Whether or not you have enabled password protection for your iPad, it will automatically lock after a certain period of activity; the locked state simply means that your screen will first dim after a period of inactivity, and the display will be turned off, requiring you to slide to unlock the iPad. This is a useful feature in that it not only saves energy (and battery life, if your iPad is not connected to a power source), but it also prevents capturing accidental touches after the iPad is locked. Let's see how to configure the Auto-Lock feature.
Customize your iPad Auto-Lock preferences
Follow these steps to access the Auto-Lock options on your iPad:
Click on the "Home" button, and flick through Home screens until you find the "Settings" icon: then tap on it.- Once the iPad Settings screen loads, tap on the "General" settings on the left (should be automatically selected).
- Then, tap the "Auto-Lock" button on the right; by default, your iPad is set to lock itself after 5 minutes: the current number of minutes that will elapse before the iPad locks is displayed on the right side of the button itself.
- The next screen displays the choices you have: "2 Minutes", "5 Minutes", "10 Minutes", or "15 Minutes". Tap one these values to increase or decrease the amount of time before the iPad automatically displays the Lock screen.
- To disable Auto-Lock, tap on the "Never" button at the bottom.
- You can now press the "Home" button to return to what you were doing; from this point on (the change takes effect immediately), your iPad will auto-lock itself according to your preference.
You can change your Auto-Lock setting at any time, and it will be remembered by your iPad, even if you restart it. To combine protection with Auto-Lock, read the next tutorial, which explains how to add a password to your iPad (as well as changing it or removing password-protection).