The screen lock on the iPhone has undergone several changes in recent years: it has gone from the classic "slide to unlock" to an interactive lock interface, with which you can quickly call up some phone functions (without unlocking it) or show some information useful, so you can view them right away without having to unlock the device. If we are a beginner with an iPhone and we do not know how to manage the new phone in all its aspects, in this guide we will show you all the ways to use and customize the lock screen on the iPhone, so as to make the user experience unique on the our cell phone. Most of the functions that we will show you are related to the latest version of iOS, but many of them are also present on previous releases.
IPhone lock screen
The lock screen is not only used to prevent access to our phone, but can become a real crucial junction for accessing notifications or other features, without the need to unlock the phone for every message or call received .First of all you need to activate the screen lock on the iPhone, which can be locked by code or even with the fingerprint. To configure your fingerprint and passcode, go to Settings> Touch ID and passcode .
Gesture on the lock screen
The lock screen works through gestures, i.e. finger movements from one of the edges or from some precise points on the screen. The gestures currently supported by the iPhone are:
- Quickly open the camera : just swipe from the right edge to the left edge.
- Open the Control Center : to open it, simply scroll from the bottom edge to the center (up to iPhone 8 Plus) or scroll from the top right corner to the bottom (from iPhone X onwards).
- View previous notifications : in this case we will have to place our finger in the center of the screen and scroll up.
- Display the Today view : to access this screen, simply scroll from the left edge to the right edge.
How to customize the lock screen
To customize the lock screen we have several methods available, so as to make our iPhone unique.The first customization that we can perform is on the Control Center, i.e. the menu with the quick keys that can be called from the lower edge towards the center (up to iPhone 8 Plus) or by scrolling from the top right corner to the bottom (from iPhone X in then). To customize it, open the Settings app, tap on the Control Center menu, select Customize controls and use the + (plus) or - (minus) keys next to the various options to add or remove them.
In addition to managing the addition and removal, we can also rearrange the individual buttons on the screen, holding down the symbol with the three horizontal lines next to each item and dragging up or down to the desired position.
The second customization we can make is on the Today view, accessible by swiping from the left edge to the right edge. To customize this screen with news, information, appointments, reminders, quick apps and more, we open the screen, scroll to the end and press the Edit button.
A screen will open with the widgets that we can add or remove to the screen, using the same keys seen a little while ago in the Control Center (+ and -). Once we have decided which widgets to display, we can change the order by using the three horizontal lines next to each item and dragging up or down, so as to immediately decide what to display at the top and what to display only by scrolling.
How to add the weather on the lock screen
Through a particular trick we can also show the Weather widget as soon as the screen turns on, without having to open the Today view (where it is still possible to place the Weather widget). To do this we will first have to configure a city in the Weather app (open it and enter the city name or postal code), then go to the Settings app and press on the Do not disturb item.
In the screen that will open, activate the Scheduled item and enter a start and end time for the Do not disturb mode (for example, we can enter the time slot in which we rest at night). After this configuration, all we have to do is wait for the end of the programmed Do Not Disturb mode: it will restore the phone's sounds and show, when you wake up, a weather widget with information on the conditions of the current day and on the temperatures.
If we want to use other weather apps on our iPhone, we recommend you read our guide to the best iPhone weather apps with forecasts and temperatures .
How to add / remove notifications on the lock screen
The lock screen shows all notifications received by apps or system services when the screen is turned off; this could harm our privacy, especially if we have other people nearby who can peek at notifications. To add or remove app notifications from the lock screen, simply open the Settings app, press the Notifications menu and tap on the app or service to be adjusted; in the new screen that will open we will have to do is remove the check mark under the heading Lock screen .
Now the notifications for that app will only appear once the phone is unlocked, both as a banner at the top and as a bar in the notification center. If we don't want to be so drastic with some apps (especially messaging and social ones), we can also adjust the preview display, so as to receive an anonymous notification of the app without the names or the first part of the text in plain sight. To adjust this, let's go to the same screens seen a little while ago, press on the Show previews item and put a check mark on the item When unlocked .
In this way, only when we unlock the phone will we be able to preview the notification, so that no one can read our private messages without first unlocking the screen.
Conclusions
The lock screen of the iPhone has undergone a pleasant evolution in these years, becoming a real interactive center from which you can access some quick functions of the phone and the Today view, which allows us to view some information without even having to unlock the iPhone.If we use an Android phone we will have the opportunity to customize the screen more decisively than when seen on the iPhone, as evidenced by our two guides on how to change Android lock screen with lockscreen apps and the best widgets for Android lock screen .
If we use Windows 10 as the operating system on the PC, in another guide we have seen together how to Personalize the lock screen in Windows 10, so as to make it unique.
