Have you been wondering what are the different screens called on iPhone? Or what does the home and lock screen do on your iPhone? All your questions will be answered in this post where we cover the meaning and differences between the home and lock screens on iPhone. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
What Is Home Screen on iPhone
The home screen of your iPhone is the portal or gateway to your phone. It is the screen from which you have access to all the apps installed on your phone. The home screen can have widgets, website shortcuts, and wallpaper in addition to app icons.
You have to swipe right or left on the home screen to switch between different home screen pages. You can add or remove home screen pages as per your need.
Earlier, all the installed apps would show directly on the home screen but now they are grouped in the App Library, which is the last or right-most screen of the home screen. Similarly, you will find the Today screen on the far-left side of the home screen, which houses various widgets.
You can create multiple home screen pages on your iPhone but each home screen page should have at least one app on it. If you delete all the apps from a page, the page will be deleted automatically. The apps can still be accessed from App Library.
What Is Lock Screen on iPhone
The lock screen is the first screen that you see when you wake up, turn on, or start your iPhone. It is the screen where you see the big clock and recent notifications. The home screen shows up after the lock screen.
If a passcode or any other authentication service is enabled, then the lock screen serves as the gatekeeper to your iPhone and protects it from unauthorized access. You cannot go beyond the lock screen if you don’t know the passcode of the iPhone.
In addition to securing your private content, the lock screen also acts as your mini assistant. From the Lock screen, you can see your notifications, get useful information from apps, open Control Center or Camera app, and even control media playback.
Difference Between Home Screen and Lock Screen on iPhone
Here are the differences between the lock and home screen on iPhone.
Functionality
The Lock screen on your iPhone protects your iPhone from being accessed by unwanted users and it also lets you view notifications, time, and other useful information on one screen. However, you cannot access all the apps or your personal data from the lock screen. You have to go beyond the lock screen to have full access to your iPhone.
On the contrary, when you are on the iPhone’s home screen, you have full access to the phone. You can view and open the installed apps, see data in different apps, open websites using shortcuts, open contacts, and access widgets.
Gestures
The Lock screen is basically a single screen only. But you can access other functions using gestures. You have to swipe left on the lock screen to open the Camera app. Similarly, swipe right to open the iPhone’s Today View or swipe up to view notifications. Lastly, swipe up from the bottom edge to open Control Center.
On iPhone, swipe left or right to switch between home screen pages. Swipe down to access the notification center and swipe up to open Control Center from the home screen.
Number of Screens
You can have multiple home screen pages on your iPhone. Long press the dots at the bottom of the home screen to hide home screen pages.
On the other hand, you can have only one lock screen at a time. Sure, you can change its wallpaper or widgets but you cannot switch between different lock screen pages.
Change Home Screen or Lock Screen with Focus
In iOS 15, Apple introduced the ability to change the home screen page with Focus modes. With iOS 16, this functionality has been extended to the lock screen as well. So, now you can change both the lock screen and home screen pages based on a Focus profile. That is, when you switch to a different Focus profile like Do not disturb or Gaming, the selected lock or home screen will be set. Go to Settings > Focus. Choose the desired focus profile and select lock or home screens as per your preference. Learn how to use Focus modes with lock screen.
Widgets
You can add widgets to both your lock and home screen on your iPhone. While home screen widgets were introduced with iOS 14, lock screen widgets came with iOS 16.
Customization
Both the home and lock screens can be customized on iPhone. You can change the lock screen wallpaper, and add or remove widgets like weather, battery percentage, etc. You can even customize the lock by changing font, style, and color. Check out 10+ tips to customize the lock screen on iPhone.
Regarding home screen customization on iPhone, you can change the home screen wallpaper, customize app icons, create folders to group similar apps, and move apps between different home screen pages. You can also add or remove widgets and create widget stacks.
Tip: To get your iPhone’s home screen back to normal, you can reset your home screen settings. For that, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Reset > Reset home screen layout.
Access
To get to the home screen on your iPhone, press the physical Home button or swipe up from any app. On the other hand, press the Power button to go to the lock screen.
Delete Permanently
While you can remove or hide individual home screen pages from your iPhone, you cannot delete all the home screen pages. Your iPhone must have at least one home screen page.
Similarly, you cannot remove the lock screen completely. Sure, you can disable the authentication features like a passcode, Face ID, etc., but that will not remove the lock screen from your iPhone.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the dock on the iPhone home screen?
The dock is the area at the bottom of the iPhone’s home screen that houses four apps. You can replace the existing apps with new ones by using the drag-and-drop gesture.
2. What is the difference between the home screen and wallpaper on iPhone?
The home screen houses the app icons and widgets that are present or displayed over the wallpaper. The wallpaper is a digital image present in the background of the home or lock screen of your iPhone. It doesn’t have any functionality and only serves a decorative purpose. Check out three ways to change wallpaper automatically on your iPhone.
3. Can your lock screen and home screen be different on your iPhone?
Yes, you can set a different wallpaper for lock and home screen on your iPhone.
Tips to Use iPhone
Hope you have learned the meaning and differences between the lock and the home screen of the iPhone. Before you go, check out the tips to use interesting features such as screen time, markup tools, and Spotlight search on iPhone.
Mehvish
Mehvish Mushtaq is a tech lover from Kashmir. With a degree in computer engineering, she's always been happy to help anyone who finds technology challenging. She's been writing about technology for over six years, and her favorite topics include how-to guides, explainers, tips and tricks for Android, iOS/iPadOS, Windows, social media, and web apps. You can also find her work on Make Tech Easier, Guiding Tech, and Nerds Chalk
