Swipe-up and “throw” lock screen shortcuts back to their spot with iOS 18.

Shortcuts on the bottom of the iPhone lock screen were always mapped to either the Flashlight or the Camera. With iOS 18, you can change those to a wide variety of shortcuts. Most app-opening shortcuts will end with you swiping up to leave that app, and you end up on your home screen. If that same app is one of your default home screen apps, it will “fly back” to its spot on the grid. If it’s not one of your default home screen apps, it will just fade away and leave you at your home screen. Standard practice.

There is a way to see that “fly back” animation that didn’t exist until now, but it only works on Capture shortcuts (minus the default Camera app). If you scroll down to the Capture section of the shortcuts options, swiping up on these apps triggers the “fly back” animation, returning the icon to its lock screen shortcut position. The first time I saw it, it was surprising to see an icon that isn’t a rounded rectangle behave like one.

This behavior does change the more you interact with these “Capture” apps from the lock screen. A swipe up to leave the app will then put you at your home screen.

In Halide for example, if I take a photo and swipe up to leave the app, the Halide app icon will fly back to its spot on the lock screen depending on my speed and direction of my swipe. If I take a photo and decide to view the photo in full screen by clicking on the thumbnail in the corner, a swipe up will take me to my home screen and the app will fade away.