iOS 26: New Lock Screen Features

[MacRumors]

When you're not using your iPhone, the Lock Screen is what you see most often. Liquid Glass is everywhere in iOS 26, and it starts right when you pick up your device. The Lock Screen got a Liquid Glass overhaul, plus a few other new features.

Here's what you'll see first when you upgrade to iOS 26.

Liquid Glass

The two customizable control buttons on the Lock Screen are larger and have a floating, glass-like appearance like the other Liquid Glass interface options in iOS 26. The clock has a frosted glass appearance with the new "Glass" option, using lighting effects to make it look like glass in the real world.

Glass can be selected for any of the clock fonts, and you can choose a color to tint the glass. Apple has multiple preset options, or you can select your own.

When you tilt your iPhone, light reflects and glints with the movement, for a realistic glass effect.

Notifications that are on your Lock Screen have a Liquid Glass aesthetic with a frosted glass look that leaves your wallpaper visible behind them.

Clock

In addition to having a Liquid Glass aesthetic, the clock can be resized to better match your iPhone's wallpaper using a new adaptive feature. When you're customizing your Lock Screen, you can grab the corner of the time and drag it down to expand it.

Adjusting the size of the time only works with the first font option, and only with the standard Arabic, Western numbering.

With photo wallpapers, the time can automatically expand to fill in missing space, and it can change based on the image if you have Photo Shuffle set. The subject in photo wallpapers is meant to always be visible, and can overlap the time in unique ways in iOS 26.

There is a Photos watch face for the Apple Watch that also supports time that changes size and position based on the wallpaper.

Wallpaper

There is a new default wallpaper that was designed for iOS 26. It's multiple shades of blue, with the same floating glass aesthetic that the rest of iOS 26 features. The wallpaper can subtly shift with iPhone movement.

It's a small detail, but the icons for selecting different wallpaper categories have been updated to better match the Liquid Glass design.

Spatial Scenes

Aside from the Liquid Glass time, Spatial Scenes are the biggest change to the Lock Screen. 2D photos that you set as wallpaper can be turned into 3D spatial images that separate the subject of the photo from the background using depth information.

When you move your iPhone, Spatial Scenes shift and move along with it, making the images feel alive. Spatial Scenes is a feature in the Photos app too, and it can be added to any image that you've taken with your iPhone, including older ones.

Tap on the small icon with a mountain and a sun to activate the Spatial Scenes setting when choosing a photo wallpaper.

Widgets

Lock Screen widgets can be placed on the top of the display under the time, or at the bottom of the display. In earlier versions of iOS, you could only put widgets at the top of the screen. With the adaptive clock and new wallpaper options, widgets can also shift down automatically to ensure the subject of an image is always visible.

Apple Music

Apple added a new Lock Screen widget for Apple Music search, but there are no other new Lock Screen widget options. What is new, though, is a new full screen Now Playing interface that shows album art. Artwork expands and animates right on the Lock Screen.

Read More

We have a dedicated iOS 26 roundup that goes into detail on all of the new features that are available in the update.

Article Link: iOS 26: New Lock Screen Features

 

[now i see it]

gotta a feeling that message boards will light up (with complaints) once iOS 26 goes public

 

[klasma]

When you're not using your iPhone, the Lock Screen is what you see most often.

That must be a sad life.

 

[Justin Cymbal]

Widgets

Lock Screen widgets can be placed on the top of the display under the time, or at the bottom of the display. In earlier versions of iOS, you could only put widgets at the top of the screen. With the adaptive clock and new wallpaper options, widgets can also shift down automatically to ensure the subject of an image is always visible.

The ability to display more than just two widgets on the lock screen would be a nice feature to have (in a future version of iOS)

Now that we can place widgets on either the top or bottom of the lock screen, it would be nice to be able to place them on BOTH the top and bottom - to enable the ability to have 4 widgets simultaneously displayed on the lock screen

 

[4tune8chance]

Well yes it’s cool and all, but I would like a review for people with less than perfect eyesight. Hope they will have a option not to go with this as it seems difficult to focus on the text and images.

 

[GeezGlitch]

When you're not using your iPhone, the Lock Screen is what you see most often. Liquid Glass is everywhere in iOS 26, and it starts right when you pick up your device. The Lock Screen got a Liquid Glass overhaul, plus a few other new features.

Here's what you'll see first when you upgrade to iOS 26.

Liquid Glass

The two customizable control buttons on the Lock Screen are larger and have a floating, glass-like appearance like the other Liquid Glass interface options in iOS 26. The clock has a frosted glass appearance with the new "Glass" option, using lighting effects to make it look like glass in the real world.

Glass can be selected for any of the clock fonts, and you can choose a color to tint the glass. Apple has multiple preset options, or you can select your own.

When you tilt your iPhone, light reflects and glints with the movement, for a realistic glass effect.

Notifications that are on your Lock Screen have a Liquid Glass aesthetic with a frosted glass look that leaves your wallpaper visible behind them.

Clock

In addition to having a Liquid Glass aesthetic, the clock can be resized to better match your iPhone's wallpaper using a new adaptive feature. When you're customizing your Lock Screen, you can grab the corner of the time and drag it down to expand it.

Adjusting the size of the time only works with the first font option, and only with the standard Arabic, Western numbering.

With photo wallpapers, the time can automatically expand to fill in missing space, and it can change based on the image if you have Photo Shuffle set. The subject in photo wallpapers is meant to always be visible, and can overlap the time in unique ways in iOS 26.

There is a Photos watch face for the Apple Watch that also supports time that changes size and position based on the wallpaper.

Wallpaper

There is a new default wallpaper that was designed for iOS 26. It's multiple shades of blue, with the same floating glass aesthetic that the rest of iOS 26 features. The wallpaper can subtly shift with iPhone movement.

It's a small detail, but the icons for selecting different wallpaper categories have been updated to better match the Liquid Glass design.

Spatial Scenes

Aside from the Liquid Glass time, Spatial Scenes are the biggest change to the Lock Screen. 2D photos that you set as wallpaper can be turned into 3D spatial images that separate the subject of the photo from the background using depth information.

When you move your iPhone, Spatial Scenes shift and move along with it, making the images feel alive. Spatial Scenes is a feature in the Photos app too, and it can be added to any image that you've taken with your iPhone, including older ones.

Tap on the small icon with a mountain and a sun to activate the Spatial Scenes setting when choosing a photo wallpaper.

Widgets

Lock Screen widgets can be placed on the top of the display under the time, or at the bottom of the display. In earlier versions of iOS, you could only put widgets at the top of the screen. With the adaptive clock and new wallpaper options, widgets can also shift down automatically to ensure the subject of an image is always visible.

Apple Music

Apple added a new Lock Screen widget for Apple Music search, but there are no other new Lock Screen widget options. What is new, though, is a new full screen Now Playing interface that shows album art. Artwork expands and animates right on the Lock Screen.

Read More

We have a dedicated iOS 26 roundup that goes into detail on all of the new features that are available in the update.

Article Link: iOS 26: New Lock Screen Features

I don't know, Liquid Glass, still looks like liquid trash to me. It feels dated and clunky.

 

[miamialley]

The ability to display more than just two widgets on the lock screen would be a nice feature to have (in a future version of iOS)

Now that we can place widgets on either the top or bottom of the lock screen, it would be nice to be able to place them on BOTH the top and bottom - to enable the ability to have 4 widgets simultaneously displayed on the lock screen

Brother, wait until you hear about an amazing new feature of iOS 27! "We think you're going to love it."

 

[Seoras]

I've got 26 running on my iPad Pro. Love it! Looks great.
I've been using it since the beta was released and rather than being bored with it I'm finding the more I use it the more I like it.

 

[AndyUnderscoreR]

There's barely a single screenshot there that would pass the WCAG Color Contrast Checker.

I won't be installing IOS26 unless there's an option to ensure you always have a readable screen.

 

[pdaholic]

The clock on most of my photo wallpapers looks like that in the 4th cat pic—blended with the background and difficult to read.

 

[fatTribble]

This all looks pretty exciting to me based on the pictures.

It’s the Now Playing widget that concerns me. Apple does so much work to allow the Lock Screen to be customized, but that Now Playing widget shows up constantly, at least for me. It’s either set to control my Apple TV or it has some random song from the Music app I’ve never played. Is it just me?

Why on earth would they automatically throw that on your screen with no way to disable it and no easy way to dismiss it.

 

[darngooddesign]

The ability to display more than just two widgets on the lock screen would be a nice feature to have (in a future version of iOS)

Now that we can place widgets on either the top or bottom of the lock screen, it would be nice to be able to place them on BOTH the top and bottom - to enable the ability to have 4 widgets simultaneously displayed on the lock screen

I've always been able to display three widgets.

 

[darngooddesign]

This all looks pretty exciting to me based on the pictures.

It’s the Now Playing widget that concerns me. Apple does so much work to allow the Lock Screen to be customized, but that Now Playing widget shows up constantly, at least for me. It’s either set to control my Apple TV or it has some random song from the Music app I’ve never played. Is it just me?

Why on earth would they automatically throw that on your screen with no way to disable it and no easy way to dismiss it.

In OS18 (25 in the new lingo) I can toggle between displaying the album artwork and the Lock Screen (the album artwork minimizes into the control bar). Is this not in 26?

 

[gleepskip]

I've always been able to display three widgets.

There are FOUR widgets.

sorry 😆

 

[mansplains]

There's barely a single screenshot there that would pass the WCAG Color Contrast Checker.

I won't be installing IOS26 unless there's an option to ensure you always have a readable screen.

There is an option for the lock screen, solid:



The lock screen has enough contrast against most dark wallpapers when using glass, which are absent from this article.

 

[JapanApple]

I love it, want to see it appear good on my 14 Promax!

 

[JohnC1959]

There is an option for the lock screen, solid:

View attachment 2525460

The lock screen has enough contrast against most dark wallpapers when using glass, which are absent from this article.

Glad it has that option for solid vs glass. As the cat photo examples show, clear glass doesn't work well for such cases. There's a reason Apple chose the water like image for the default background. I'll keep my photo for the lock screen but probably use something like that simple default image for my home screen.

 

[MaSx]

Screaming Windows Vista from 2007. The company of innovation became the company of copycat.

 

[iFanaddic]

Is there a way to turn on the Apple Music lockscreen? I’m on ios 26 on iPhone 16 Pro and i dont see it ever. Everything seems to be turned on. I just get the widget

 

[fatTribble]

In OS25 I can toggle between displaying the album artwork and the Lock Screen (the album artwork minimizes into the control bar). Is this not in 26?

I’m talking about iOS 18 and previous versions. Like I mentioned, the Now Playing widget is obtrusive on the Lock Screen whether it’s for Apple TV or Music.

 

[EM2013]

Is there a way to turn on the Apple Music lockscreen? I’m on ios 26 on iPhone 16 Pro and i dont see it ever. Everything seems to be turned on. I just get the widget

Do you mean the full screen artwork? If so just tap the album on the lockscreen

 

[iFanaddic]

Do you mean the full screen artwork? If so just tap the album on the lockscreen

Aah duuuh


Thanks!

 

[EM2013]

Aah duuuh


Thanks!

👍🏼 cute dog by the way

 

[Jumpthesnark]

In OS25 I can toggle between displaying the album artwork and the Lock Screen (the album artwork minimizes into the control bar). Is this not in 26?

There is no iOS 25. They're going from 18 to 26. Did you mean 18?

 

[dominiongamma]

Screaming Windows Vista from 2007. The company of innovation became the company of copycat.

Vista wasn’t even the first to do it, if you want to go by copying then they copied as well.