With iOS 18, customization has been high on Apple's agenda list. Not only has the company introduced high-level customization for the Control Center and Home Screen with options like placing app icons anywhere on the screen, and changing their color and size (making the app names disappear), but they have also taken the Lock Screen customization a step further.

You can finally swap out the age-old camera and flashlight controls at the bottom of your Home Screen with controls you actually use.

How does it work? Each Lock Screen can have different controls, so if your usage tends to change with different factors, like whether you're at home or work, you can even quickly manage that. There are plenty of controls to choose from in categories like connectivity, accessibility, clock, Home, shortcuts, etc. So you can find the perfect replacement for camera or flashlight controls.

And more importantly, you can still swap left on the Home Screen to open the Camera! While in the initial release, the options only include system controls from Apple, the Keynote included a demonstration with a control from Snapchat, which means that third-party controls will also be available for Lock Screen as they will be for the Control Center.

Here's how to swap the Lock Screen controls.

  1. Unlock your iPhone using Face/ Touch ID but do not go to the Home Screen.
  2. Then, tap and hold the current Lock Screen.
  3. If your iPhone is already unlocked, don't lock it. Just swipe down from the top of the screen to open the Notification Center and long-tap on an empty part of the screen (not the notifications). You can also swipe the notifications down to hide them if they’re in your way.
  4. Lock Screen customization options will appear. Swipe to the lock screen you want to customize. Then, tap 'Customize' at the bottom.
  5. Select 'Lock Screen' from the options.
  1. Next, tap '–' on the control you want to swap, let's say Camera.
  2. Then, tap the '+' that appears in its place.
  1. Select the control you want to add in its place.
  2. Then, repeat the steps with the flashlight control if you want to replace it too.
  3. Finally, tap on 'Done' in the upper-right corner to save the changes.

If you're like me, you might have found the Camera control on the Lock screen a bit redundant since you can swipe to open the Camera anyway (which is what I find the easiest). With iOS 18, you don't have to put up with this redundancy anymore!