The Persistent Widgets
Apple introduced a feature called “Live Activities” to the iPhone lock screen. Instead of receiving dozens of separate notifications for an ongoing event—like an Uber driver’s distance, a food delivery timer, or a live sports score—a massive, persistent widget anchors itself to the bottom of your locked display, updating continuously in real time. While useful, these widgets consume significant battery life by constantly pulling data in the background, and they clutter your lock screen with distracting, moving graphics. If you prefer a clean, static lock screen, you must sever this live-updating engine.
How to Turn Off Live Activities
You can permanently block these persistent widgets via the Face ID settings.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode).
- Enter your device’s master PIN code to access the secure menu.
- Scroll down to the section labeled “Allow Access When Locked.”
- Locate the toggle switch labeled Live Activities.
- Toggle this switch to the Off position (the green background will disappear).
A Static Lock Screen
The change takes effect instantly. The iPhone will completely terminate the background rendering daemon responsible for generating persistent lock screen widgets. If you order food or track a flight, the apps are now strictly forbidden from hijacking the bottom half of your display. They will be forced to send you standard, dismissible, single-instance push notifications instead, guaranteeing your lock screen remains entirely under your visual control and dramatically reducing background battery drain.