How to create a cool lock screen on Windows Phone 8.1
Windows Phone 8.1 introduced a bunch of different features that gives you greater control on the customization of the device. Compared to the iOS, Blackberry OS and Android operating systems, all of which feature a standard ‘home page’, the Windows Phone relies on a ‘Metro’ interface, which includes different tiles that are regularly updated in order to display. Now, you may or may not like what these tiles do, but the one thing that Windows Phone accomplishes is a very unique outlook. There’s no desktop picture that you can assign to the background, for instance. The background always remains black, but what you can do is create an awesome lock screen for your device!
One of the best effects is to make your lock screen seem opaque, while showing a colorful, blurred depiction of all the different Metro Tiles that you have on display. The effect goes back to March 2013, when it was made popular by a user named Joe920 in the forums of Windows Central. In order to achieve that effect, there’s a very simple way now, even though the original steps were quite complicated.
Create a customized lock screen on Windows Phone 8.1
- Open the Windows App Store and download the free app known as Blur. Blur is a fantastic app that allows you to simply ‘blur’ the display of your home screen. Essentially, Blur provides the same effect that you can achieve if you use Photoshop in order to blur an image.
- Once you have downloaded the image, take a screenshot of your home screen. To do this, get to the home screen first. Then, press the start key and the power button simultaneously if you are using Windows 8.0. For those who have upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1, it’s the Volume Up and the Power Button.
- Open the Blur App, and set the level of blur that you want on the picture.
- Save the picture to your phone and just press on the ‘Set as Lock Screen’ option in order to get the picture on your screen every time you press the unlock button!
