After debuting with the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple has continued to improve its always-on screen with software updates. Whether you’ve just got a 14 Pro or 15 Pro or haven’t customized your screen before, here’s how to automate iPhone always-on display.
After launching without much flexibility, Apple released the first always-on display customizations with iOS 16.2. That allowed users to turn off colored wallpapers and notifications from the always-on screen.
After that, Apple made it possible to schedule/automate when iPhone always-on is enabled via Focus Filters.
How to automate iPhone always-on display with Focus Filters
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max or 15 Pro/Pro Max (iOS 16.4 or later required)
- Choose Focus > pick an existing Focus or create a new one
- Swipe down and under Focus Filters tap Add Filter
- At the bottom choose the new “Always On Display”
- The default will be to turn it on, tap Add in the top right corner
- To automate this, make sure you have either Smart Activation on or a schedule set for the Focus you’ve added always-on to (just above Focus Filters)
- You can also tie the always-on on/off filter to different Lock Screens by linking them with a Focus mode (long-press on your Lock Screen > tap Focus)
- Jump into another Focus mode and set always-on to off to automate the feature
Always-on display Shortcuts
You can also set up control of the always-on display in the Shortcuts app – which offers Siri support:
- Open the Shortcuts app
- Tap the + in the top right corner
- Choose Add Action
- Use the search bar to find “Set Always On Display”
- Tap the blue Turn or On buttons to customize what will happen when you run the Shortcut
- Tap Done in the top right corner to add your new Shortcut
Thanks for checking out our guide on how to automate iPhone always-on display!