Owners of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max handsets will be able to disable the wallpaper on the Always-On Display when iOS 16.2 ships if the latest beta is any indication.
The third iOS 16.2 developer beta was made available earlier today. Initial testing shows that Apple has added a new option to turn the wallpaper off when the Always-On display is active for the first time — fixing one annoyance many people have with Apple's existing feature implementation.
Many iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max owners had wished that Apple would follow the Android world's approach of only showing the time, notifications, and basic information on the Lock Screen. Finally, with iOS 16.2, it looks like they might get their wish.
Well that’s new. iOS 16.2 beta 3 lets you disable the AOD’s wallpaper. pic.twitter.com/28kSHnJsIxNovember 15, 2022
The iOS 16.2 beta 3 release adds a new toggle to the Always-On Display section of the Display & Brightness portion of the Settings app on compatible iPhones. Toggling the Show Wallpaper setting off does exactly as you'd expect, with early testing showing a plain black screen with the time and Lock Screen widgets with no wallpaper in sight. Users also have the option to disable notifications from the Always-On Display via another new toggle, too.
Humorously, there also appears to be a typo in Apple's description o the Lock Screen feature, as seen in the tweet above. We can surely expect that to be picked up and fixed before iOS 16.2 ships to the public.
The Always-On Display is one of the best iPhone features of the year, but some found the wallpaper too distracting. Now they can remove it and see whether matters improve. It's also possible people might notice a battery life improvement, but more testing will be needed before we can be sure.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has already reported that the iOS 16.2 beta is expected to be released to the public in the middle of December, with the feature adding support for Apple's Freeform collaborative whiteboard feature.
