How to turn whatever app you want into a lock screen widget on iOS 16 • TechCrunch

For those of us who love customization, the lock screen widget feature on iOS 16 is super exciting. But it’s up to developers to create their own app widgets, and since iOS 16 has only been out for a few days, there aren’t many options outside of native Apple apps. Fortunately, companies like Google are working on widgets – perfect for someone like me who makes a living off Google Calendar, not Apple’s own app. Also, we have already collected dozens of apps that further customize the lock screen.

But with apps like ShortFlow and LockFlow, you can take customization a step further by using Apple’s Shortcuts to create new lock screen widgets. The apps appear pretty much identical (lazy?), but they debuted on the App Store on the same day. Personally, I’ve used ShortFlow to create widgets that open Spotify and my beloved Libby, the digital library app I use to listen to audiobooks (#notsponsored, I just love libraries).

Photo credit: ShortFlow, screenshots from TechCrunch

These apps require a bit of finesse — especially if you’re a random Luddite like me who hasn’t used shortcuts before — but it’s easy enough. So simple that it’s a wonder why Apple didn’t just create it themselves.

First you need to set up your shortcuts in Apple’s Shortcuts app. Shortcuts can be as simple as opening an app, or they can be a little more complicated.

This is where LockFlow and ShortFlow differ from each other. On LockFlow you can import your shortcuts directly, and on ShortFlow you have to (gasp!) manually type in the name of the shortcuts you want to use. But I didn’t mind the extra steps with ShortFlow as all I had to do was type in “Open App” and “Open App 1”, which are the very creative names of my shortcuts. It wasn’t that hard.

To customize your home screen, navigate to Settings, scroll down to Wallpaper, and then click Customize. From there, if you click on your widgets, you can scroll to the bottom of the menu and find ShortFlow or LockFlow – whichever you chose – and add your custom widget.

Another difference is that LockFlow lets you create wider widgets, but I don’t really see the point of this feature as you can’t add any more data to your larger widget anyway. For example, I would love if I could see the book I’m reading about Libby right now in a wider widget, but that’s what the app needs to develop itself, not LockFlow. Meanwhile, ShortFlow only lets you create four widgets at a time, but that’s not too big of a deal since you can only put four widgets on your lock screen anyway. But if you want to change things up frequently, LockFlow might be a better choice – I mean, what happens if I’m listening to a book on Libro.fm instead of Libby? I need to create a new widget!