iOS 16, Apple’s latest iPhone operating system, was released today and features a completely reimagined lock screen customization process. Being able to change the font style and color and add widgets can make the security screen a little more useful than it used to be.

There’s a lot to dig into for the hefty update, but before you get bogged down in the details, take a few minutes to tinker with the lock screen settings. It should add a little.

If your phone doesn’t download the update automatically or prompt you to download it, first open the Settings app and select Universaland select software update. iOS 15.7 or Upgrade to iOS 16To take advantage of the new lock screen customization features, you’ll need to opt for the latter.

How to edit lock screen in iOS 16

After installing iOS 16, open the Settings app, wallpaperThe lock screen and home screen wallpaper images are displayed side by side, with options to adjust each.Tap customization Click to see a preview on your screen.

Edit lock screen photo

The main function here is the image itself, photo icon Bottom left (stylized rectangular portrait of a mountain on top of the second rectangle). Once you have a photo you like, you can pinch the screen to zoom in or out to crop it, but you can’t make the image smaller than the screen itself.

Swipe left to choose from four filters: Natural, B&W, Duotone, and Color Wash. The first two are self-explanatory, and the latter two cover the natural image with different color shades.

[Related: Smartphone security starts with the lock screen. Here’s how to protect it.]

At the end, three dots Click on the bottom right to see if it can be activated depth effectThis effect is not available for all photos. Because everything in the foreground of the photo is brought out in front of the clock to reveal the icons and widgets that are on the lock screen. Depth. If the foreground stuff covers the clock or widget too much (probably around 50%), you won’t be able to use this feature.

Edit lock screen time

The clock is the second largest part after the lock screen. It also needs to be customized. All part of the new aesthetic. Tap the clock to choose one of eight fonts and countless colors, including making the clock numbers opaque (first color option on the left). Before you think you can’t count to 15, yes there are 15 colored dots at the bottom of the screen, but the last one is all the way to the right and lets you choose a color from a grid, spectrum, or plug. Get exactly what you need with the hex code for a specific color.

Within fonts and colors The menu also has a globe icon in the upper left corner.Tap this to choose whether to show the clock Arabic Numbers (the numbers you’re familiar with if you’re a native English speaker and the numbers used throughout this article), Arabic Indian a digit (used in parts of the Arab world), or Devanagari Digit (used in North Indian languages).

Add widgets to iPhone lock screen

There are two places you can add widgets to your iPhone’s lock screen: above and below the clock. A thin space at the top of the screen might show the date by default, but you can tap it to choose another widget instead.

The main widget area is below the clock and can hold up to 4 (or none if you don’t want to hide your lock screen photo).Just tap where it says add widget, you can choose from the available options. No matter how much you select, they will be centered in the space. What I don’t like minus icon It’s in the upper left corner. To reorder, tap and hold the widget until it fits just under your finger, then drag it where you want it.hit X Alternatively, tap outside the widget menu to set your selection.

When you’re ready to go live, end Immerse yourself in the glow of your new lock screen in the top right corner of your screen. At least until you unlock it and doom-scroll through Twitter and the like.