Though the iPhone’s At all times On Show isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, Apple has accomplished an excellent job of creating it each power-efficient and rather more vibrant than the monochromatic choices discovered on many Android smartphones.
Apple took a surprisingly very long time to carry always-on show expertise to the iPhone — it solely arrived in 2022 with the iPhone 14 Professional lineup — however Apple doubtless needed to take time to craft a extra subtle model that would depart its rivals within the mud.
From the beginning, Apple’s At all times On Show confirmed a dimmed model of the lock display screen in full coloration, full with wallpaper, dynamic widgets, and extra. It even took the time to use coloration filters so the wallpaper nonetheless appears to be like proper at decrease brightness ranges.
Apple additionally added some intelligent tips to preserve energy and shield privateness. The show turns off when your iPhone is face down or in your pocket — and should you put on an Apple Watch, it even goes darkish once you stroll away.
The At all times On Show Expands
For years, the At all times On Show remained unique to the iPhone Professional lineup, however Apple gave consumers of the bottom iPhone 17 a deal with this yr when it introduced over the identical 120 Hz ProMotion show expertise from the flagships — and the At all times On Show with it.
Since many individuals don’t see the necessity to spring for the pricier iPhone Professional, this brings the brand new show characteristic to an entire new set of customers who could have by no means skilled it earlier than. Nonetheless, iOS 26 additionally adjustments how your wallpaper is introduced on the At all times On Show in a approach that some could contemplate a step backward.
Over time, Apple has added a number of new settings to let customers tweak the At all times On Show. You’ll be able to flip it off totally should you’d somewhat not use it, or disable the wallpaper and notifications should you want a extra traditional monochrome look.
Earlier than iOS 26, you might solely toggle off your wallpaper, leading to a black background behind the time and every other widgets. If the wallpaper was enabled, it appeared in full decision, however dimmed.
With iOS 26, Apple added a brand new characteristic that blurs your wallpaper, presumably to make it simpler to see the clock and different foreground info like widgets. Nonetheless, as you may think, it additionally makes any lock display screen pictures unrecognizable.
How you can Take away the Wallpaper Blur in At all times-On Mode
Whereas this characteristic is enabled by default once you arrange a brand new iPhone, it is probably not turned on should you upgraded to iOS 26 on an iPhone with an At all times On Show. Nonetheless, we’ve seen a number of stories that new iPhone 17 customers are seeing it as a default — even those that transferred their knowledge from an iPhone 16 or prior non-Professional mannequin.
The excellent news is that it’s simple to toggle this setting off — right here’s how:
- Open the Settings app in your iPhone.
- Choose Show & Brightness.
- Scroll down and select At all times On Show.
- Toggle off Blur Wallpaper Photograph.
You can even alter different settings right here, akin to turning off the wallpaper or the At all times On Show totally, and deciding whether or not to point out notifications. That is additionally the place you possibly can activate the blurring characteristic should you just like the look, which may work properly with extra summary wallpapers.
It’s unclear why some iPhones present this characteristic enabled by default whereas others don’t, however early stories counsel it seems routinely when transferring to an At all times On-equipped iPhone for the primary time after updating to iOS 26. Both approach, it’s yet one more instance of Apple quietly refining the iPhone expertise — whether or not you want your lock display screen sharp or softly blurred.