Turn your iPhone's screen into a customizable nightstand clock or desktop smart display
If you've updated your iPhone to iOS 17 or later, a cool new feature that turns your iPhone into a smart display when it's charging and on its side. This wikiHow guide will teach you everything you need to know about StandBy Mode on your iPhone, from enabling the feature to customizing its many views, widgets, and clocks.
Things You Should Know
- To turn on StandBy Mode on your iPhone, go to Settings > StandBy and toggle on the switch.
- Connect your phone to a Lightning, USB-C, MagSafe, or Qi wireless charger, press the side button, and rest your iPhone on its side.
- Swipe left to scroll through different StandBy Mode views, or up and down to switch between widgets, photos, and clocks.
Steps
Section 1 of 6:
How to Use StandBy Mode
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Open Settings and select StandBy . You'll find the StandBy option in the third group of your iPhone's Settings.
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Toggle on the StandBy switch . When StandBy is enabled, the switch will turn green.Advertisement
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Place your iPhone on its side while charging and press the side button. StandBy Mode activates when your iPhone is charging and set down on its size horizontally (landscape mode). Press the side button to turn off the screen and activate StandBy.
- StandBy Mode works best with a charging stand that allows you to set your iPhone on its side with the screen facing you. If you don't have a stand, you can still use StandBy by propping your phone against something sturdy.
- If you have an iPhone with an Always-On display (iPhone 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max), StandBy will stay on the screen all the time by default. [1] X Research source For other models, the screen will eventually go dark—you can quickly reactivate it by tapping the screen, nudging the table your phone is on, or asking Siri. [2] X Research source
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Swipe right and left through the three StandBy Mode views. Now that StandBy is active, you can select which screen will appear when your iPhone is in this mode.
- Widget screen: The first screen displays two interactive widgets at a time—one on the left and one on the right. Swipe up and down on both sides to scroll through options and select an active widget.
- Photo screen: Swipe left to the Photos screen, which cycles through photos in your library.
- Clock screen: Swipe left again to the Clock screen, which you can change by swiping up or down through the different appearances. Your upcoming alarm appears on most clock screens.
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Tips
- StandBy Mode works with any iPhone charger—wired Lightning/USB charging and Qi or MagSafe wireless charging.Thanks
- If you're using MagSafe chargers , your iPhone will remember your preferred StandBy view for each location. For example, you may want to keep the Clock screen active when using your MagSafe charger at home but prefer the Widgets screen at work. As long as you have MagSafe chargers at each location, StandBy will always know which StandBy screens to display.Thanks
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