How To Display Multiple Clocks on Your iPhone Lock Screen (iOS 18/17/16)

How I Finally Got Dual Clocks Showing Up on My iPhone Lock Screen

Honestly, I spent way too long messing around trying to figure out how to get multiple time zones visible on the lock screen, so I figured I’d share what finally worked. It’s not super straightforward—Apple kind of hides this feature in a different place depending on your iOS version, and sometimes it’s more about trial and error than clear instructions. But if you’re like me, looking to keep an eye on two different cities without unlocking your phone, this might help.

Getting the World Clock Set Up First

First off, the core of this is the Clock app—because, surprise, that’s where all the magic happens. If you don’t see the World Clock tab immediately, it’s probably buried somewhere; you may need to tap into the World Clock section, then add your cities. For example, I added New York and Tokyo, but you can add any other locations—just tap the ＋ icon. Sometimes it’s at the top right, other times it’s at the bottom, depending on your iOS version. You look up your city, tap to add, and pretty quickly, you can have multiple clocks in that section.

If you can’t find the World Clock tab, try making sure your iOS is updated. My process was smoother after updating to iOS 17—they seem to tweak these menus pretty often. And if you want to be super precise, long-press a city in the list and choose Edit to rearrange or delete places you don’t need anymore.

Getting those Clocks on the Lock Screen

This is where it gets kinda annoying—Apple keeps changing the interface, and the options to customize the lock screen can be hidden or look different. Head over to Settings > Lock Screen. When you’re there, hit Customize (if you’re on iOS 16+), then select your current lock screen layout to edit. From what I saw in iOS 17, it’s now a matter of hitting Add Widgets, which might be on a new page or hidden at the bottom of the screen preview.

Once you’re editing, look for the section that says Add Widgets. Things are in multiple layers now—up to three layers of widget pages, apparently. When adding, scroll through your options—sometimes the built-in Clock widget just shows the current time for one city, but what you want is specific clock widgets labeled something like “Copenhagen” or “New York” that come from either Apple or third-party apps.

How to Make Dual Clocks Work in Widgets

This part was the tricky one for me. Because just adding a generic clock widget doesn’t automatically show different cities unless you specifically add city-specific clock widgets, I had to dig around. You get the generic option, tap on it, and then select the city from your list—this is under the widget’s settings. If you don’t see the city you want, double-check that the city is properly set up in your World Clock app first, since the widget pulls from there.

I ended up adding two separate widgets: one for each city I need. Arranged them side-by-side on my lock screen, which was a little fiddly—dragging to reposition, adjusting sizes, all that. It felt a bit like trying to push puzzle pieces into place, but eventually, it lined up. Once configured, tap Done or just back out of editing—your lock screen should now show two clocks, each for your selected locations.

Final Check & Some Frustration

My last step was a quick lock-and-wake—Side button + Power button or just pressing the power button—making sure both clocks showed the correct times. In my case, I had to restart the phone twice, remove the widgets, and add them again for everything to display properly. Widgets occasionally freeze or don’t update right away, especially if your iOS isn’t fully up to date or if the system’s caching things—it’s a bit hit or miss.

On some older devices or with certain iOS versions, I found that the clocks looked weird or misaligned, so don’t be surprised if it takes some tinkering. Also, motioned to check for updates; newer iOS versions tend to smooth out a lot of these quirks, or sometimes, Apple changes the UI paths without clear notes. I even ended up trying third-party widget apps because Apple’s built-ins weren’t flexible enough or they just refused to show multiple city clocks as easily.

Important notes: keep in mind that menus, labels, and options might differ slightly depending on which iOS version you’re running. Apple loves moving things around every time they update. If something isn’t right, don’t hesitate to poke around or google a specific menu name—you might find someone with the same issue. Also, clearing cache or restarting the phone can sometimes resolve stuck widgets.

In the end, this isn’t a perfect process and does require some patience, but once it’s set up, it’s kinda awesome—your lock screen displays the two time zones you care about without any extra steps. If you travel or work with international teams, this just makes life a lot easier. Just keep experimenting, and don’t give up if it’s buggy at first.

Hope this helped — honestly, it took me way longer than I’d like to admit to get all this working right. Anyway, sharing this in case it saves someone else a weekend of frustration!