How to Disable Widgets at Lock Screen in iOS 11 and iOS 10

Sep 25, 2016 - 60 Comments

Hide widget and today screen from iPhone lock screen

With new iOS versions came the removal of Slide to Unlock, which now if the slide right gesture is repeated sends you to the Today view Widgets screen complete with weather, calendar events, tabloids and news, Siri app suggestions, stocks, maps, and whatever optional widgets you have enabled on the iPhone or iPad. This Widget screen is accessible from the lock screen by default on any iOS 10, iOS 11, or later device.

But what if you don’t want widgets available on the lock screen? Perhaps you’d prefer to maintain more privacy and not reveal anything about the device itself let alone the calendar or app suggestions, or notifications. For any reason, you can disable and hide the widget section of the lock screen completely. The end result is if you slide over from the lock screen, nothing happens, because there is nothing to swipe over to.

How to Hide Widgets & Notifications from Lock Screen of iOS 11 and iOS 10

This works to disable the Today view, widgets, and Notification view with any iPhone or iPad running iOS 10 or newer:

  1. Open the “Settings” app on iPhone or iPad and then go to ‘Touch ID & Passcode’
  2. Under the “Allow Access When Locked” section, toggle the switches next to “Today View” and “Notifications View” to the OFF position
  3. Disable widgets and today screen at lock screen in iOS 10

  4. Exit out of Settings and lock the device again, swiping over will now do nothing

Note that you will still have access to widgets, Today view, and notifications from an unlocked iPhone or iPad, just not from the lock screen.

Begone widgets and today screen from lock screen of iOS 10

That’s the key difference, by making this settings change the only way to see additional details and widgets on the device itself is by authenticating with Touch ID or a passcode.

Disable the widget lock screen of iOS 10

You can also edit the widgets and adjust what shows up in the widget and today screen if desired, like removing the “News” and tabloid headlines from the Spotlight screen of iOS, though if you’re aiming for privacy turning off the lock screen access in general is likely more desirable than toggling specific sections off or on.

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPad, iPhone, Tips & Tricks

60 Comments

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  1. Erica says:

    The widget screen is stupid! You should be able to turn it of

  2. Mac says:

    Now, if there were only a way in Parental Controls (“Restrictions”) to disable the “Edit Widgets” button that appears on the notification screen…

  3. John says:

    I have an iPhone 5 with no fingerprint touch ID, so this article does not help me. Every time I try and turn up the music the stupid phone takes me to the widget screen, where I have no widgets. None. Why can’t I switch this stupid function off.

  4. Rachel says:

    I also only have ‘Passcode’ under General on my iPad. Can’t turn this off and its wasting so much time and is utterly annoying. Any advice for how to switch this off on an older iPad (for those of us without the latest tech) gratefully received.

  5. Grace says:

    Disabling ‘home’ and all other apps in Settings>Fingerprint & Passcode
    did eliminate the Notifications screen from showing when I revert to swipe-to-unlock motion. However I still find there a screen to the left of my main screen that will not go away once it is unlocked and accessed. So frustrating. I resent the change in user interface. Apple has trained us all to swipe to open for years and now they are using this habit to try to force their advertising agenda on us. Thumbs down. If I wanted a ‘windows’ style interface there are lots of cheaper devices on the market. And I agree with a previous theorist that this is a ploy to make the Home Button wear out twice as fast so you are forced to find new equipment!
    Boo to iOS 10. Boo to unwanted widgets. Boo to Apple.

  6. Lecton says:

    Hi

    I have a question regarding Widgets in iOS10. I had created a Widget and ran it in iOS9, and when the widget was not in view, it could still send updates to my server. But in iOS 10, that is no-longer the case. My question is, is there an option I can select that will enable me to do so? Thanks

  7. B says:

    Nevermind, Right after I posted I went back and deleted the News icon. Spammy news headlines are gone now.

  8. B says:

    How do you get rid of News once and for all? It’s like spam. I’ve disabled location services, background app refresh and cellular data under settings/news and I’m still seeing the stupid previews.

  9. Craig says:

    It really annoys me that someone who sits in an office developing presumes to know what I as a consumer wants. What I want is not what you want.
    Like Microsoft’s bloated OS, someone had a brain fart and the result is the world has to live with his/her wet dream.

    People are intelligent and don’t need you to presume to know what they need.
    Give us options and allow us to choose. That’s what the original creator did with humans.

  10. Bev says:

    Hate Widgets. Want my slide to unlock screen back. Is this new update intended to wear out my Home button faster? Apple, fix this now!

  11. Paul says:

    When I go to unlock my phone facebook is sitting there in the bottom left part of my screen. I’ve attempted to turn it off but I can’t get rid of it. I rarely use FB, and I don’t like that it shows up.

    How do I turn this off?

  12. Peter says:

    Or, one can unlock the phone while in the lock screen, dont press home but scroll to the bottom where an edit option appears, and delete the unwanted apps.

  13. vj says:

    After updater version 10.0.2 facing issue with home scree if i want unlock the screen need to press twice home button really horrible .if possibility available with twice press home screen please suggest

  14. Rich says:

    Thanks all for your help in resolving this intrusive and annoying “update”. My contribution: By unchecking everything Under ‘touch id and privacy’, not activating “home” and repeatedly removing ‘widgets’, I have gotten to a state where the Home Screen is blank, then I can press the Home button and it goes to ‘enter password’. Not as good as before, but perhaps good enough to not risk a restore to get back to ios9.

    I’d be interested to hear from folks who have restored from a full backup from ITunes, something that I do every time right before I go to a useless upgrade.

    As for all these insane and intrusive ‘widgets’. I have no desire to see the latest election dirt, shootings, recipes, etc, in the morning – or ever – unless I consciously look for them. I don’t understand the race to allow others to constantly push their self-serving information into our heads, that is, at the least, not useful, but probably has a negative effect by crowding out other thoughts, and gradually removing our independent volition to prioritize and obtain information that’s important to us.

    Off the deep end here, but it’s part of the subject for me. Cheers!

    .

    • Rich says:

      And it updated ITunes are part of the deal – something I’ve said ‘no’ to for months. I bought the phone, but it would seem that Apple, not me, is the real owner.

  15. P staines says:

    Bring back swipe to unlock, it was much faster. Apple you are a bunch of cnuts!

  16. Grr says:

    Ok really can’t have a iPad Air without a passcode set and no widgets on my lock screen I miss the nice simply slide to unlock with no extra crap on my lock screen! A lock screeen should be just a picture time and an unlock method.

  17. Starry says:

    Try being an iPhone user because you’re blind and then they throw all the stupid crap at you. I can’t stand the lack of oversight with this. My battery dies within 12 hours after a full charge.
    So how exactly do I roll back to iOS 9.35? Turning off the home and widgets is likely too difficult for me to manage with the Voice over enabled. Very glad my old iPhone 4 won’t even consider an iOS upgrade LOL

  18. T H says:

    Extra step to unlock is super annoying!!!! Even with all widgets off!? Terrible bloatware programming…

  19. Sam Bieksza says:

    Well, my spouse just saw his Christmas present and when it will be delivered on my locked I phone. What a surprise. Tried to dial “911” today, but figured it would be quicker to just throw the iPhone at the guy. A devoted Mac fan since ’89, really thinking of ditching this phone

  20. Jason says:

    I no longer love Apple. I now HATE Apple. iOS 10 is absolute garbage and this is the last time I put up with this crap. I will never buy another Apple product (don’t worry, Microsoft is already on my boot heel).

    Thank God I’m a programmer. F-off mainstream tech – you’re no longer special or wanted.

  21. Nick says:

    My wife hates this and can’t get rid of it. Permanent fix – rolling back to 9.3.5.

    Apple – lose this “feature” in the next update, or at least make it “opt in” for those who want it.

  22. qngnht says:

    In ios 10, can anyone help me to remove Camera icon on lock screen without disable Camera and remove it from home screen ? This feature is so much annoying and easy for anyone to spy and see all privated photos without logging passcode. I installed ios 10 for all my family members, and they all scolded and yelled at me with that non-privated feature … :(( They are very young and old ladies, therfore they can’t accept disabling Camera or enabling it again ( too many steps and time for ladies ) to take a selfie picture.

  23. Detroit-D says:

    Tell Apple to take iOS 10 and shove it. I’m switching back to a Samsung phone.

  24. Antony says:

    Another can’t get the camera off the unlock screen managed to sort the rest but still slide to right is bloody camera, another 20 mins wasted trying to customise phone to get it something like once was, who came up with new iPhone update 10 I’d sack the the lot!

  25. Antony says:

    When will iPhone learn don’t try fix something that is not broken, some boffins at iPhone think by adding all widgets and quick acress make life easier in fact it’s more time consuming, iPhone have taken away our own user interface with new update, no longer the slide unlock feature and having to spend 30 mins going into settings to switch this and that off so becomes more user friendly is not very good marketing I’ve even thought of going to Samsung as iPhone is trying to over complicate surely they could of come up with something a lot better than altering the phones unlocks and widgets more crap to view, how about a newer keyboards new emojis something simple, Rant over :)

  26. Deb says:

    Screen shots are harder put the control back at the top. Hate fast camera; is that for quick shots? Want the whole widget 3th page screen to disappear completely even the one inside the phone. That page is so annoying. Want swipe to unlock back. Give me my control back. These phones are expensive enough; I protest taking our choices away.

  27. Daniel says:

    I was pretty bummed when they made this switch on the knew IOS upgrade. On the previous IOS system I enjoyed having to add my passcode and or thumb print to access my phone. I followed the instructions and have disabled the widget feature but how do I set up my passcode like it was in the previous IOS?

  28. Anna says:

    Oh and screenshots are now really hard to pull off too, thanks a million.

  29. Anna says:

    If I wanted a Windows phone, I’d buy a Windows phone. Apple used to be about the joy of simplicity. IOs 10 is really annoying, the lock screen and widgets are a hassle (I have just turned them off) and some bug stops the search function on my email from working.

  30. KMD says:

    So agree, hate the new extra step to open my phone and camera.

  31. Bjorn says:

    cant get the widgets fuction of, grgrgrgrgr

  32. Lyn says:

    I am a simple person who has up u til now enjoyed my iPhone use. How do I or can I easily get my phone to unlock screen so I can alternate photo viewing readily between portrait and landscape? It use to be as simple as swipe up and lock or unlock. Grrrrr

  33. Kelly says:

    Gahhhhhhh it’s annoying. I just want to swipe my screen and have my main page !!!

  34. jody says:

    sooo annoying the new widgets on home screen, thanks for the tip! going to delete it straight away, Apple worst idea/update ever!

  35. Mary Belle says:

    I really miss the swipe to unlock feature. Hopefully it will be restored with the next upgrade. Fortunately, I’ve only updated one device and definitely will not proceed with the others.

  36. Hannelie says:

    I can not get widgets switch off

  37. Lauren says:

    Battery life is worse with the new update as well

  38. Lauren says:

    Disappointed in the new update. I don’t think it’s very user friendly

  39. Dirk says:

    I hate IOS 10, major step backward, thank you Apple. Prior IOS far better.

  40. keep it simple says:

    even though widgets are removed the page still exists, it’s just empty. is there a way to remove the entire page so as to restore the swipe to unlock feature?

    • Paul says:

      You can not restore the swipe to unlock feature. If you disable all lock screen widgets and functionality as described here, the entire “Today” screen will no longer be visible.

  41. IT Rescue says:

    For those having issues turning off Home Control on the lock screen, I found that I had to open the app, connect it to iCloud, and create a home. At that point I could toggle the setting, but I deleted the home, went into iCloud settings and turned it off, then uninstalled it. It appears that some people must access the app before disabling it.

  42. Hamza Sheikh says:

    I don’t know what to say about these widgets. They are handy but full of annoyance. With removal of slide to unlock from lockscreen, Apple turned the whole unlocking experience into a real mess for me.

    I always end up pressing some icon on the widgets. Thanks for the handy tip!

  43. paul Minczer says:

    Way Too many items being add to iPhone etal. Bloated just like Micro-soft software. Older devices more friendly and older iOS versions More “User Friendly”

  44. Ivan says:

    I’v problem with weather not showing the local weather, just blank! before in iOS9 works fine! I tired to adjust the location sharing to ” always allow ” but the same!!
    And the mail just showing the VIP how can change it to view all?

  45. DC says:

    On my iPad it doesn’t say Touch ID and Passcode, it just says Passcode.

    Maybe it is me!

  46. I turned them all off except for the weather, which is quite useful, and for Kayak flights, because I might need that info at a quick glance. But the worst part of this feature is that the Kayak widget, for example, is always-on, even if there is nothing to display. Shouldn’t it vanish if I haven’t tracked a flight in several weeks?

  47. Sheri says:

    I find this amazingly annoying, more steps to go through just to log in. Thanks for the info on hiding the widget screen. I’d already deleted all the widgets but the screen was still there if I did the “old” swipe. Glad there’s a way to hide it completely.

    • Tom says:

      Seems this should be opt in not default. Everyone I know knows when to check their phones and you could see notifications you wanted before. You shouldn’t put in an extra step. Especially for business it is extremely annoying. Extremely dumb for anyone who uses phone in an adult or business setting.

  48. Isidore says:

    Really creeps me out the personal stuff potentially on display in the lock screen- why have this there when unlocking the phone is just a fingerprint away? One thing puzzles me, for some reason I cannot turn off access to home control in the lock screen, all the other toggle switches work fine. Is anyone else seeing this or have I misconfigures something?

    • Barttels says:

      Notifications are on the lock screen so that you can see if you want to bother to unlock the phone. I find it an enormously handy feature.

    • Martin says:

      Like you, I am unable to turn off ‘Home Control’. Everything else is fine.

      • User says:

        Nor can I.

        I wonder if there’s another setting or combination of settings that’s preventing this.

        The number of settings in iOS now is really kind of overwhelming.

        • stonetown mike says:

          You have to have Home.app installed before you can disable Home Control. Go to App Store and reinstall it; then go to settings and disable Home Control; then uninstall Home.app again. That worked for me.

          • Sheri says:

            Reinstalled Home App but still couldn’t disable Home Control. Deleted Home App again, enough is enough.

          • User says:

            I’ve never deleted Home, or any of the other Apple apps.

            I did launch the app, out of curiosity, which then complains that iCloud Keychain is not enabled, and offers no other option but to enable it (which I’m not going to). So I just force close the app.

            Shrug.

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