Google has completely adapted to iOS 16 with many of it’s apps getting their own lock screen widgets that you can try right away. After Chrome, Gmail, Google Drive, Google News and most recently Google Maps getting their own iPhone lock screen widgets — YouTube that has finally jumped on the bandwagon.
Apple added the ability to add a few widgets to the iPhone lock screen as part of its iOS 16 lock screen customization update. Third-party apps have now started rolling out their own widgets for iOS 16. While any iPhone right up to iPhone 14 that is updated to iOS 16 can access these widgets — only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max can have them as part of their always-on display.
YouTube’s iPhone widget is one of the most useful ones we have come across. You have an option between two lock screen widget types. The first only has an option for ‘Search’, while the other has options for quickly accessing Subscriptions, Shorts and search, text and voice search as well.
Shorts is YouTube’s push towards short-form videos like Reels and TikTok. But it is the Subscriptions and voice search shortcuts that really got our attention. It is really quick and convenient to use for finding the exact video you want.
You can install the YouTube widget by long pressing on the home screen of your iPhone, then tapping on the plus icon on the left corner and searching for the widget there. You will need to have YouTube’s latest app update installed first though — which is version 17.40.5.
Google’s suite of apps are now easy to use on iPhones with these widgets. In fact, Google beat Apple to the punch with its Google Maps widget, which Apple has not rolled out yet for Apple Maps.
With iOS 16, you can customize your iPhone's lock screen with many different third-party widgets. We have a list of the 15 best iOS 16 lock screen widgets that you can check out. You might also want to read up on how to change the way your iPhone displays notifications that will complete your iPhone lock screen transformation.
