How to disable ‘Press Home to Unlock’ on iPhone

iOS 10 Lock screen Press home to unlock image 003

iOS 10 introduced a new way of unlocking Touch ID-capable devices, requiring you to press the Home button to unlock the device and get to the Home screen. This, coupled with the new Raise to Wake feature can make for a nicer experience, but like every new interaction, it can be confusing, annoying, or just hard to break the habit.

Users who don’t like this ‘Press Home to Unlock’ feature will be happy to learn that there is a way to turn this off and take things back to the way they were before iOS 10.

For context, before iOS 10, you could just lay any of your fingertips registered with Touch ID to unlock the device, assuming it was awake (ie. Lock screen on). Placing your fingertip on the Touch ID sensor was enough to unlock the device, no press of the Home button needed.

No press to unlock!

To be completely honest, I’m not too keen on this new method of unlocking the device, and I do prefer the good old way. If you’re like me, then follow these simple directions to disable ‘Press Home to Unlock.’

1) Launch the Settings app.

2) Go to General > Accessibility > Home Button.

3) Turn on the Rest Finger to Open toggle.

Going forward, you won’t have to press the Home button anymore in order to unlock your device. All you will have to do is to make sure the Lock screen is awake, then rest your finger on the Touch ID sensor (no need to press).

To revert back, simply follow these instructions again and turn off the toggle.

Now that I’ve shared with you my preference to unlock my iPhone, please make sure to share yours with us. Which one do you like better? Press to unlock, or rest to unlock?