iPhone Always-On Clock: Pro Setup & Older Model Fixes

Trick: Get an Always-On-Style Clock Even Without AOD

For users on iPhone 13 or earlier, SE models, or base iPhone 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 — the easiest way to keep a clock on screen is to open a clock web app in your browser. Mihata's Focus Clock is a representative example: open the URL and the screen becomes a fullscreen clock.

How to Show a Fullscreen Clock in Safari

1. Open https://mihata.jp/clock in Safari
2. Use the fullscreen button at the bottom right to enter fullscreen
3. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock and choose "Never" or a long enough interval
4. Plug the phone into a charger and leave it as is

That's it — even an iPhone 13 or SE now displays a clock that doesn't time out. Unlike AOD, the entire wallpaper and app screen stays lit, so power consumption is higher than AOD. We recommend running it while plugged in.

Why a Browser-Based Clock Is So Useful

• No App Store install
• No login or sign-up required
• The same URL works on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Windows PC
• Wallpaper, font, and even ambient music can be customized

It really shines in cases like "my work iPhone won't let me freely install apps" or "I want a clock on a family-shared iPad."

Add It to the Home Screen as a PWA

Focus Clock supports PWA (Progressive Web App). From Safari's share menu, choose "Add to Home Screen" and an icon is added — from the next launch on, it opens like a native app. The address bar disappears for a fullscreen-like experience and the look becomes cleaner.

Recommended Always-On Patterns by Scene

Let's organize each approach by where it fits best to play to AOD's and the browser clock's respective strengths.

Bedside / Bedroom

If you have iPhone 14 Pro or later, place it horizontally on a MagSafe stand and rely on StandBy. At night it auto-switches to Night mode, dimming to a soft red clock that won't disturb sleep. On non-AOD models, the alternative is Mihata's Focus Clock with a black background and a large clock font, on a vertical stand.

Desk Work / While Working

To check "how many minutes until the next meeting" while working, treating the iPhone like a sub-display — vertical, with a fullscreen browser clock — is comfortable. Focus Clock also has a Pomodoro timer (25 minutes focus, 5 minutes break, with Web Worker support so it keeps running when you switch tabs), so it doubles as a clock and a work timer.

Kitchen / Living Room

When your hands are messy mid-recipe and you don't want to tap the screen, an AOD-equipped iPhone simply sitting on the counter does the job. Without AOD, it's also effective to repurpose an iPad or an old iPhone as a "clock-only device." Focus Clock's countdown also works as a kitchen timer.

What About Battery Life and Burn-In?

"Doesn't leaving the screen on cause burn-in?" "Won't this shorten my battery life?" — both reasonable concerns. Here's the reality.

iPhone OLED and Burn-In

iPhone Super Retina XDR displays are OLED, so in theory continuous static content can cause burn-in. Apple counters this with pixel shifting and brightness control, and reports of practical AOD burn-in are essentially nonexistent. If you run a browser clock fullscreen for very long stretches, vary the background color occasionally or use a wallpaper that shifts the clock position for additional safety.

Tips to Extend Battery Life

• Keep AOD running while charging (avoids extra cycles)
• Let auto-brightness handle screen brightness
• Use Focus modes to auto-disable AOD when you're not using the phone
• On days you'll use the browser clock for long stretches, combine with Low Power Mode

iPhone batteries are designed around roughly one charge cycle per day. "Stationary use plugged in" can actually be gentler on the battery than typical out-and-about discharge-and-charge.

Conclusion: Combine AOD and Focus Clock to Fit Your Needs

The right way to keep a clock on your iPhone depends on the hardware you have. To recap:

Which Approach Fits You?

• iPhone 14 Pro / 15 Pro / 16 Pro / 17 Pro users: Turn on AOD in Settings first, and use StandBy in the bedroom
• Base iPhone 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 users: StandBy is supported but turns off after about 20 seconds. Pair it with a browser clock for true always-on
• iPhone 13 or earlier / SE users: StandBy works but won't stay on; AOD isn't supported. Realistically, a web app like Focus Clock is the best path to always-on display

Who Should Use Mihata's Focus Clock

If any of these sounds like you, Focus Clock — install-free, login-free, and completely free — is a strong fit: "I want a beautiful clock in any browser regardless of model," "I want a Pomodoro timer and ambient music alongside it," "I want to repurpose an iPad or old phone as a dedicated clock." All settings are saved to local storage only, so privacy is protected. It runs in any modern browser on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android, and Chromebook.

If you're curious about why we built Focus Clock and what design ideas drove it, please also read our development story in our own words at Mihata.