With iOS 16, Apple introduced customizable lock screen widgets, quite a big addition to the iOS operating system that, honestly speaking, flipped up the iPhone customization game on its head. Paired with the Always-On display functionality on the iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro, lock screen widgets are now an integral and rather useful part of Apple's platform.
How do you customize your lock screen on iOS? It's has its slight learning curve, but once you go through the necessary motions, repeating them becomes much more intuitive. We have a rather comprehensive iOS 16 lock screen customization guide available for you to follow. While you're here, make sure to check out our detailed iOS 16 review as well, which goes through iOS 16 as a whole.
Which are the best iOS apps that offer built-in mini widgets for the iOS 16 lock screen?
We have some very notable suggestions for you!
Stock iOS apps
Indeed, the stock iOS apps that offer lock screen widgets are without a doubt one's first acquaintance with the functionality. Here are what widgets you can use on your lock screen:
Batteries—Provides the current battery level of your iPhone, paired Apple Watch or AirPods.
Calendar—Gives you relevant information about your upcoming calendar events.
Clock—Allows you to place a secondary clock widget on your lock screen, digital or analog, with the current time in another time zone.
Fitness—Shows you your activity rings at a glance.
Reminders—This one will show you your upcoming reminders.
Weather—Gives the current weather conditions, precipitation, wind, temperature, moon phase information, etc .
Shortly after iOS 16 became official, Google was quick to share information about its upcoming range of new lock screen widgets. With these, you can access Google Search's most vital features at a grasp, like Voice Search, Lens, Quick Translate, Shop, and more. Of course, the ubiquitous regular Google Search mini widget is also present.
If you're a heavy Google Drive user, then Drive's new-fangled mini widgets for iOS 16 are likely a godsend. Thanks to these, you can quickly and easily access suggested files, search your documents, and view your starred files quickly and effortlessly. All of these widgets are single-space ones, not to be confused with the wider widgets that usually take two spaces.
When it comes to Gmail, Google hasn't gone quite experimental with the available mini widgets. You get two widgets, a small mini one and a large, dual-space widget. What they do is show you the number of unread emails received since you've last opened the app, and also act as shortcuts to the full Gmail experience. Overall, a rather useful addition to the iOS 16 lock screen. We wonder why Apple hasn't made a similar mini widget for the built-in Mail app.
Apollo for Reddit, aside from being one of the best Reddit clients for iOS, has an excellent selection of mini lock screen widgets, some eight of them. They range from useful ones, like quick access to trending posts, your Reddit karma, subreddit shortcuts, your inbox, your most recent post, most recent comment, and random subreddit, to funny ones, like the total distance you've scrolled into the app, as well as enjoy a cute animated Pixel Pal that does funny things on your lock screen.
Messenger's offering for your iPhone lock screen lets you quickly see your unread messages and opens the respective chat. This widget is only available in a dual-space configuration. We hope that a single-space mini widget gets released down the line as well, as it would make sense to have it as an option.
Are you well hydrated? Chances are an extra glass of water wouldn't hurt you. Waterminder is a great app that tracks your hydration and also reminds you to take a cup when necessary.
It takes a special type of person to love to be insulted and treated like, as popular weather app Carrot often puts it, "meatbag". The infamous app will take up every possible chance to insult you if you wish so, though you can still use it as a reliable weather forecaster. There's also over a dozen—yes, a dozen—mini widgets available for your lock screen. Yes, you will have to carefully choose which ones you employ!
With Parcel, you can quickly and easily keep tabs on any incoming orders you might have purchases online. The app also features rather convenient Amazon integration which works like a charm. Keep track of your orders with the super-handy iOS 16 lock screen widget!
Did you know what "loquacious" means? Apparently, it's an adjective depicting someone rather talkative. Thanks to Daily Dictionary, a rather straightforward iOS app, you can learn new words like this one every day. And the best part is you don't need to open the app, like ever — you can rely on the convenient lock screen widget to gain the necessary knowledge.
The rather popular Flighty app comes along with a rather comprehensive flight tracking, keeping tabs on all details that might interest you as far as your upcoming flights are considered. There's a single, but useful lock screen mini widget which gives you accurate information about your flight's take-off time, flight's status, your gate, as well as any delays if you're a Pro subscriber.
Ever wondered if there's a way to keep track on new music releases? Of course there is! With Music Harbor, you can follow artists, labels, genres, and always be informed about any upcoming music releases on time.
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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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