Apple is redesigning the iPhone’s lock screen, the company has announced at its annual developer conference, in the most substantial visual redesign iOS 16 has received since the introduction of the iPhone X.
Where currently users are limited to only changing their wallpaper, from this autumn they will be able to change the appearance of the clock, pin small widgets to the front screen and minimise notifications to the bottom of the screen. And they will be able to swipe through multiple lock screens, with different looks and functionality for different use cases – a work lock screen could pin emails and mute social media, for instance, while a weekend lock screen could have more casual pictures and hide communications from work.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering, said the redesign introduced “an incredible set of new personalisation features that will make your experience feel fresh and incredibly you”.
The new features will be available to older iPhones, but are likely intended to work in concert with the forthcoming iPhone 14, which is rumoured to have an always-on display.
Alongside the visual redesign, iOS 16 will include a number of other new features:
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The Messages app will allow users to edit, or even recall, iMessages sent in error.
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Dictation has been redesigned to make it easier to switch between dictating text and editing it with a keyboard.
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Live text will now work with video, letting users cut and past text from a paused video still.
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Apple Maps lets users add multiple stops to a route, and sync them between iOS and Macs.
The company has also announced a move into the “buy now, pay later” space, competing with companies like Klarna and ClearPay by offering users an interest-free four-month loan on any payments made using the company’s payment infrastructure, and is partnering with e-commerce platform Shopify to allow users to track the progress of their orders in the Apple Wallet app.
More follows…
