The iPhone auto-lock feature is a useful one as it prevents battery drain when the phone isn’t in use. However, sometimes, it can be a pain to unlock the screen every time you want to check something.
If you’re experiencing this issue, here are some ways to fix it.
How to turn off auto lock on iPhone
One of the best features on an iPhone is Auto Lock, which prevents battery drain and also helps to keep the data and apps protected from unauthorized users. However, it can be a bit annoying when you have to unlock your phone every 30 seconds while reading a recipe or checking your messages.
If you’re not happy with your iPhone’s Auto Lock settings, you can easily change them to avoid this issue. To do this, go to the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on Display & Brightness.
Then scroll down a little and look for the Auto-Lock option on the Settings screen. It will show a number of different time durations that you can choose from.
Ideally, you’ll want to select the one that works best for you and your life, like 30 seconds or five minutes. But sometimes, you might need a longer time than that.
For this, you can head to the Settings page again and change the Auto-Lock setting to the longer duration you need. After that, you can make sure that your iPhone’s Auto Lock is still working as you like.
You can even change it to “Never,” which will keep your screen on all the time, so that you don’t have to unlock it whenever you have a moment of inactivity. Just remember to set it back to Minutes after you finish using your iPhone, to avoid it draining the battery too quickly.
Another reason why Auto Lock isn’t working may be because you have a low power mode on your device. If you’re in Low Power Mode, you’ll see the Auto-Lock option grayed out on your Settings screen.
To fix this, you’ll need to turn off Low Power Mode on your iPhone. To do this, simply flip the toggle on and then say “Hey Siri,” followed by “Turn off Low Power Mode.”
If you’re not in Low Power Mode, you can always use your iPhone’s “Raise to Wake” feature to get your iPhone’s screen back on. This is a great way to help you read and interact with your iPhone when it’s in the dark, without wasting battery life.
Reset all settings
If you are experiencing troublesome problems with your iPhone, one of the best options to get them fixed is by resetting all settings on it. It will return your device to its factory default, and you won’t lose any data or media files in the process.
The reset option also zaps the keyboard dictionary, removes network connections, rearranges the Home screen layout, dumps Location and Privacy data, and more. It is a good idea to try this option only after all the basic fixes like restarting, force closing apps, updating iOS, and other simple solutions don’t work for you.
It is also a good idea to back up your data and media files before doing this so you don’t lose any important information. You can do this by logging into your Apple account on a computer or through iCloud.
In addition, you will need to unlock your iPhone again after performing this operation. This is to ensure that no one can access your phone or its data without your consent.
While resetting all settings won’t delete your apps or data, it will also reset all system settings to their default values, so you may lose some of your preferences. You should note down your preferred settings somewhere safe so that you can restore them again later on.
Another thing to consider is that this operation will reset your Location Services to their default values, which means you can’t use services such as Uber, food delivery, maps, and weather. However, you can still enable them if you prefer.
Moreover, after resetting your privacy settings, you may see some popups on certain apps, asking to access photos, microphones, and camera on your phone. You can allow them to do so by clicking on Allow or selecting Do Not Allow in the popup window that appears.
If you are experiencing any issues with your iPhone, such as the Auto lock feature not working properly, it is a good idea to reset all settings on it. This will return your device to its factory default, which will help you resolve the problem and avoid any other software issues in the future.
Turn off low power mode
You may want to turn off the Low Power mode on your iPhone if you’re concerned about battery life. The feature is designed to extend your device’s battery life by temporarily reducing the amount of energy-hungry features it runs in the background, including automatic mail fetch and app refreshes. When you turn it on, the display’s brightness will drop slightly and your CPU and GPU performance will be limited to save power.
However, if you use Low Power Mode on a daily basis, you may not realize what it’s doing to your iPhone. For instance, automatic downloads of apps, books, and music are disabled while your phone is in Low Power Mode, and video autoplay in the App Store is blocked.
The good news is that you can re-enable these features by deactivating Low Power Mode, which is a simple process that requires only a few steps. You can do this by opening Settings, then selecting Battery and activating the toggle switch next to Low Power Mode. You can also add a shortcut to the iOS Control Center that allows you to quickly turn on or off the feature.
Another option is to set up an automation in the Shortcuts app that turns on Low Power Mode whenever your battery reaches a certain threshold. You can configure it to trigger whenever the battery drops below a specific percentage, or you can set up an automation that runs when the device goes into sleep mode or your screen turns off after a period of inactivity.
To set up an automation, open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and move to the Automation tab at the bottom of the screen. Now drag the slider to select the percentage level at which you’d like Low Power Mode to kick in (normally, it is activated when the battery hits 20%), and tap Next.
You can also select whether the automation should run in the background or not, and disable the Ask Before Running switch if you’d prefer. You can then create a personal automation that will run every time your device reaches the threshold you selected to enable Low Power Mode, ready to turn it back on if needed.
Raise to wake
Raise to wake is an iOS feature that lights up the screen of your iPhone whenever you pick it up from a flat surface. It’s a great way to quickly access your notifications and some widgets in the Control Center, among other things.
However, this feature can also be annoying. For example, it can drain the battery of your iPhone, especially if you’re constantly carrying it around. To avoid this problem, you can disable raise to wake on your iPhone.
You can do this by going to Settings and tapping Display & Brightness. From there, you’ll see a toggle next to Raise to Wake.
If the switch is green, it’s on; if it’s white, you can turn off the feature by sliding it to the OFF position. This way, you can make sure that your notifications won’t be visible to people near you and that your iPhone won’t drain the battery while it’s in your pocket.
The good thing about this feature is that it’s available on iPhone 6s and newer, as well as any iPhone running iOS 10 or higher. If you have an older device, you can still use this feature, but you’ll need to activate it by going to Settings and tapping Display & brightness.
Another great thing about raising to wake is that it saves you time. If you’re out and about, for example, and need to snap a photo in a hurry, you can simply lift the phone and swipe it left to get to the Camera app, or swipe right to access widgets and other features.
With iPhone X and later, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen to activate Face ID authentication. You can also swipe up to check notifications, take a picture, or use the flashlight, among other things.