Touch ID allows iOS device owners to unlock their device without entering a long or short passcode. It prevents anyone from memorizing your passcode simply by watching you enter it repeatedly. The problem with this unlock method is that even if you simply press the Home button to wake the device to maybe check what time it is, the device unlocks. With newer iOS devices, Touch ID is even faster so it takes very little to unlock your device when you don’t mean to. iOS 10 has a way to combat that by having you actually press the Home button if you want to go to your home screen. Touching your thumb to the home button still unlocks the device but you don’t go past the lock screen. The ‘Slide to unlock’ message is replaced with ‘Press Home To Unlock’. Many iOS device owners might welcome this but if you’re having trouble adjusting to this new method to unlock your device and get to the home screen, here’s how you can disable it.

To disable ‘Press Home To Unlock’, open the Settings app and go to General>Accessibility>Home Button and turn the ‘Rest Finger to Unlock’ option On.

Default Method For Unlocking iOS 10 Device

By default, you have to press the Home button twice to unlock an iOS 10 device. The first time you press it, the screen wakes and you see the ‘Press home to unlock’ option. A padlock icon in the status bar shows you whether the device is locked or unlocked. If you don’t press the Home button but keep your finger on it, the device will unlock, the padlock icon will disappear, and the lock screen message will be replaced with ‘Press home to open’. When you press the home button a second time, you’re taken to your home screen.

Unlocking An iOS 10 Device With Rest Finger To Unlock Enabled

With the ‘Rest finger to unlock’ option turned On, you can wake your device by pressing the Home button. The device will detect your fingerprint and unlock the device with just a single press of the Home button i.e. exactly how it worked in iOS 9.

Screen Lock Status In iOS 10

If you’re having trouble figuring out when the screen is locked and when it’s unlocked, the status bar is where you can tell for sure. If the screen is locked, a pad lock icon will be visible. When the screen is unlocked, i.e. when the device recognizes your fingerprint, the pad lock icon changes to show an unlocked pad lock. This icon quickly disappears so that there is nothing in the status bar. If no icon is visible, it means the device is unlocked. Pressing the home button will open the device and take you to your home screen. Pressing the wake/sleep button will sleep the display and lock your device again.