You Can Now Change Your Lock Screen’s Controls in the iOS 18 Betas [CNET]

August 3, 2024August 3, 2024 Zachary McAuliffe technology

No more accidentally turning your flashlight on.

Zachary McAuliffe Staff writer

Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him reading and drinking coffee or watching a TV series with his wife and their dog.

Expertise Web hosting | Operating systems | Applications | Software Credentials

Apple software beta tester, “Helps make our computers and phones work!” – Zach’s grandparents

Apple released the second public beta for iOS 18 on July 29, more than a month after the tech giant announced the software at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The update brings many new features to the iPhones of developers and beta testers, including upgrades to Messages and more ways to customize your home screen.

One new feature that I’ve wanted for a while is the ability to remove or change your lock screen controls. Which is great because I haven’t accidentally turned my flashlight on since I downloaded the beta.

Don’t forget that iOS 18 is still in beta, and I recommend downloading a beta only on something other than your primary device. Because this isn’t the final version of iOS 18, the update might be buggy and battery life may be short, and it’s best to keep those troubles on a secondary device. I downloaded the beta to my old iPhone XR to keep any issues away from my iPhone 14 Pro.

Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 18, so there could be more features to land on your iPhone when iOS 18 is released. Apple said iOS 18 would be released to the public this fall, but there’s no definitive date yet.

Here’s how you can make your lock screen more useful for you.

How to customize your iPhone lock screen

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Wallpaper.
3. Tap Customize under your lock screen.

This will pull up your lock screen with familiar outlines around editable items, including the flashlight and camera controls at the bottom of your screen. You can get rid of them by tapping the minus (–) sign next to them. After removing either or both controls, tap Done in the top right corner of your screen.

Some of the controls you can place on your lock screen with iOS 18 — These are just a few of the controls

Apple/Screenshot by CNET

If you want to add new controls, once you’ve removed the flashlight and camera, tap the plus (+) sign that appears after removing the control to pull up the Control menu. This menu shows you all the controls you can add to the lock screen, including Translate and Quick Note.

There is also a control available called Open App. This allows you to choose any app on your iPhone and open it right from your lock screen, even if it’s not a listed control. You still have to unlock your iPhone to access the app, but it makes it easy to open your favorite apps without getting distracted by others.

Once you select Open App, tap Choose in the new menu and it will show you all your apps. Choose any app — even games like Hello Kitty Island Adventure — then tap outside of the menu and tap Done.

The iPhone Lock Screen with the Hello Kitty Island Adventure and Quick Notes function — I was serious when I said I have Hello Kitty Island Adventure on my lock screen.

Apple/Screenshot by CNET

Now when you lock your iPhone, you’ll see either no controls on your lock screen or controls that you use more often. But now you might randomly open Hello Kitty — oh no, guess I’ve got to bake a strawberry shortcake for all my friends.

Don’t forget, iOS 18 is still in beta so these features could be buggy or not work properly. There will likely be more betas before the OS is released to the public, so there’s plenty of time for Apple to address any issues. As of now, though, there’s no word on when Apple will release iOS 18.

For more on iOS 18, here’s my hands-on experience with the iOS 18 betas, what to know about RCS messaging and how to schedule a message to send later. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet.