How To Fix Timer Not Showing Up On iOS 14 Lock Screen
Last updated on October 15th, 2020 at 07:42 am
Posted in TILs by Tyrone on October 3, 2019
Timer not showing on Lock Screen in iOS 14
Updated (October 6, 2020) with fix for iOS 14 timer locks screen bug!
iOS 14 (as well as its predecessor, iOS 13) is a spectacular and useful update but it isn’t perfect by any means! That’s confirmed by a series of glitches that have surfaced since the release. I can mention the Ringer and Alerts bug, Facebook local network access glitch and many more.
Nevertheless, it seems that the Timer Lock Screen bug has survived ever since iOS 13. Many readers informed us that the iPhone’s countdown timer isn’t displaying on the iOS 14 Lock Screen.
The timer is very useful when you want to countdown the time for some specific event or routine. In most cases you would like to check your iPhone’s lock screen to see the progress and how much time there’s left for the task to be completed. For many, the Timer isn’t displaying on their lock screen after updating to iOS 13 (or iOS 14).
How To Fix Timer Not Showing Up On Lock Screen
1. Restart iPhone
Until a software update will finally address this issue, all that you can do is reboot your iPhone. Troubleshooting has shown that once the iOS device is rebooted the Timer starts to display normally. Simply, turn your iPhone off and power it back on to get rid of the glitch.
How To: Quickly click and release the Volume Up button, followed by the Side Button. However, the Side button press you have to hold for a longer time until the “slide to power of screen” is displayed. Slide-right and your iPhone will power off. Turn it back on by holding the Side Button.
iPhones with Home Button: have a different shut down routine. Press and hold the Power (Side) button until the “slide to power off” screen is displayed on your screen. Turn it back on, provide the Passcode and test your Timer. The feature should work now!
Or Force Restart: There is also the option to hard reboot your iOS device and get ride of the Timer lock screen bug. More details about force restarting can be found here (edge-to-edge iPhones) and here (iPhones with Home button.)
2. Remove And Add Timer In Control Center
iPhone timer still not working? You can try to remove the Timer from Control Center and add it back. Some users reported that this helped. Here is how to:
- 1. Open the Settings app.
- 2. Tap on Control Center.
- 3. Select Customize Controls.
- 4. In the ‘Include’ list, tap the “red minus” icon next to the Timer label. Hit ‘Remove’ to confirm removal.
- 5. Go to the ‘More Controls’ list and tap the “green plus” icon to add the Timer back to the Control Center.
3. Enable/Disable Zoom
We’ve also got reports from users that complained about the Timer not showing on Lock screen because they have been using the Zoom mode. Just to make sure that you tick this cause too, attempt to enable and disable the Zoom view on your iPhone and see if this solves the problem:
- 1. Open the Settings app.
- 2. Tap on Accessibility.
- 3. Select Zoom and tap the knob next to the Zoom label to enable it.
- 4. Double-tap the screen with three fingers to zoom out. Do the same to zoom back in. Next time when the timer doesn’t show up on the iPhone lock screen, use the zoom gesture and see if it helps.
4. Double-Tap Lock Screen
If your iPhone is connected to a charger, iOS 14 will display the remaining battery percentage on the Lock Screen, instead of the Timer.
Trick: Double-tap the Lock Screen to display the Timer instead of the battery percentage.
Fact: Use the same tip if the Timer isn’t showing up on your lock screen even when the iPhone isn’t connected to a charger. Let us know if it helps!
Fix Timer Lock Screen Bug Video
Watch this video guide and see how to implement the above tips in iOS 14:
Are you encountering the iOS 13 and iOS 14 Timer not showing up on Lock screen bug? Let us know if any of the above listed fixes worked for you. Use the comments section available below!
Related: How to fix iPhone Ringer volume button that’s not working as expected!
Thank you!!!!!
Glad that we could help.
Thank you, this worked
You’re welcome!
Awesome. My hubby is SO HAPPY to have his time back!
Thanks for sharing your feedback.
It worked. Thank you so much
Good to hear that.
Thanks so much! It worked but does it go in and out? I’ve rebooted my phone for other reasons. I would’ve thought this fix would’ve triggered during those reboots. Any who…thanks!
Did you get rid of the issue permanently or was this just a temporary fix for you. Would love to have an update. Thanks
Does not work
Can you please be more specific?
Thx! It worked.
You’re welcome. Glad that the article helped you out.
Thanks working again
Thanks for the confirmation.
this only works once, set timer and restart phone while timer is set, doesn’t work if timer is not already set. when phone boots the timer is available on lock screen. but after some time the issue recurs and need to repeat the steps, so not a permanent fix fyi.
Thanks for your feedback. Can you please mention what iOS version you’re running?
Doesn’t work
Thanks for your comment. Can you please mention what iOS version you’re running?
I just discovered that double tapping on your locked screen will show the timer.. not sure why they don’t show it by default / kinda annoying.
Thanks for the feedback. We will check this behavior and update the double-tap trick to the article. Can anyone else confirm that double-tapping the lock screen makes the Timer show up?
Double tap on the lock screen worked for me as well. It also works if the phone is charging and displays the battery percentage but not the timer, double tapping switched from percentage to timer.
Aubrey, thanks for your feedback and for mentioning the double-tap trick while charging. I will be adding this info to the article.
That worked, thanks very much!
You’re welcome. Thanks for confirming.
Didn’t work for me. Running iOS 13.5.1
Thanks for commenting Kim. We’ve just added two more fixes to the article. Please remove and re-add the Timer to the Control Center menu and let us know if the countdown starts showing up again.
The third fix requires you to enable/disable Zoom view from the Accessibility Settings menu.
I had the same problem (on my iPhone 7, started with IOS 12, continued into IOS 14.0.1) that wasn’t fixed by forced restart. I tried your second fix if removing and re-adding Timer to Control Center menu and seems to have fixed the problem so far. Thanks!
Karen, thanks for your feedback. I’m glad that one of the fixes helped you out! Let us know if it the iOS 14 timer bug resurfaces.
The Timer Lock Screen bug kicked in after updating to iOS 14.0.1 but the restart iPhone trick sorted it out! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome Rachna. Thanks for confirming.
Removing and adding timer worked.
Thanks for confirming.
Thanks ! Restart working well !
Val, thanks for confirming. Glad we could help!
None of these tips worked.
Barb, thanks for informing us. iOS 14.2 has been just released to the general public. We recommend you to update. Do confirm, if the bug the ‘Timer on lock screen’ bug has been fixed. More details available here: https://www.iphonetricks.org/ios-14-2-software-update-10-features-15-fixes/
Thank you so much! The deleting/adding back timer didn’t work for me but rebooting of phone was successful.
Nicole, you’re welcome. Glad we could help.
The 2nd one worked for me! Thanks
Mishra, thanks for confirming. You’re welcome.