Your iPhone screen turns on when the phone is picked up? Are you holding your phone by the side like a raw egg, fearing you might touch the screen and turn it on—and with it the flashlight, of course? Tired of your iPhone painlessly flashing the screen and wasting battery? Find out here how to stop the iPhone screen from turning on when it is touched or picked up.
First, Lava, Fast and Slow
If lava cools faster than fast, it blows up into the pumice you can use to exfoliate your skin, for instance. When lava cools slower than fast, it crystallizes into matte pitchstone.
Let lava cool just the right amount of fast, though, and it turns into black glass—obsidian. Polish obsidian like people apparently already did some 9,000 years ago, it works well enough as a mirror.
Now, an iPhone’s front is not obsidian, but it still is a form of black glass. It works very well as a mirror, of course—as long as it doesn’t turn on (except to the camera):
How to Stop the iPhone Screen from Turning On When It Is Picked Up
Time needed: 3 minutes
To make sure an iPhone does only turn on when you press the Home or side button, not when you pick it up
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to the Display & Brightness category.
- Turn off Raise to Wake.
“Raise to Wake” enabled: With this option on, the iPhone screen will turn on whenever you pick up the phone—most typically detected when the phone moves from a horizontal position, say lying on a table, to a somewhat upright position, say in your hand.
- Select < Settings on the top.
- Now go to the Accessibility category.
- Select Touch under PHYSICAL AND MOTOR.
- Turn off Tap to Wake.
“Tap to Wake” enabled: With tapping enabled to wake the iPhone, the screen will turn on when you tap it—note that merely touching the screen, swiping over it, or even tapping with two fingers will not wake the phone, only a tap with one finger does.
Make the screen less enticing when it’s on: How to Turn on Grayscale Mode on iPhone
How to Stop the iPhone Screen from Turning On When It Is Picked Up: FAQ
How do I turn on the screen with touching and picking up disabled as triggers?
To turn the screen on and wake your iPhone:
- Press the side button (on the right side) or the sleep/wake button (on the top).
Will the iPhone screen turn on for Siri?
Yes.
If you have your iPhone listening for “Hey, Siri,” the screen will come on for Siri (but the iPhone will not unlock in response.
(How to stop the iPhone screen from turning on when picked up tested with iOS 15–17; first published June 2022, last updated September 2024)