Apple finally lets you customize lock screen shortcuts—but is it too late?
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
In case you missed it, one of the key new features of iOS 18 is an exciting, though minor, change to the iPhone’s customization suite: the ability to modify the Lock Screen shortcuts, replacing the traditional flashlight and camera buttons.
I sort of expected that Apple will introduce customizable shortcuts ever since we heard that the new iPhone 16 will feature a custom new camera button––virtual high-five!
However, Apple's design choices have irreversibly shaped my habits, and this otherwise welcome personalization change feels like too little, too late.
While I love personalizing all my gadgets and pushing the software to its limits to fit my usage, even sometimes customizing just for the sake of it, this new option has missed the mark for me.
"But why aren't you swiping left, Peter?" you may ask. This gesture never clicked with me, even though it's objectively faster. It's just how I use my phone.
Camera shortcuts and iOS: A brief history
Apple has always been keen on giving users quick ways to access the camera, with the iPhone 15 and 16 lineups giving us hardware solutions to the problem.
It all began with the ancient iOS 5 software update back in 2011, which enabled iPhone users to access the iPhone camera straight from the lock screen after a quick double-click on the home button, which was a staple of the iPhone lineup.
This evolved to a more easily accessible camera icon shortcut on the iOS 7 lock screen back in late 2013, where iPhone users had a camera icon on the lock screen, which allowed them to open the camera app with a simple swipe up. With iOS 10, the shortcut evolved to a more streamlined swipe left on the lock screen to access the camera. By the way, this one is still available even today.
The two lock screen shortcuts as we know them were introduced with iOS 11 on the iconic iPhone X, and that was all the way back in 2017. Ever since then, most iPhones out there have had two mainstays: the ubiquitous flash and camera shortcuts. iOS changed through the years, scored new features and customization capabilities, yet the flash and camera buttons remained a staple of all lock screens out there.
And that was fine, mind you. Par for the course for Apple, the initial un-customizable nature of these lock screen shortcuts meant that each and every iPhone user had to get used to the imposed change in due time, and eventually, we all did.
Why I am not changing the lock screen shortcuts on my phone
Now, with iOS 18, Apple finally gives us a way to customize our lock screen shortcuts. You can choose among a pretty vast selection of choices for each of the two shortcuts; you can even have two of the same shortcuts, if you wish so, though it's doubtful anyone will find use of that. Finally, you can remove either of the two shortcuts for a cleaner look, if that's what floats your boat.
And yet, as I mentioned all the way back at the beginning of this article, I struggle to find useful shortcuts to slap on the lock screen of my iPhone 13 Pro Max. Maybe it's conditioning or Apple's influence, but it doesn't feel right to change something that already works fine for me.
For one, the flashlight shortcut is objectively immensely useful and is now essentially a muscle-memory grade shortcut. You can't beat the usefulness of this shortcut when you need some extra light. You can't tell me people are actually going on with their everyday lives and actually telling "Lumos" to Siri, the Easter egg command that opens the torchlight, can you?
The other shortcut, the camera one, is tricky: with the new iPhone 16 series, you have a total of four ways to access the camera: the lock screen shortcut, swiping left on the lock screen, mapping the camera to the Action Button, and pressing the new Camera Control button. That's enough redundancy.
However, I don't have one of those newer devices; I rock an iPhone 13 Pro Max that still beats many of its successor on overall merit and value––it doesn't feel outdated at all! Therefore, I have no access to an Action Button or Camera Control key, so the camera shortcut on the lock screen is one that I use often.
Should you change your lock screen shortcuts?
If customizing your Lock Screen shortcuts makes your iPhone experience smoother or more fun, go for it. The beauty of this feature lies in its flexibility––make it work for you. There are some default shortcuts you can map to either one, but once you factor in the fact you can slap any of your custom shortcuts made with the Shortcuts app on your lock screen, this feature becomes truly powerful.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: