StandBy Turns Your iPhone into a Bedside Clock (iOS 17)

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Did you know that your iPhone can now act as a bedside clock? The latest version of iOS adds a feature called StandBy, which allows you to see information—such as the time, your calendar, photos, and weather—at a glance while charging your iPhone.

Why You’ll Love This Tip:

• Easily check the time when you wake up in the middle of the night.
• Snooze or turn off alarms with ease each morning.

How to Use Nightstand Mode on iPhone

StandBy on iPhone is similar to a feature called Nightstand mode on the Apple Watch, which turns your Apple Watch into a digital clock when it rests on your nightstand. On iOS 17, if you turn your iPhone sideways (into landscape orientation) while it’s charging, you’ll be greeted by a similar view, called StandBy. For more iOS updates and tricks, be sure to sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.

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StandBy should be turned on by default after updating to the latest version of iOS, but here’s how to check to make sure it’s turned on and how to customize Nightstand mode on iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app, and tap StandBy.
   
   
2. You can tap the toggle next to StandBy to enable or disable the feature.
   
   
3. You can also enable Night Mode, which changes the colors of StandBy to display in red when your iPhone detects low ambient lighting. This is to make it easier to view your display in the dark, if, for example, you wake up in the middle of the night and check your phone for the time.
   
   
4. You can also choose whether or not to Show Notifications when in StandBy mode.
   
   
5. If you want to hide notification previews, you can enable Show Preview on Tap Only.
   
   
6. With StandBy mode enabled, simply begin charging your phone and then turn it sideways. StandBy should activate automatically.
   
   
7. When StandBy is active, you have a few different options. You can swipe left and right to choose between three different StandBy displays.
   
   
8. On the first display, you can swipe up and down on the right and left widget stacks to switch between the available widgets.
   
   
9. Tap and hold either of the widget stacks to bring up some customization options for that particular stack.
   
   
10. Swipe up or down on the widget stack to swipe through the available widgets, or tap the minus icon to remove one.
    
    
11. Tap the plus icon to add a widget to the stack.
    
    
12. Tap Smart Rotation to turn it on or off. Smart Rotation allows your iPhone to dynamically switch between which widgets it thinks are most relevant to you.
    
    
13. Tap Widget Suggestions to get suggestions about which widgets to use.
    
    
14. When you swipe left to switch to the second display, you will see a slideshow of your photos. Note: The Photos StandBy mode requires the iPhone to be unlocked to view them.
    
    
15. You can swipe up or down to view different photo albums.
    
    
16. Tap and hold the display to bring up some customization options.
    
    
17. You can tap the eye icon to hide or unhide a particular album when this StandBy mode is active.
    
    
18. You can tap the plus icon to add any of your other photo albums.
    
    
19. When you swipe left again to view the third and final display, you will see a digital clock.
    
    
20. You can swipe up and down to choose between different styles of digital clocks.
    
    
21. Tap and hold the display to bring up customization options.
    
    
22. Tap the gray circle to customize the color of the clock.
    
    
23. When your alarm or a timer goes off, you will see an enlarged display with buttons for snoozing, repeating, or turning off the alarm/timer.
    
    

That’s everything there is to know about StandBy! With only three display options and requiring the device to be unlocked to view photos, I feel like StandBy is not very intuitive, but it can be improved. Personally, I don’t use it very much since I can check the time and control alarms/timers from my Apple Watch, but for those that don’t have an Apple Watch, I’m sure it will come in handy!