Use “Lock Launcher” to Open Apps From the IPhone’s Lock Screen
iOS 16 has opened up the lock screen to all-new possibilities – there’s a widget section, Live Activity for real-time updates, and Dynamic Island if you’re using an iPhone 14 Pro. Soon someone figured out how to use all these new features to launch applications. The fact that the official Shortcuts app doesn’t have a lock screen widget is a shame.
Lock Launcher is a small utility that solves all these problems together: it is an application that allows you to place shortcuts on the lock screen and on Dynamic Island. These shortcuts can open apps, websites, shortcut automation tools, or any custom link, so you can launch Google Maps, Instagram, PayPal, or WhatsApp without unlocking your phone.
How to enable live action
If you’re on iOS 16.1 , the app intelligently uses Live Activity to display a row of app icons at the bottom of the lock screen. (Yes, it feels like you’re in Android country.)
In the Lock Launcher app, go to ” Settings ” > ” Advanced Settings ” > ” Active Actions Settings” and turn on ” Live Actions “. You can choose the maximum number of icons here if you like (up to eight). Click “Done” and go to the “Favorites” tab. The apps listed here will automatically show up in the Live Activity widget. Click “Add” and ” Select Action “. Here you can select popular apps, system settings, or websites. The app can’t access all of your installed apps so it has a list of over 130 popular ones and hopefully this list will expand in the future. If your app is not listed, go to the Custom section and search for the app’s URL scheme on the web. Once the action is set, click Save and repeat the process for any other apps you want.
The next time you open the lock screen, you will see that your apps are ready to go. The same is true when you click Dynamic Island. When you open these apps for the first time, you will see a confirmation window, but it will not appear again after that.
How to set up widgets
Widget customization takes some time, but it’s worth it, and Lock Launcher has eight single-icon widgets for you to customize. Go to the Lock Screen section, select the widget and you will see the same Select Action workflow we mentioned above. Add your app or shortcut and click Save .
To enable the widget, go to the lock screen, touch and hold the wallpaper, and then touch “Settings”. Touch an empty part of the widget, select the ” Lock Launcher ” app, and add the widget you created. Up to four icons can be added to the panel. The application allows you to create two widgets and a Real-time Actions field for free. You can upgrade to the Pro version for $0.99.