the most popular wallpapers that you might want to use.
People
When you tap on “People,” as the name suggests, you’ll see pictures of people you’ve taken that work well with a new depth effect that the Lock Screen supports. In some photos, the time will show up under the person or thing in the photo, giving it a layered look like Portrait mode photos on the Apple Watch.
When you choose a person to put on your Lock Screen, the time depth effect will show you how it will look. You can leave the photo as is, or you can add Studio, Black and White, or a customizable Color Backdrop, depending on the photo you’re using.
If you don’t like the depth effect, you can turn it off by tapping on the three dots at the bottom. You can also turn off the Perspective Zoom.
Photos and Photo Shuffle
In the Photos section, you can use any of your photos as a Lock Screen. Apple chooses Featured images that will work with the layered time effect or that the iPhone thinks might look especially good as wallpaper. Photos can be changed to black and white if you want to.
You can use the Photo Shuffle feature instead if you want to use more than one photo. With Photo Shuffle, you can switch between photos on your iPhone’s Lock Screen. Apple lets you choose from “Featured” photos in categories like “People,” “Pets,” “Nature,” and “Urban,” or you can choose all of your own photos by hand.
With the “Featured” customization option, you can uncheck any of the categories or choose which people to include in the “People” category. If you choose “manual,” you can pick as many or as few photos as you like.
Photos can be set to change when you tap, wake up, every hour, or every day. If you don’t like a photo that comes up, you can long-press, choose edit, and then choose “Don’t Feature Photo.”
Emoji
With the Emoji wallpaper feature, you can choose up to six of your favorite emoji to use as a tiled background. For an artistic look, some of the emojis will be bigger and some will be smaller, but this can be changed.
Apple lets you choose between a small grid, a medium grid, and a large grid, each of which has different-sized emoji. You can also choose a ring or a spiral as a way to customize it.
Weather
The Weather Lock Screen option shows you the weather in your area, just like the Weather app does. It shows real-time weather, so if there are clouds, you can see them. If it’s raining, the rain animation will play.
There are no adjustments available for the Weather Lock Screen, and it may not be available on older devices that can’t support the animation.
Astronomy
Like the Weather Lock Screen, the Astronomy Lock Screen changes throughout the day based on the time and where you are. There are several choices, such as Earth and Earth Detail, which show a closer look at the Earth.
You can also choose Moon, Moon Detail, or Solar System. In watchOS 9, the Astronomy Lock Screen is pretty much the same as the Astronomy Watch Face. Just like with the Weather Lock Screen, you can’t change the wallpaper itself.
Color
The Color Lock Screen wallpaper lets you choose a solid color for your background. It will use a bit of a gradient, which can look nice depending on the color you choose.
You can choose one of Apple’s preset colors and change the hue, or you can choose any color from the Grid, Spectrum, and Slider options. You can change the opacity of any color you choose.
Different gradients can be used to change the color of the wallpaper on the Lock Screen. You can change the look by choosing Vibrant, Tone, Deep, Vapor, Bright, or Solid. The Solid option is solid, but all the others have a slight mix of colors to make them look more interesting.
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