iOS 16 review: Customization unlocked

For the past couple of years, Apple’s annual iOS updates have laser focused on one feature for an overhaul while making smaller tweaks to everything else. Last year, Focus was the, well, focus. The year before that, it was the home screen.

This time it’s the lock screen. You can now change fonts, add widgets, customize the information displayed, and pick from a wider variety of wallpaper. Apple has also more deeply integrated the lock screen with the Focus modes that were fleshed out in iOS 15. And it has laid the groundwork for something more than just notifications that third-party apps can show you before you unlock your phone.

Given the increasingly iterative nature of iOS releases today—with many key features not arriving until months after the initial ship date of a new, whole-numbered version—we’re moving to leaner initial iOS reviews, with updates to come in additional articles over time. So today we’re going to look at the main new feature of iOS 16, but we’ll touch on a couple of other key features and changes, too.