How To Make Your Phone Screen Stay On Longer Iphone

Saving battery is important for many iPhone users, and one of the biggest drains on battery is the screen. Your iPhone will attempt to save battery by turning off the screen after periods of inactivity, but you may be wondering how to make the iPhone screen stay on for longer.

Your iPhone has a feature called Auto-Lock that will tell the iPhone to lock the screen after a certain period of inactivity. This is meant to both protect your device from unintended screen taps, while also extending battery life by turning off the screen when it is not being used.

While this is helpful if you are using the device in normal situations, you may find the frequent screen locking to be difficult if you are reading something on the screen, or if your hands are not free to keep the screen from locking, such as when following a recipe that you have found on a website. Our guide below will show you how to set the amount of time that the iPhone will wait before it chooses to lock your screen.

How to Make the iPhone Screen Stay On

Open Settings.
Choose Display & Brightness.
Select Auto-Lock.
Tap the desired amount of time.

Our article continues below with additional information on making the iPhone screen stay on for longer, including pictures of the steps and information on older versions of iOS.

How to Increase the Amount of Time That the iPhone Screen Waits Before Locking – iOS 9

Device used: iPhone 6 Plus

Software version: iOS 9.1

The steps in this article will adjust the Auto-Lock setting on your iPhone. You can specify the amount of time of inactivity for which the iPhone will wait before it automatically locks the screen. Note, however, that illuminating the iPhone screen is one of the biggest battery drains on the device. Additionally, if the iPhone is not locked and is in your pocket or a bag, then objects may touch locations on your screen and cause things such as pocket dialing.

Step 1: Tap the Settings icon.

Step 2: Scroll down and select the General option.

Step 3: Scroll down and select the Auto-Lock option.

increase the auto-lock time on an iphone

Step 4: Select the amount of time that you would like the iPhone to wait before it locks automatically. Note that this time is for a period of inactivity, so your iPhone screen will not lock automatically if you are touching the screen. If you select the Never option, then your iPhone will only lock the screen when you manually press the Power button on the top or side of the device.

How to Increase the Auto-Lock Time in iOS 10 and Make the Screen Stay on for Longer

Device used: iPhone 7 Plus

Software version: iOS 10.1

Step 1: Tap the Settings icon.

Step 2: Scroll down and tap Display & Brightness.

Step 3: Open the Auto-Lock menu.

how to make the screen stay on longer in ios 10

Step 4: Select your desired amount of time.

Summary – How to increase the auto-lock time on the iPhone and make the screen stay on for longer –

Tap the Settings icon.
Select the Display & Brightness option.
Open the Auto-Lock menu.
Select the amount of time that you want the iPhone to wait before locking the screen.

Are you concerned about excessive data usage by your iPhone, as well as improving your battery life? Learn how to turn off Background App Refresh on your device to potentially help with both of these problems. The apps on your iPhone will periodically check for new data and update their content when you are not using them, and disabling Background App refresh will prevent this from happening.

Additional Reading

Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.

He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office and many other popular applications and devices.