Explore the Lock Screen

The Lock screen is the first thing you see when you power on or wake up your iOS device, and it contains a wealth of functionality, especially now in iOS 11, since it now takes Notification Center’s place for notification management.

Dissect the Lock Screen

Let’s look at each element of the Lock screen (Figure 13).

The icons at the left of the status bar signify your device’s networking status:

• Wi-Fi: This icon indicates that the device has a Wi-Fi connection. More bars means a stronger connection.
• Cellular: If you see a carrier name, then your device has a cellular connection. More bars next to the name means a stronger connection.
• Airplane mode: If you see an airplane icon, the Airplane Mode switch in Settings is on and all radio-frequency connectivity is off unless you’ve re-enabled a radio individually.

Here’s a look at the most common icons that you may see at the right of the status bar:

• Do Not Disturb: A moon icon indicates that Do Not Disturb mode is active—your device will not vibrate or make noise.
• Orientation Lock: This lock icon means the device’s screen orientation is locked in portrait or landscape view.
• Location: If an app is using Location Services, you see an arrow icon here. You can find out which apps are using Location Services in Settings > Privacy > Location Services. See Location Services Arrow Icons.
• Alarm: If you’ve set an alarm in the Clock app (directly or by using Siri), you see a clock icon here.
• Bluetooth: If Bluetooth is enabled, your device displays the Bluetooth icon. If a Bluetooth device is connected, the icon is white; otherwise, it is light gray.
• Battery: This icon represents the remaining battery life. The fill color in the icon serves as a quick status indicator:
  • Green: The battery life is good.
  • Yellow: The iPhone is in Use Low Power Mode.
  • Red: You should charge the device.

  A lightning icon to the right of the battery means your device is charging.

  You can opt to display battery percentage as well by going to Settings > Battery and turning on the Battery Percentage switch.

• Headphones: A headphone icon indicates that your device is paired with a Bluetooth audio device. If audio isn’t playing through you speakers, or if Siri doesn’t seem able to hear you, check for this icon!

  Apple offers a full guide to status bar icons.

Check Time and Date

The current time appears in big type at the center of the Lock screen with the day and date below.

If you’ve configured a timer with Apple’s Clock app or by using Siri, the day and date is replaced by the remaining timer time. Similarly, if you have snoozed an alarm, you see the remaining snooze time here.

Lock Screen Media Controls

While the screen is locked, you may see playback controls for any media that is playing (Figure 14). If you’re unfamiliar with these controls, see the section on Control Center’s Media platter.

These controls make it easy to pause playback or change the volume without having to unlock the device.

Lock and Unlock Your Device

Unlock the device with the Home button, followed by either your PIN or Touch ID.

Pay attention to the lock icon at the top of the screen—your device briefly displays “Unlocked” there after a successful Touch ID scan (set your finger on the Home button, but don’t press in), after which you can press the Home button to leave the Lock screen and go to the Home screen.

To lock your device again, press the Sleep/Wake button. Otherwise, your device locks automatically after the amount of time chosen in Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock.

To access the Lock screen without locking your device, swipe down from above the top of the screen. Apple calls this the Cover Sheet, but it’s practically identical to the Lock screen. The only key difference is that you can dismiss it by swiping up from below the bottom of the screen.

Manage Lock Screen Notifications

Notifications give you snippets of key status information. While your device is locked, notifications gather on the Lock screen, in the order they are received.

To act upon or remove a notification from the Lock screen, do one of the following:

• Tap the notification to open it in its associated app. For example, tap a Mail notification to open that message in Mail.
• On an iPhone with 3D Touch or an iPad, press on a notification to bring up additional options. To return to the Mail example, you can archive a message or mark it as read (Figure 15). On an iPhone with 3D Touch, apply even more pressure to open the item in its associated app.

  To dismiss an individual notification, press it to bring up additional options, and then either tap the X icon or swipe down on the notification.

  

• Right-swipe the notification to reveal Open, which you can tap to open the notification in its app—or keep swiping to the right to open the app automatically.
• Left-swipe the notification to reveal View and Clear (Figure 16). View shows the full notification. Keep swiping left on a notification to dismiss it.

  

In iOS 11, you can view all your previous notifications from the Lock screen. To do so, swipe up on the Lock screen. Swipe up and down to scroll through notifications. By default, notifications are grouped according to date.

While viewing past notifications, tap the X icon adjacent to a group of notifications to clear that group. If you have a 3D Touch device, you can firmly press that X icon to reveal an option to clear all notifications.

Access Control Center

Control Center offers quick access to common iOS settings and functions. Access it by swiping up from below the screen—unless you’ve disabled Lock screen access, as discussed in Secure the Lock Screen, ahead.

Open Camera from the Lock Screen

You can access the Camera app from the Lock screen quickly by swiping from right to left.

While using the Camera app from the Lock screen, you can see previews of pictures you’ve taken during the current session by tapping the Photo and Video Viewer button. (It looks like a preview of the most recent photo—Figure 17.) However, to view any other image in your photo library, you must unlock the device.

Wrangle Widgets

Widgets reside to the left of the main Lock screen, as well as the first Home screen—see Hone the Home Screen. To access widgets from either of these screens, swipe from left to right.

Add a Widget

It’s easy to add a widget:

1. On the Widgets screen, scroll to the bottom and tap Edit.
2. Scan your finger with Touch ID or enter your PIN if prompted.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen to see the More Widgets list and find the widget you want to add.
4. Tap that widget’s green add button.

   The widget’s entry moves into the top portion of the list.

5. If you like, adjust the widget’s position by dragging the grab handle at the right of its entry. Drag the handle up or down.
6. At the upper-right corner, tap Done.

Delete a Widget

Removing a widget is equally easy:

1. On the Widgets screen, scroll to the bottom and tap Edit.
2. Tap the widget’s red delete button. Tap Remove.
3. At the upper-right corner, tap Done.

Talk to Siri

While the device is locked, you can talk to and use Siri as usual, but if a passcode is set, there are a few limitations. For example, you can still ask Siri for the time or instruct Siri to call your significant other, but you can’t have Siri read your new email messages or open apps without unlocking the device.

Make Payments from the Lock Screen

To bring up Apple Pay on supported devices, double-press the Home button on the Lock screen. To disable this feature, tap Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > and turn off the switch for Double-Click Home Button. Even with this switch disabled, you can still use Apple Pay by placing your phone near a compatible NFC terminal. See Organize Your Wallet.

Secure the Lock Screen

Unless you set a passcode, anyone with physical access to your device can unlock the Lock screen and have complete access to your device. Set up a passcode by going to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode (or just Settings > Passcode if your device doesn’t support Touch ID and tapping Turn Passcode On.

Even with a passcode set, the Lock screen provides access to some settings and personal information. You can reduce, or prevent, this access with switches in Settings > Touch ID & Passcode. For example, you can turn off access to Control Center, Recent Notifications, and Siri (as I write this, the switch for disabling the Widgets screen is still called Today View, a holdover from iOS 9).