Quran Verse on iPhone Lock Screen: Step-by-Step Guide

Your lock screen is the first thing you see each time you pick up your phone, so it's a good place for a verse you want to keep in mind. The catch is that lock screen widgets have very little room. Only short verses fit, and the setup is a bit different from the home screen. This guide covers what fits, which lock screen widgets exist, and how to add one with Ayanur.

Why only short verses fit

The lock screen has a small, fixed area for widgets. A long passage would be cut off partway through, and a cut-off verse is hard to read. For that reason, Ayanur sends only short ayat to the lock screen. A verse like this one fits without losing a word:

فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ﴿٥﴾ إِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ﴿٦﴾

⁵ For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease [i.e., relief]. ⁶ Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.

Short verses also suit the purpose. You can take one in during a single glance, and it stays with you for the next few hours.

The two lock screen widget types

iPhone gives apps two kinds of lock screen widgets, and Ayanur offers both.

• Rectangular: a wider box with the most room, so it suits a short verse best.
• Inline: a single line of text near the time. It works for a very brief line.

Lock screen widgets are part of Ayanur Pro. If you're on the free plan, you can still use the home screen widget, described below.

Step by step: add the widget to your lock screen

Before you start, install Ayanur, open it once, and choose your translation language and style. You need iOS 17 or later. Ayanur Pro is a subscription, billed weekly or yearly. The yearly plan has a 7-day free trial, and prices are shown in the app before you buy.

1. Wake your iPhone and touch and hold the lock screen.
2. Tap Customize.
3. Choose Lock Screen.
4. Tap the widget area.
5. Pick an Ayanur widget, either rectangular or inline.
6. Tap Done.

That's all you need to do. The verse changes on its own, on the schedule you chose: every hour, three times a day or once a day. You don't have to open the app for each new verse.

Pick the look and the text size

Ayanur has five styles: Sunset, Emerald, Parchment, Typographic and Night. Pro unlocks all five, and the app shows a live preview so you can see each style before you add the widget. You can also show or hide the Arabic text, so you can keep just the translation if you prefer. Text size comes in small, medium and large, and large is part of Pro.

The translations come word for word from QuranEnc.com, and the Arabic text comes from the Tanzil Project, unchanged. Ayanur does not reword either of them. The translation languages are English, Turkish, Indonesian, Urdu, Persian, French, German, Malay, Bengali and Russian. All of them are free.

Want a verse on your home screen too?

The free plan gives you one home screen widget in the Sunset style, with a new ayah once a day. To add it:

1. Touch and hold an empty area of the home screen until the apps start to move.
2. Tap Edit (or the + button) at the top.
3. Search for Ayanur and pick a size: small, medium or large.
4. Tap Add Widget, then tap Done.

If the widget is too small to show the whole verse, open the Today screen in the app. It shows the full ayah that is currently on your widget, without cutting it.

Which verses work well on the lock screen

Short verses are the easiest to read on a lock screen. Verses of praise and trust are common choices, such as this line from Al-Faatiha:

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴿٥﴾

It is You we worship and You we ask for help.

You don't choose verses by topic in Ayanur. The app rotates through its list of short ayat, so each new verse arrives on the schedule you set. If you want a particular verse on screen right now, the Today screen shows the one currently on your widget. For more short verses, see short Quran verses in English.

If the widget doesn't appear

• Check that your iPhone runs iOS 17 or later.
• Check that you're on Ayanur Pro. Lock screen widgets are not part of the free plan.
• Go back through the Customize steps, and make sure you tap the widget area before you pick a widget.
• Open Ayanur once so the app can prepare the verses.

If the home screen widget is what you're after, the step-by-step guide for the home screen widget covers the same setup in more detail.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put a Quran verse on my iPhone lock screen for free?

Lock screen widgets are part of Ayanur Pro. The free plan includes one home screen widget in the Sunset style, with a new ayah once a day.

Why does the lock screen only show short verses?

The lock screen has very little space, and a long verse would be cut off. Ayanur sends only short ayat to the lock screen, so each verse fits and can be read at a glance.

Does the lock screen verse need internet to change?

No. The app lines up the coming ayat in advance, so the widget changes without internet and without you opening the app.

Which iPhones work with Ayanur?

Ayanur works on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later. There is no Android version.

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Source: Ayanur, Quran Widget (iOS 17 and later).