How to change or remove the camera button on the iPhone Lock Screen

Yes, on iOS 18 and later. The two round buttons at the bottom of the Lock Screen, flashlight on the left and camera on the right by default, are now controls you can change. Earlier iOS versions do not offer this, so if you do not see Customize with controls on your phone, check Settings → General → Software Update.

The controls can come from Apple or from apps that offer one, the same kind of controls that appear in Control Center. You can set different controls for each Lock Screen you have made.

1. 1Wake the iPhone and touch and hold the Lock Screen until the Lock Screens gallery appears. You may need to unlock with Face ID or your passcode first.
2. 2Tap Customize and choose Lock Screen.
3. 3Tap the minus on the camera button to remove it. Do the same for the flashlight if you want.
4. 4Tap the plus that replaces it to pick another control, or leave the spot empty.
5. 5Tap Done.

Guides disagree slightly on the exact wording of each step between iOS 18 versions. If a label does not match, look for Customize and then the corner buttons.

No. Swiping left on the Lock Screen still opens the Camera app on iOS 18, even with the button removed. The button is a convenience, not a lock.

If you do not want anyone to open the camera from a locked phone, the setting that does it is Screen Time: Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Allowed Apps, then switch Camera off. That removes the Camera app and its Lock Screen access completely, for you as well, until you switch it back on. You will need Screen Time turned on, and a Screen Time passcode is worth setting.

The switches in Face ID & Passcode → Allow Access When Locked do not include the camera. What can someone do with your locked iPhone? lists the ones that exist.

Common choices are a different app's camera, a timer, a voice memo, a note or a Shortcut. Pick the control that you would use with one tap while the phone is in your hand.

Remember that anything on the Lock Screen can be pressed by someone holding your locked phone. Many controls ask to unlock first, but not all do, so avoid putting controls that reveal personal content on the Lock Screen.

The Action button on iPhones that have one can also open a camera or run a Shortcut. It is set under Settings → Action Button.

Lockboxy is an iPhone app that keeps photos, files and notes in an encrypted vault behind its own passcode. It offers a Lockboxy Camera control for iOS 18 and later. Add it from the plus on the Lock Screen, from Control Center, or to the Action button.

Tapping it opens Lockboxy on its normal lock screen first. After your Lockboxy passcode or Face ID, the camera opens, and what you shoot goes into the vault's Photos & Videos, not into your Photos library. It never skips the passcode.

On iOS 16 and later you can also ask Siri or Spotlight to open Lockboxy Camera, or to scan a document with Lockboxy. Settings → Security → Camera shortcut in the app explains each option.

The free plan holds up to 30 photos or videos and 10 files, and Premium removes those limits. The Camera app stays the only one that opens instantly from a swipe on the Lock Screen, so use this when you want pictures kept in the vault from the start. How to take photos that stay out of your iPhone camera roll goes further.

• Check the iOS version: Lock Screen controls need iOS 18 or later.
• Open the app once after installing or updating it, then try adding the control again.
• Restart the iPhone if the control gallery does not list an app you just installed.
• If a button opens the app but not the camera, unlock it first: apps that protect themselves ask for a passcode before they act.