iOS 16 is out, and in my Home Screen showcase a week ago, I said that I wouldn’t be able to show off my Lock Screen because of some secret apps. Well, now those secrets aren’t secret anymore — so these are some of the coolest widgets, apps, and tips for iOS 16 Lock Screen customization.
My main Lock Screen is the one on the far left — and it’s meant for maximum utility. However, I wish I could add more widgets for maximum customization. I have so many more widgets from apps that I really want to try out but I just don’t have room for them. The main one has my favorites:
The top one next to the date is a CARROT Weather widget. I’m a weather nerd, and this CARROT widget is so good. Not only does it show the temperature, but it also shows the high and low temperatures for the day.
The large one is a Fantastical widget, which is pretty nice. I have a bunch of events throughout the day, so having 1 widget which shows what’s next is helpful. Unfortunately, this widget doesn’t update as quick as I’d like, but I’ve reported the bug and hopefully it gets fixed.
The circle one next to it is a Clock timezone widget showing the time in India, which is important because I’m working with someone over there and need to know the time there at a glance.
The final one is a Things progress widget, which shows my progress on my to-do list throughout the day. It’s a little bit of extra motivation to get things done (like write this blog post, which is the last thing!). I still wish that Cultured Code would add a circular widget which shows a task in the bubble, and I’ve submitted feedback for that.
My supplementary Lock Screen is the second one from the left, and I use it sometimes when I want a different experience. I have 4 small widgets and one next to the date, because that’s the best widget:
The one next to the date is a Fantastical one, which is basically identical to the stock Calendar one except for the fact that it opens Fantastical and shows the next event and what time it’s at.
The first small one is a clock timezone widget, the same as the first lock screen (I’ll swap these out once I don’t need it).
Next is a CARROT widget which shows the condition, temperature, and temperature relative to the high/low temperature today in the external ring which is nice. It’s a really nice way to display all of this information in a compact widget.
The 3rd one is Things, which shows me my progress throughout the day.
Finally, I have a Timery widget which shows how much I’ve worked during the day, and starts a time entry when tapped. It’s really handy to see how much you’ve worked on your Lock Screen and makes the app a lot more useful.
The next one is my “iOS 16 showcase” Lock Screen which has the default Lock Screen and is my first Lock Screen. I don’t use it often, mainly because I don’t like the wallpaper, but I need one with the default wallpaper for dramatic effect:
The top one is by CARROT and shows the sunrise/sunset times, which is important since the sun goes down earlier this time of year and I need to adjust myself to the new season before it arrives.
I’ve got the same Things widget, which inspires/motivates/pushes/insertproductivitywordhere me to do more work.
Timery, which shows me how much I’ve worked today. It’s not very useful on the weekends when I’m not working, but I don’t use it much so it’s not terrible.
CARROT weather, which shows condition, temperature, and relative high/low because those are all very important data points.
CARROT weather, which shows the humidity outside. Unfortunately, as a Florida resident, this is very important to decide if it’s okay to go outside.
The last Lock Screen is linked to a Focus mode, which are amazing and I should totally do a blog post on my Focus modes so make sure to stay tuned for that. Specifically, it’s linked to the Meetings focus, which is also linked to a Home Screen because there are certain things I need to access when I’m in meetings. Unlike my other Focus modes, Meetings changes the way my phone is intended to be used, since my phone is used as a side-companion to my Mac when I’m in a meeting. The wallpaper is a color gradient which is red, and the Lock Screen remains dim to discourage looking at the phone:
The top widget is a Timery widget which shows the Current Time Entry so that I can monitor how long I’ve been in a meeting (which is very handy for when you have Zoom fatigue).
The rectangular one is a Fantastical Up Next widget which launches the next event’s page for easy access to the Zoom link or phone number. It’s also handy to keep track of when the meeting is.
The first circular one is a Start Time Entry function by Timery, which allows me to set specific timers quickly when the meeting is just about to start.
The last one is a Fantastical ‘Find Event’ function, just in case the Up Next widget doesn’t show the right event.
In addition to the aforementioned Lock Screens, I have an astronomy and weather Lock Screen purely for the visuals.
As I said before, I have tons more widgets from apps that I really want to use but just don’t have room for. Here are some of my favorites that you should try if you’re looking for more:
Parcel: Parcel is the best delivery tracker, and it has one great widget, which is the latest deliveries widget. It shows the name of the delivery that has the most recent update, and shows the latest update to the package (out for delivery, arrived at facility, etc). It’s really handy if you’re waiting for something (like your new iPhone!).
Overcast: Overcast is the best podcast app, and it has 2 widgets, one of which shows the most recent episode in your queue, and another that opens a playlist. I like the Recents one the best.
Apollo: Apollo makes Reddit usable, and it has tons of widgets. It can show you trending posts in subreddits of your choosing, Karma, can link to a subreddit of your choosing, can show you random subreddits, and even can show you how much you’ve scrolled, which is interesting. It’s really fun, though not super productive.
Widgetsmith: Widgetsmith has some ridiculous shortcut options — you can do anything with Widgetsmith, including adding photos to the Lock Screen, showing countdowns, showing quotes, and other things. You can basically pin anything to your Lock Screen with Widgetsmith.
LockFlow: LockFlow allows you to run Shortcuts from your Lock Screen. If you have a certain Lock Screen for a certain activity (or attached to a Focus mode), you might want to run a shortcut for an action you do all the time (for example, I have a Sleep Focus and Sleep Shortcut which dims my lamp and sets an alarm for the morning). You can pick any Shortcut that you want, pick any icon that you want, and then run it directly from the Lock Screen. It goes through the Shortcuts app, but that’s a small annoyance for something that’s not built into the OS natively. Highly recommend.
I can’t wait to see what other developers do with Lock Screen widgets — and I’m even more excited for what they can do to harness the Always On Display. Glanceable information is cool, we need more of it.
