Enlarge / The (customized) fastener surface successful iOS 16.

Samuel Axon

For the past mates of years, Apple’s yearly iOS updates person laser focused connected 1 diagnostic for an overhaul portion making smaller tweaks to everything else. Last year, Focus was the, well, focus. The twelvemonth earlier that, it was the location screen.

This clip it’s the fastener screen. You tin present alteration fonts, adhd widgets, customize the accusation displayed, and prime from a wider assortment of wallpaper. Apple has besides much profoundly integrated the fastener surface with the Focus modes that were fleshed retired successful iOS 15. And it has laid the groundwork for thing much than conscionable notifications that third-party apps tin amusement you earlier you unlock your phone.

Given the progressively iterative quality of iOS releases today—with galore cardinal features not arriving until months aft the archetypal vessel day of a new, whole-numbered version—we’re moving to leaner archetypal iOS reviews, with updates to travel successful further articles implicit time. So contiguous we’re going to look astatine the main caller diagnostic of iOS 16, but we’ll interaction connected a mates of different cardinal features and changes, too.

The fastener screen

While iOS 16 touches astir aspects of utilizing the iPhone successful a assortment of tiny ways, it is precise overmuch “the fastener surface update.” That makes sense: Apple makes a batch of sound astir shipping features that integrate hardware and software, and the iPhone 14 Pro’s caller always-on show drives this accent connected the fastener screen.

But there’s plentifulness present for users of different iPhone models that deficiency that always-on feature. Following up past year’s accent connected Focus modes, and the erstwhile year’s connected home surface customization, this is the astir important determination Apple has made connected the customization beforehand with the iPhone in, well, beauteous overmuch ever.

I cognize what you’re going to say: aren’t these each features that person been portion of Android for fundamentally an eternity now?

Yep, you’re right—mostly. In emblematic Apple fashion, determination are immoderate flourishes present that Android doesn’t touch, but arsenic for functionality, this is mostly yesterday’s quality for Android diehards. But what was already a triumph for Android users is mostly a triumph for iOS users, too.

It’s casual to spot the power of the Apple Watch connected this update—the caller widgets behave similar complications, and the caller fastener surface acts similar a Watch face. That condemnation close determination tells you conscionable astir everything you request to cognize astir the caller fastener screen. Picture the Apple Watch and each the customizations, features, and limitations the Watch faces offer. Now marque each that phone-sized. There you go, that’s the caller iOS fastener screen.

To commencement playing with these customizations, you conscionable long-press your digit connected the fastener screen. This brings you to an interface with horizontally scrolling cards, each 1 representing 1 of your customized screens.

At the bottom, determination are 3 important buttons. You tin pat “Focus” to alteration the Focus mode that turns connected erstwhile this fastener surface is active. You tin pat "customize" to alteration your widgets, fonts, wallpapers, and more. And there’s a “+” fastener to adhd a caller customized fastener surface to the enactment of cards.

It starts with wallpapers

When you deed the + button, a sheet pops up to connection you a assortment of wallpaper possibilities. These options autumn into a fewer buckets. There are colour gradient wallpapers, wherever you prime a wide colour taxable and specify immoderate attributes of a elemental gradient. (It looks nicer than it sounds, actually.)

There are collections, which are a spot similar Apple’s erstwhile attack to iPhone wallpapers: premade patterns successful a fewer antithetic colour options.

You tin besides marque a wallpaper retired of emojis connected a grid oregon successful a signifier crossed the screen, and you tin adjacent prime which emojis to display. You tin take up to six emojis to see successful the wallpaper, utilizing Apple’s modular emoji-picking interface.

My idiosyncratic favourite bucket for wallpapers is the “Weather & Astronomy” category. These supply small successful the mode of customization, but they’re rather snazzy. The evident 1 present changes the wallpaper visuals to lucifer the unrecorded upwind conditions successful your area—and said visuals look similar the ones that already overgarment the Weather app.

There are besides dynamic wallpapers for the Earth, moon, and star system. The star strategy 1 shows the existent actual comparative locations of the planets arsenic they orbit the sun, portion the Earth 1 shows your determination connected a globe with a greenish dot, amidst live-updating unreality screen that reflects conditions astir the globe.

The satellite and Earth ones animate to antithetic angles arsenic you determination from the always-on show to an progressive fastener surface and past swipe for the location screen. It’s a amusive effect, and the satellite wallpaper successful peculiar looks astonishing connected OLED iPhone screens.

But arsenic neat arsenic those are, I ideate astir radical volition take to spell with the wallpapers that usage photos from your room successful the Photos app. Tapping “Photos” gives you a prime betwixt idiosyncratic photos connected your phone.

Using instrumentality learning, the iPhone analyzes each the photos successful your room truthful you tin beryllium presented with “Featured” suggestions, which I recovered to beryllium mostly connected the money. There are adjacent subcategories for these featured suggestions, including people, pets, nature, and cities. And of course, you tin browse your full photograph room and prime immoderate representation you’d like.

There’s besides “Photo Shuffle,” which is “a dynamic acceptable of photos that shuffle arsenic you usage your iPhone passim the day,” according to the tooltip. You tin acceptable the shuffle frequence to alteration connected tap, connected lock, hourly, oregon daily. Once again, it presents you with featured photos, and it lets you prime which categories to include—but you tin inactive manually prime each photograph from your library.

This is arsenic bully a spot arsenic immoderate to enactment that for photograph wallpapers, Apple uses immoderate neat AI tricks to chopped retired large objects successful the image, similar faces oregon buildings, and allows them to overlay bits of the clip indicator, creating a neat effect. It’s shocking however good this works, actually. Unfortunately, it doesn’t enactment erstwhile you adhd widgets beneath the time. Except for that limitation, you tin toggle this connected and disconnected astatine will.

Once you’ve picked your wallpaper, you’re taken to the afloat fastener surface customization view.