By default, the iPhone comes with an auto-lock option that turns off the screen and locks it after 30 seconds of inactivity. This is so that your personal information and data stay secure — and it helps extend your device’s battery life. However, it’s easy to turn off this feature if you find it annoying.
To prevent your iPhone screen from going to sleep, head to Settings, then tap ‘Display & Brightness.’ Choose ‘Auto-Lock,’ and you’ll see seven options to choose from. 30 seconds should be selected by default, but you can choose ‘Never’ or whichever other timeframe you prefer.
Auto-lock can be quite frustrating at times, especially if you want to keep the screen awake to do something without touching it, such as when following a recipe. Let’s take a closer look at how you can prevent the screen from going to sleep.
Why Does Your iPhone Go to Sleep So Quickly?
Your iPhone’s screen dims and goes to sleep very quickly because of auto-lock, a feature that automatically puts your iPhone in lock mode after a few minutes of inactivity. The screen first dims down to half brightness before going to sleep.
While the auto-lock feature doesn’t kick in when you’re watching a video on YouTube or an episode of your favorite show on Netflix, it does affect reading.
So if you’re reading the morning paper or even a thrilling book on your iPhone, you’ll have to tap the screen continuously to prevent the screen from going to sleep — or simply turn off auto-lock.
If you have an iPhone with Face ID, like the iPhone 13 Pro (on Amazon), you might not realize how annoying and frustrating it is to have the auto-lock kick in every few seconds. By default, all iPhones will go to sleep after some time of inactivity, but models with Face ID scan for attention. When they detect attention, they don’t go to sleep.
However, iPhones with Touch ID (models with the home button) don’t have this feature, so even if you’re looking at the iPhone screen, it will go to sleep after a few seconds or minutes of inactivity, depending on your settings.
How Do You Stop Your iPhone Screen From Going to Sleep?
Your iPhone will stay on as long as you continue to use it. However, some functionalities, such as running a timer, aren’t counted as an activity, and your screen will black out after 30 seconds (or whatever time duration you’ve chosen) of inactivity.
Luckily, you can change the auto-lock settings with a few simple taps so that your phone doesn’t go to sleep.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Open up the Settings app on the iPhone.
- From the list of options available, find ‘Display & Brightness‘ and tap on it.
- Scroll down and tap on ‘Auto-Lock.’ If the option is grayed out, this is because the iPhone is in battery-saving (low-power) mode, and you’ll have to turn off the mode to be able to use this feature.
- Next, you’ll be prompted to choose the duration for which you want the screen to stay awake without any activity. The options available are 30 seconds, 1-5 minutes, and Never. To prevent the iPhone from going to sleep, choose ‘Never.’
Things to Keep in Mind
The four steps mentioned above outline what you need to do, but there are a few more things you should keep in mind.
First, keeping auto-lock on never means that the screen will stay unlocked and awake continuously until you manually press the power button (side button) to switch it off.
If you don’t see ‘Never‘ in the list of options, this might be because the iPhone is managed by another administrator, school, or organization. If that’s the case, you’ll have to get in touch with the administrator for further information.
Plus, if you set the iPhone screen to not go to sleep only for a short period while you get your work done, remember to enable the auto-lock once more after you’re done.
If you leave the auto-lock on ‘Never,’ your phone’s battery will die quickly, and anyone who gets their hands on your phone may be able to use your apps and get access to your data.
For this reason, it’s better if you choose the longest duration before the auto-lock kicks in (five minutes) instead of choosing ‘Never.’ This way, you won’t have to unlock your phone every few seconds, and it will save your battery life and data, too.
If you need the screen to stay on and you’re not near an outlet, we recommend the IDMIX 10000mAh-Portable Charger with Built-in Lightning & USB-C Cables (on Amazon), a device that also has fast-charging and an integrated outlet plug, that can also replace the phone’s original charging brick for you.