This is how cool the iOS 16 lock screen could be

The iPhone’s lock screen has been largely the same for years. A new concept now shows how cool it could get in iOS 16.

Lock screen concept iOS 16

The iPhone recently celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. In all that time, not only the phone, but also the accompanying operating system iOS and a lot of design changes have gone through.

But one part of iOS has remained largely unchanged over the years: the lock screen. At the top the time and date, incoming messages below. In iOS 6 we got the ability to quickly open the camera, iOS 8 brought quick answers. Since iOS 10, we can swipe to the widgets, and thanks to iOS 11, lock screen has been combined with Notification Center. However, these are all minor detail changes, while other mobile operating systems already make much more possible.

Designer Parker Ortolani has now created a concept where the lock screen has finally received a much needed refresh. We take you through some details that are for iOS 16.

New time

Ortolani’s first idea concerns the representation of time. That has been unchanged since iOS 9, and even then Apple only opted for a new font. At the same time, you can see on the Apple Watch that Apple has plenty of ideas to display the time in more creative ways. For example, how about a real watch face on the lock screen?

Customizable Shortcuts

So far, there are two keyboard shortcuts on the iOS lock screen. One for the flashlight and one for the camera. But what if you could determine these shortcuts yourself? For example, that you could enable a Focus (Do Not Disturb) directly from the lock screen. Or directly open the remote for your Apple TV. Such a change would already make the lock screen much more functional.

Widgets on the lock screen

Another idea that will have you wondering why Apple hasn’t built this into iOS yet. Widgets built into the notifications you get. For example, you will immediately see your calendar if the Calendar app sends you an alert for an appointment. Whether you get a weather forecast with a notification from the Weather app.

Always-on lock screen

The OLED screens of the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 have the great advantage that they only use energy when an individual pixel has to light up. An almost black image therefore consumes hardly any energy. And that could make an always-on lock screen possible, so you can always read the date and time, and perhaps even whether new messages have arrived.

What do you think of the lock screen in iOS 16?

Which of the above lock screen features would you most like to see in iOS 16? The new operating system will be presented as usual at WWDC in June this year. The release will follow in September, just after the presentation of the new iPhone 14.

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