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iPhone Duo Lock Screen: clock, widgets and the depth effect
Updated: September 24, 2026
Written before general availability. The display figures on this page come from Apple's published iPhone Duo technical specifications. iPhone Duo goes on sale 23 October 2026; the on-device steps below follow how iOS has worked on existing iPhones, and we will re-check every step against a shipping device and update this page.
iPhone Duo has two Lock Screens — one on each display — and each is customised separately. Here is how to set both up, and the one thing about the depth effect worth knowing before you choose a wallpaper.
Customising a Lock Screen
- Wake the screen you want to change and touch and hold it.
- Tap Customise, then Lock Screen.
- Tap the clock to change its typeface, weight and colour.
- Tap the area above the clock for the date widget, and the area below for up to four small widgets.
- Tap Done.
Repeat on the other screen — fold or unfold the phone first. Settings made on one display do not carry to the other.
The depth effect and gradients
The depth effect is the trick where your wallpaper's subject appears in front of the clock. iOS creates it by detecting a subject and cutting it out — which means it needs a subject. A photo of a person, a pet, a building or a plant will usually work. A gradient, a pattern or an abstract wallpaper will not, because there is nothing to separate from the background.
This is not a bug and there is no setting to force it. If the depth effect matters to you, use a photo. If a clean, unobstructed clock matters more, a gradient is the better choice — and it will never half-work the way a borderline photo does.
Picking a wallpaper the clock can sit on
Whatever you choose, the top sixth of the screen is where the clock, date and status icons land. Two rules make any wallpaper work there:
- Keep that strip dark if your clock is light, and light if your clock is dark. Mid-tones are the problem — neither colour of text reads cleanly against them.
- Keep it quiet. Detail behind a clock reads as noise no matter how good the detail is.
Every wallpaper in our collection is composed with its darkest area at the top for exactly this reason.
Two screens, one look
The most common mistake is customising the inner Lock Screen carefully and leaving the cover screen on a default. Use the matching file from the same pair, the same clock typeface and the same widget palette, and the phone reads as one device instead of two.
Duo Themes keeps your Lock Screen widget designs in one place so both screens can use identical ones. Free, no ads, no tracking.