iOS 18.2 Lets You Add Volume Controls to Your iPhone's Lock Screen

You might have noticed that your iPhone shows a useful playback controls widget on the lock screen whenever you're listening to audio. It's multipurpose, too, since you'll see it whether you're listening to music, audiobooks, podcasts, or even videos. I've always used this widget to play, pause, skip ahead or skip back, but one thing has always been missing—volume control.

Sure, you can use the volume buttons for this, but I prefer having touchscreen controls for more precise control. With iOS 18.2, which is in public beta at time of writing, you can now add a volume control slider to the media playback widget.

How to add volume controls to your iPhone's lock screen

To use this feature, you'll have to update to iOS 18.2, which is currently in public beta. To find the upgrade, first sign up for Apple's free beta program if you haven't already. Then, unlock your iPhone and navigate to Settings -> General -> Software Update -> Beta Updates. I suggest doing this on a backup device if you can, to ensure stability on your main phone.

Once you're on iOS 18.2, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual and enable Always Show Volume Control.

Now, play some music (or any other type of audio) and lock your iPhone. When you turn the display on, you'll see the same playback control widget as always, but this time, it will have a volume slider attached to it. You can still use your phone's buttons, but now you'll also be able to adjust the volume to your liking straight from the lock screen. This feature makes the widget slightly larger, but I haven't encountered any other downsides. It's also helpful for people who find it hard to reach for or press the volume buttons, or for people like me, whose iPhone case covers all buttons, which can make them annoying to deal with.