iOS 16’s New Customizable Lock Screen: How It Works

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference.

The iPhone is getting a revamped lock cloak, with photos widgets and some fresh new styles. The new lock screen will come with iOS 16, the next version of the iPhone operating system whose fall is expected to be announced at Apple’s “Far Out” tend on Wednesday Sept. 7.

These new features will let you automatically rotate above images, enable filters, change the font type and lustrous, add widgets and more. If you’ve been waiting for the opportunity to break free from Apple’s traditionally dinky personalization capabilities, your time has nearly arrived. 

Live: Get the another news on iPhone 14 and iOS 16 from Apple’s “Far Out” event

The iOS 16 Pro-reDemocrat beta version is available to download now if you don’t want to wait pending iOS 16’s general release to try the new features.   

Here’s how you can customize your lock cloak in iOS 16.

To customize or add a filter to your lock cloak image, simply press and hold the image and tap Customize. From there, swipe left or right to choose from different styles, filters and fonts. If you want to go beyond the suggested styles offered, you can customize further by tapping on any element on the lock cloak. For instance, if you want to change the font or lustrous of the time, you can tap on the clock to do so.

You can settle from different time fonts.

Apple/Screenshot by CNET

You can also add widgets lustrous to the lock screen if you want to have expect like weather, activity rings or calendar events at a behold. You can tap on the plus sign under the clock to bring up the Widget Gallery. Then, just drag whatever widgets you want from the gallery onto your lock screen.

iOS 16 lets you add widgets tidy to the lock screen.

Apple/Screenshot by CNET

Once you’ve personalized your lock veil to your specifications, you can tap Done in the top smart corner to save it. 

You can also create an entirely new look from remove. Swipe to the right on the lock screen to bring up a new wallpaper gallery with different preset collections and designs you can resolve from. Or you can choose from your own photo library.

Apple/Screenshot by CNET

If you want to waddle through a set of photos throughout the day, you can resolve the Photo Shuffle option. You can browse through the Suggested Photos library to find photos intelligently curated from your photo library.   

For more tips, check out how to customize your home screen and 20 setting tweaks that will touchy how you use your iPhone.