The screen timeout setting on iPhone determines how long it takes it to lock automatically. And it’s set at 30 seconds by default. This may not be an issue as you can unlock it whenever you please. But when someone else uses your iPhone, they’ll be handing it back to you over and again to unlock it.
That can be frustrating! Thankfully, you can extend this up to 5 minutes. It only requires a few tapping around your iPhone or iPad.
How to enable Auto-Lock on your iPhone or iPad
- Open Settings → Display & Brightness.
- Tap Auto-Lock.
- Choose any of the time limits on the screen:
Select Never to keep your device’s screen awake the whole time someone else uses it. - Finally, tap Back at the top left.
That’s it! You can tweak these timeout settings any time you want to either extend or decrease auto-lock timing on your iPhone.
Note: The above settings only affect auto-lock on iPhone. Your device will still lock up when you press the side button.
Can a longer timeout drain the iPhone battery?
While I’ve shown you how to adjust the screen timeout on your iPhone or iPad, leaving your device’s screen on for a long time can affect its battery life significantly. So I don’t recommend screen timeout longer than 2 minutes, not if you have a reason to do so. Besides, longer timeouts sometimes pose a privacy threat.
But as I said, you can always reduce or extend it as you like. Ideally, it’s always better to adjust the screen timeout as the use dictates. That said, many other factors may reduce battery life on your iPhone. Thankfully, there are also many ways around resolving battery drain issues on the iPhone.
The screen timeout feature comes in handy whenever you share your iPhone with your kid or any other person. For kids, it keeps them busy. And for friends, it doesn’t kill the fun of using your iPhone.
Do you find it easy tweaking your timeout setting every time? And how often do you do so? Let me know in the comment section below.
Read more:
- How to reset Screen Time Passcode on iPhone
- How to Set Communication Limits for Your Child on iPhone or iPad
- How to fix iPhone Auto-Lock not working
Idowu is an avid tech writer and a software surfer who loves covering knowledge gaps in consumer software, including anything related to iPhones. Well, when he's not reading and learning new things, you'll find Idowu losing gallantly on a solid chessboard or virtually on Lichess.