iOS 16 is going to bring a lot of changes to your iPhone once it goes live, but sometimes it’s the smallest detail that really makes a difference. And it’s one of these small fixes that I’ve been making the most since I installed iOS 16 beta on my phone.
One tool I use most often on my iPhone is the timer in the Clock app, whether it’s time to pour my coffee, to check how fast the phone charges review, making sure I don’t burn my dinner or something. If you had asked me a few weeks ago if there was anything wrong with this feature, I would have said no. But the new timer widget that appears on the lock screen when in use is a game changer for me.
Previously, the lock screen would only show you how much time is left, and in a fairly small font at the top of the screen. Here’s what it looks like on an iPhone running iOS 15.
(Image credit: Tom Guide)
And what it looks like on iOS 16.
(Image credit: Tom Guide)
As you can see, it’s huge, appears above your notifications like a media player, and most importantly, offers pause and cancel buttons. Before now, if you wanted to suspend the timer, you had to go back into the app or go through Control Center. You could have already stopped the timer just by going back into the app. This makes it very easy to access both if you’ve put your phone down or have been using other apps for a while.
(Image credit: Tom Guide)
This is what certain Android devices can do, such as Samsung phones with their timer pop-up and lock screen widgets. But for the millions of iPhone users who aren’t interested in switching, it’s a great upgrade.
Of the iOS 16 features I’ve been used to, I still think the new haptic keyboard feedback is even better from a daily usability standpoint, especially as it’s basically a standard feature on rival Android phones. But the new Timer Widget on Lock Screen comes a close second, and will undoubtedly prove useful to a lot of people for a variety of reasons.
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