We use the iPhone’s power button to lock the phone quickly once we are done. However, the power button may stop working due to drops, wear and tear, or some other reason. While you will get it fixed, how do you wake and lock your iPhone without the power button in the interim? We have a few workarounds to help you wake up and lock your iPhone without touching the power button.
How to Wake iPhone Without Power Button
When we talk about “waking up” on a mobile device, we mean turning it on or getting it out of sleep or idle mode. Usually, we wake up the iPhone by pressing the power button. Here is how to wake the iPhone without using the power button.
1. Raise to Wake
What is better than just raising the iPhone and viewing all the notifications on the lock screen at a glance? It can be productive as there is no need to press the power button to check on the iPhone.
To enable it, go to Settings on your iPhone and select Display & Brightness. Here, enable Raise to Wake. Now you can wake the screen just by raising your iPhone.
2. Tap to Wake
Raise to Wake is automatic and convenient for quickly checking notifications. However, Tap to Wake prevents accidental activations and allows interactions only when needed. Here’s how to enable it.
1. In the Settings, select Accessibility and tap on Touch.
2. Now tap on the toggle next to Tap to Wake to enable it.
Pro Tip: If the power button is not working on your iPhone, here are four ways to take screenshots without using a Home button or Power button.
How to Lock iPhone Without Power Button
The iPhone’s power button might not work due to physical damage, liquid exposure, software glitches, or hardware issues. In iPhone, there are alternative ways to lock the device which won’t require a power button. Let’s check them out.
1. Double Tap on the Back to Lock
Apple introduced the Back Tap feature with iOS 14. iPhones with software versions running iOS14 or later can use this feature to unlock the device by double-tapping on the back of the iPhone. Let’s see how to set it up.
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch as mentioned in the previous method and select Back Tap.
2. By default, none of the shortcuts are assigned to Double and Triple Tap. Tap on Double Tap and select Lock Screen.
Now, doubling tapping on the backside of your iPhone will lock the screen.
Note: To check the iOS version navigate to Settings > General > About
Pro Tip: iPhone now supports live voicemail where it will transcribe voice messages in real-time much like Pixel phones. Here’s everything you need to know about live voicemail and how to enable it.
2. Lock Using AssistiveTouch
AssistiveTouch has been available on iOS for a long time. There is a lot of functionality that AssistiveTouch provides, but let’s check how it can help us lock the iPhone.
1. Navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Touch as explained in the previous method and hit the first option AssistiveTouch. Then tap on the toggle next to AssistiveTouch to enable it.
2. A circular floating button will appear on your screen after enabling AssistiveTouch. You can access it even on your lock screen. Here’s how to lock your iPhone with it.
3. Tap the Ball and select Device from the options. Then tap on Lock Screen to lock the device.
Here is an alternative shortcut to lock the screen with AssistiveTouch.
1. Go to AssistiveTouch in the Settings as mentioned earlier. Under the Custom Actions, tap on Double-Tap, and from the list, select the Lock Screen. Now double tapping on the AssistiveTouch Ball will lock the screen.
3. Lock the iPhone Automatically
While all the options require some actions to lock the screen, the iPhone can be locked automatically after detecting no activity during a selected duration.
1. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness and tap on the Auto-Lock. Here select the duration after which the device will get locked automatically.
Tap to Zap, Lock to Rock
With the help of shortcuts and accessibility settings, there’s a lot we can do on the iPhone. There is no need to worry in case of buttons not working on the iPhone as these settings will manage to do their work. So, use these settings to compensate for losing your power button and get back to using your iPhone like nothing happened.
