Apple had a great time adding always-on display to its phones and brought it to the iPhone 14 models with this year’s iOS 16 update. However, not everyone is a fan of Apple’s approach to always-on displays, which have been a mainstay of Android phones for some time.
If you thought the always-on display on the iPhone 14 Pro was too busy, you’ll want to grab iOS 16.2 when the software update becomes available this month. A new version of iOS 16.2 beta has just landed on developers, and it gives users the option to turn off some features that are displayed on the screen when always-on mode is enabled.
Currently, the always-on feature on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro Max dims the phone’s lock screen. The clock and lock screen widgets you added to your lock screen will still appear, but so will your wallpaper, and any notifications that were displayed. This is in stark contrast to the way most Android phones present their always-on displays, which feature a clock and possibly some other notifications or widgets.
The iOS 16.2 beta 3 update introduces a way to take Android’s more minimalist approach to your iPhone. You can now turn off the always-on wallpaper and notifications, leaving only the time, data and widgets on a black screen.
You can access this feature by going into the Display & Brightness section of the Settings app. Select the always-on display, and you’ll now see separate toggles that allow wallpapers and notifications to appear on the screen. They join existing switches that allow you to completely turn off the iPhone 14 Pro’s always-on display.
Personally, I like Apple’s different approach to always-on displays, which I think helps them stand out from the way Android phones do it. I also appreciate how the always-on feature takes advantage of the iPhone 14 Pro’s ProMotion display to shrink the refresh rate all the way down to 1Hz so that the always-on feature doesn’t come at the expense of battery life. But I can understand why some people think Apple is going too far.
In addition to the changes to the always-on display, iOS 16.2 also introduces a new Freeform app for real-time collaboration between different Apple devices, as well as a dynamic island upgrade that makes Wi-Fi icons and signal The bar stays visible on your iPhone 14 Pro screen while playing music. Other changes include expanded ProMotion support, tweaks to live events and the ability to bring weather-related news stories into the Weather app.
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