All of Apple’s iPhones since the iPhone 5s, and even the latest iPad models, come with Touch ID fingerprint scanners that let you have access to your device almost immediately without the need to waste time entering a password or passcode at the Lock screen.
However, if you never use a passcode anyways, but you still enjoy the functionality of Touch ID, you can use a new jailbreak tweak called AlwaysTouch.
It’s meant for family devices
AlwaysTouch is really for those of you who don’t care about the security of a particular device because it may already be getting used by more than one person or it may be a family device.
It allows you to use the Touch ID sensor to unlock your device even when a passcode isn’t set. Moreover, it doesn’t matter what fingerprint is used to unlock the device, so your mom, dad, siblings, children, and anyone else who uses the device can use the Touch ID sensor to unlock your iPhone or iPad with their own fingerprints.
The tweak is essentially nothing more than a way to evade the “slide to unlock” animation on the Lock screen by allowing you to use the Touch ID sensor to unlock the device instead.
Because you don’t have a passcode set, the device isn’t really checking the fingerprint to make sure that the person using the Touch ID sensor is authorized to use your device, instead, it’s just assuming that you want to unlock your device because the Touch ID sensor is being used since there are already no security measures in place.
It’s not for the security mongers
If you’re big on security, and you have a huge passcode set and have Touch ID set up to recognize your fingerprint only, then you don’t need this tweak, and I wouldn’t even bother to recommend it to you.
The reason the tweak exists is because there are legitimately people out there who don’t use a passcode because they may have a family device that anyone in the household is welcomed to use, and it gives the illusion that you’re using Touch ID to unlock the device from an aesthetic standpoint.
If you have a reason to keep any information on your device safe, then you should stick to the traditional passcode and Touch ID method of unlocking your device.
My thoughts on AlwaysTouch
It’s a touchy subject whenever you’re talking about security, and I know some people will wonder why in the world you would leave a device without a passcode in the first place.
Speaking from experience, my family and I always had our own personal devices that we kept secure in our own person with a passcode, and most recently, with Touch ID, but we always had a family iPad that we were all welcomed to use, and to make things easier, we didn’t put a passcode on it.
That’s simply because we only used the device for web browsing and not for personal data – consider it the same reason you might use a public computer at the library or at a school, rather than your own.
In a scenario like this one, AlwaysTouch is cool because it lets you get past the Lock screen in a new way. Typically when you try to unlock a device without a passcode, you have to wake it up and then slide to unlock to get to the Home screen, but with AlwaysTouch, you can just use the Touch ID sensor to get to the Home screen, and that’s just a nice touch even for those who don’t have a passcode because it feels more modern.
If you have any devices that aren’t passcode protected, and they’re jailbroken, I think AlwaysTouch is a nice tweak to check out. However, if your only devices are those that are heavily guarded by passcodes and contain personal information, then skip it.
Wrapping up
To bring a more modern way of getting past the Lock screen to iOS devices without a passcode, AlwaysTouch is a cool tweak for jailbroken devices to check out and is available free of cost in Cydia’s BigBoss repository. Anyone can use it, which makes it perfect for family devices that you keep around the house.
Would you use AlwaysTouch for any of your devices? Share why or why not in the comments below.