I’m old and frequently wake up in the night. I like to listen to Simple Radio or other audio programs. When I tap on the Lock Screen I will see what is playing and can change channels with ease. After a recent update of the iOS for my iPhone I discovered a new view view that was really helpful for my old eyes. Then it disappeared. Then it reappeared. No idea why. I’m attaching jpegs of the two full screen Locked Screen views. The one with our late beloved dog is the view I used to have and the full screen blue view is the one I want to return to my phone. Any idea on how to do that? It is really important to me. Thanks for any feedback.
Are you possibly talking about the option to switch to new lock screens?
If you tap and hold down on a Lock Screen while your phone is locked you’ll see you can switch between different options for it.
Thank you Tommy. I don’t think so as that gives different backgrounds not an image that shows full screen the title of what is playing. It does raise the question of if it is a widget, and I am not really familiar with widgets. It would have to be a widget that captures the title of the audio program playing at the time. I don’t know if this clears things up or not. Thanks again.
I was leaning towards a Photo Shuffle thing as well.
But it almost seems like in the second one, there isn’t a lock screen photo at all, just a plain background.
You can change the lock screen background when it’s locked by holding down on the screen. Maybe you did that and swiped left or right and grabbed a solid color which is an option.
Diane
That I believe is a live activity now playing widget. With the iOS music app, by default I see what you show with the ESPN station, but if I tap the album art in the widget, it shows full-screen, as you show with the Fox Sports station. Tap the album art again when it is full-screen and it tucks itself back into the widget.
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Here I started the music app then pressed the side button.
And here after I tapped the artwork next to “Candy Everybody Wants”.
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My problem is that I am not necessarily using the music app, although that is where I have a number of my old time radio programs. The image I have included shows I was listening to Fox Sports on the Simple Radio app (which is really a great app by the way). I’ve tried everything to duplicate the larger, blue background that shows the title of what is being played. It appeared for a while then disappeared, and then miracle of miracles it reappeared, only to disappear again. I figure it is the Apple gods deciding what I want is fruit beyond touch lol (a professional joke, sorry).
I really appreciate everyone’s responses and just wish there was an answer. I’m thinking of questioning MacWorld 911 or Apple but I’m not really sure how to word the question. Thank you all very much for your wisdom.
I guess I wasn’t as clear as I should have been. iOS shows that live activity tile when any media app is playing content, not just the Music app. For me I see it when I play content with my podcast app, the YouTube app, and I believe even within a Safari tab. I don’t have the Simple Radio app, and didn’t want to download it, so I showed an example with the Music app.
So I’d try tapping the “album art” image that appears on the left of the Now Playing live activity widget and see if it expands. I should also note that after I expanded it for the music app yesterday, it remained expanded when I used my podcast app earlier this morning.
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THAT’S IT!!! Thank you so much. It works beautifully. So it wasn’t an evil spell, just my clumsy fingers that made it disappear. So grateful - my weary eyes are even more appreciative. So simple but I’m so dull so it was a very complex issue - I blame it all on age… Naw, just not quick thinking ;-)
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Just remember: you’re not a ‘dummy,’ no matter what those computer books claim. The real dummies are the people who-though technically expert-couldn’t design hardware and software that’s usable by normal consumers if their lives depended upon it.
Walt Mossberg
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Agreed, not your fault at being confused by this! I think it took me a year to figure it out. Personally I can’t stand the view where Now Playing fills my whole screen, because it hides my Lock Screen widgets and makes my phone too bright at night (compared to my otherwise black background). In retrospect the solution is simple — just tap! — but there is no indication on the user interface that this should work.
(Meanwhile, Apple thinks it’s necessary to remind me that I should “Swipe up to open” on the home bar every time I view my iPhone lock screen, and tells me where to find “Touch ID” every time I look at my iPad, obscuring the battery indicator.)
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I know that Apple gets dinged by some people for non-obvious user interface elements, but I kind of like it most of the time - it’s like discovering an Easter Egg.
It’s really a pretty common phenomenon these days. For example, double-tap a post in Instagram to like it. (Or you can just tap the little heart icon.) I like the whimsy of these non-obvious and sometimes accidentally discovered fun elements.
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Oh my goodness, what beautiful replies from you all! Last night I so enjoyed my returned screen format because I could actually see what radio program I was turning too as I flipped from channel to channel, it was amazing and I am so grateful.
I love TidBITS because it is so many skilled people taking time to share their wisdom with others and help them solve problems. Amazing!
I retired after 46 years in the pastoral ministry and one of my main tenants was to affirm people and to offer them words of encouragement as they went through life, and that is what I see and hear in your kind words. I don’t think of myself as a dummy - comments from my adult kids aside lol - but I sure did feel lost in the Apple orchard and you all provided me a great map out 
TidBITS is blessed by such kind folk as you all are. Blessings to you!
Doug
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I love learning new things from these threads. I too have gotten a full album cover on my phone without realizing how I did it - now I know! So thanks for that :)
Diane
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