Last week’s WWDC was tons of fun for Apple watchers: from the new, super-slim MacBook Air M2 to a sneak peek of the next macOS, Ventura, it’s clear that Apple has lots of goodies for us this year. But the announcement I’m most interested in was about the thing most of us take for granted: the iPhone Lock Screen.
Apple’s presentation at WWDC was pretty interesting, but if like me you want to know more our friends at Techradar sat down with Apple for a really deep dive into what’s coming and what Apple’s been thinking. The piece, by Lance Ulanoff, is a must-read if you’re as into your iPhones as I am.
Little changes you’ll see all day every day
Changes to the Lock Screen are a really big deal: when you think about how many times you see it or touch it in a typical day, even minor tweaks will have a big effect on your phone usage. And what struck me about Ulanoff’s interviews is how un-Apple the approach here has been: where Apple tends to take a “our way or the highway” approach to matters of design, the Lock Screen revamp is much more open to customisation.
As Ulanoff puts it: “iOS 16 will have many pre-built Lock Screen options to help nudge you towards looks and styles that it thinks will look the best on your smartphone, without removing users' ability to make the changes they want.”
There’s lots of interesting stuff in the article, such as the existence of “about a dozen neural networks” designed to judge how good photos are and some insight into how Apple’s photo styles work.
I’m really excited to try all of this on my iPhone 13 Pro. The public beta of iOS 16 should arrive in a few weeks time, but in the meantime Techradar’s deep dive will whet your appetite for an OS update that should make Apple’s best phones even better.
