Take Control Of iPad Or iPhone Screen Auto-Dim ‘Feature’ [iOS Tips]

Simple, yet effective.

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iOS has a lot of great features, some of which are focused on preserving as much battery life as possible. One of them is the Auto-Lock feature, which defaults to dimming the screen of your iOS device after a really short period of time.

This obviously helps preserve battery life, as the less the screen is on at full brightness, the longer you’ll be able to use it on a single charge. If you’d like to control this, though, and even turn it off fully, it’s a simple trip into the Settings App.

Launch the Settings App from your iPhone or iPad with a tap, and then tap on the General tab. Scroll down to the Auto-Lock section, and tap there. You’ll see an array of time periods, including 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and so on. Choose the length of time you’d like your iOS device to stay at the brightness level you’ve chosen in the Brightness & Wallpaper settings with a tap.

I often use my iPad plugged in when working, so being able to leave the auto-dim feature off and not have to continually tap the screen to keep it running is a boon. I do wish it had more OS X-style energy saver settings, and allow me to set a preference for Auto-Lock depending on the plugged in state, but for now, a manual tap or two isn’t too horrible.

If you are out and about and have to step away from the screen for a bit, simply hit the Sleep/Wake button on the top to lock your iPad from wandering eyes, and be sure to have a passcode on it.

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• Via OS X Daily

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