The first public beta of iOS 16 is live, which means iPhone 8 and newer devices can now get in on the fun of customizing the lock screen.
There are several other iOS 16 updates and you can learn about them in the video below and on our YouTube channel.
How to change the lock screen of your life
If you’re using iOS 16, tap and hold the current lock screen to reveal a new customization interface. To create a new screen, tap the blue plus icon in the lower right corner or by scrolling to the right.
You can also customize your current screen by tapping the big Customize button, but for the purposes of this tutorial we’ll stick to creating a new screen, as both options work the same.
Once you start on a new screen, you are presented with quite a few options. There are a few quick links to each wallpaper category at the top, but if you scroll you can see demos of what they’ll look like.
A few types are listed below:
- Photos – You can choose any photo from your phone as wallpaper. With the new update, some images can even use depth to cover the clock in a cool way.
- People – This also uses your photos, but in this tab, Apple only shows you images with faces.
- Photo Shuffle – This is my favorite option as it allows you to choose many photos to randomly display at different parts of the day.
- Emoji – This is a more creative option that lets you choose up to six emojis to create a collage from.
- Weather – This option also changes throughout the day to reflect the current weather.
- Astronomy – In true Apple style, there are several high-resolution renders of the Earth and Moon to look at. The Earth option even shows you your current location.
- Color – The latest new wallpaper generator lets you choose a simple color or gradient if you want a very simple wallpaper.
Once you’ve selected your wallpaper choice, you’re presented with a mock lock screen with a few more areas for customization.
Tapping the top box allows you to add a clear widget to the top of the screen. This can be a date, sunrise or sunset, calendar events, or more. I expect third party developers to take advantage of this feature soon
You can choose from eight different fonts and an unlimited number of colors when you tap the clock. The first default color in the font list is a gradient that automatically matches the background.
The last box is where you can add lock screen widgets. I haven’t used it much since it disables the excellent new depth effect, but if you want a data-rich screen, you can now do that. There are also two sizes of widgets. Longer ones give more information, and smaller icons usually focus on one indicator such as air quality, stock prices or temperature. As with the little widgets above the clock, I expect the developers to make even more third-party widgets soon once the beta is out.
When you’re done, tap Done in the top corner and the new customization interface will ask you if you want to use this wallpaper. Hit “Set as Pair Wallpaper” and you’re done. You can also select “Personalize Home Screen” from this pop-up window. It lets you add blur to make apps easier to read or change the wallpaper, making the lock screen and home screens different.
Other iOS 16 features
You can also add “Focus Mode” to any wallpaper to make it a little more noticeable so you can see when focus is on at any given time.
To delete a wallpaper, press and hold to open the customization menu, then swipe up on each wallpaper.
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