Unlock the Power of Your iPhone: Mastering the Lock Screen Shortcut

A hidden gem buried deep in the iPhone landscape is the little-known Lock Screen Shortcut. This tool, that can only added via the iOS Shortcuts app, enables the iPhone to become something completely different, it can be like an iPad and more. The iPhone becomes rich in functionality and much more accessible. Let’s cover the hows and the whys.

The Magic of iPhone Lock Screen Shortcuts

Why TAP into This Feature?

Every iPhone user wants the ability to customise his or her phone, crafting its behavioural movement to fit with one’s cadence or routine. With iPhone Lock Screen Shortcut, you are customising another layer of personalisation. But not this time weaving how you use your device, but rather how and when your device will lock itself.

Picture this: you have your auto-lock timer set to never, because you’re always too busy and engrossed in whatever you’re doing on your phone, whether reading, working or playing games. But sometimes you want to quickly lock your screen without having to use the side button. When that moment comes, a tap instantly dims and locks the screen. Done. Done.

Setting Up Your iPhone Lock Screen Shortcut

The Step-by-Step Guide

1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone (you must use iOS 16.4 or later to use the Lock Screen Shortcut).
2. Tap the "+" in the corner to usher in a new Shortcut.
3. Use the search function to find "Add Action" > select "Lock Screen."
4. Tap Done to save your basic Shortcut, or get fancy with conditions and extra actions.
5. Want it in your pocket? Tap the share icon in the top right to add it to your Home Screen.
6. Personalize it further by pressing and holding the Shortcut to rename it—get creative!

To learn more about all the wonderful things you could use Shortcuts for, you can check out Apple’s Shortcuts User Guide or the MacStories Shortcuts Archive.

Creative Ways to Use Your Lock Screen Shortcut

Unlocking Potential with Every TAP

Whether it’s facilitating more access for those who need it, or providing a stylish way to lock your iPhone during a presentation without needing to frantically fumble your side button (at least it’s handy when you finally find it), the use cases are as endless as they are creative. The reason to pledge to lock your screen isn’t just so that your screen can stay locked – it’s so that you can maintain ownership of your time and attention, free from the cultural scourge of always-on displays.

Tapping Into Other Handy iPhone Automations

And beyond the Lock Screen, there’s a virtually unlimited world of automation possibilities just waiting to be unearthed in iOS. Whether you’re eager to enable an always-on display on your iPhone, or even if you just want to dabble in iOS betas, there are almost limitless uses for Shortcuts. The app is brimming with possibilities.

Going Deeper with Shortcuts

And, for those of you who actually use the Lock Screen Shortcut, and have been left wanting, there’s more – so much more – to know about iOS automation on macOS Catalina and iOS 13. Shortcuts that can remove barriers and streamline every aspect of your iPhone experience, from maxing out every operational trick and tweak to making your ‘productivity toolkit’ as efficient and effective as possible.

Tapping into Feedback: What Are Your Thoughts?

So, what do you think? Does the iPhone Lock Screen Shortcut reveal a new world of ‘everyday’ iPhone use to you? What kinds of novel use cases have you come up with, or what kinds of personalised automations have you created? We’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments below.

Understanding the TAP

But it is useful here to stop and ask what the ‘tap’ has come to represent in our digital lives. In the context of this article, the word ‘tap’ (verb) – in addition to being the act of touching our iPhones – represents the ease and access that technology has brought into our lives: with every tap, something new becomes accessible, something new can be simplified or individualised, and every tap and swipe makes our interactions with devices more intuitive and oriented towards the needs of the user.

To conclude then, the power of taking a photo with the iPhone Lock Screen Shortcut is not what you’d think it is. It’s not the taking of a photo. It’s the bunch of creative ideas it leaves in its wake as a temporary freelance art director, product tester and minimalist tapper falls in love with creative possibilities on their iPhone. The age of being tappy is full of endless moments and more than anything, tools like this remind us that there are still boundless opportunities to streamline our lives, tap by tap.