Buckers9651 wrote:
It may have been available for some time on newer models, but not my old iPhone 8, so this is new. I disagree with it being useful but each to their own. The inability to change / remove is poor design and I will just have to hope it is rectified in a future update
I'm looking at it on my iPhone 7 with iOS 15.2.1 and all I have on the lock screen is cellular/Wi-Fi status at the top, a lock symbol, battery charge level, my chosen lock photo, the time, and how much charge (twice). There's a dot on the bottom with a tiny camera icon, and I can swipe left to bring up the camera without unlocking, but can only exit by tapping on the home button. But no way to access the flashlight without unlocking. Is that what you saw with an iPhone 8?
I can ask my wife if I can have a look at her newer (notched) phone as a sanity check. Addendum: yeah it has the flashlight and camera on the lock screen at the bottom.
I get what you're asking for, but unfortunately for you it doesn't appear to be programmable.