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I want to change auto-lock settings via a shortcut

Back in January TomyHomy asked the question "Is it possible to create a shortcut on iPhone, which changes the "Auto-Lock" setting to "Never"?". That thread has closed without - to my mind- a very satisfactory closure. The answer was more or less "Why would you want that when it only takes 5 seconds to do it manually in settings?". Since IOS v13 shortcuts are becoming all the more capable I think the question becomes current again. To add my thoughts to the "why"...


It seems to be in line with the idea of shortcuts to be able do make things you do often more easy and quickly. I would like to be able to make my "leaving home" routine of having the phone turn off all lights, radio and set the house alarm include keeping the phone unlocked for the next 50 minutes. This is because I then put the phone into my pocket, put in my air-buds, and put on my gloves, and start cycling to work. During that cycle trip I would like to do all sorts of things like start tracking my bike ride, change the radio station I am listening to, or change to a podcast if the radio is boring. Several useful "biking" functions require the phone to be unlocked. I want it unlocked only for that reason, and I want a way to reset the locking time automatically once I arrive, otherwise I am liable to forget.


So am I missing some basic means to achieve this, or is it likely to against some security policy to include the ability in Shortcuts? Surely there are other legitimate reasons to want this do this apart from just commuting by bike? 56 people have so far said that they also have the same question as TomyHomy. What is so far implemented in Shortcuts for settings seems to me to be somewhat arbitrary (but what do I know?). Is there any means by which one can vote for the ability to change auto-lock settings to be implemented in the next system update?

Posted on Oct 2, 2019 7:58 AM

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Posted on Dec 17, 2019 11:31 AM

TugboatThor ~ The following isn't exactly what you want, but it will automatically open your Settings to the Auto-Lock pane when you arrive at a pre-determined location...


In Shortcuts app, use a travel trigger to run a personal automation based on your location. Add that new personal automation into the Travel > Arrive section, and put the following actions in that automation:


URL action

prefs:root=DISPLAY&path=AUTOLOCK


Open URL action


...When your personal automation is automatically triggered & run by arriving at the specified location, the above actions will open your Settings to the Auto-Lock pane where you can change the setting manually. By the way, that "prefs:root" URL is unofficial and there are many more such unofficial URLs for Settings panes documented here:


A Comprehensive Guide to All 120+ Settings URLs Supported by iOS and iPadOS 13.1


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Question marked as Best reply

Dec 17, 2019 11:31 AM in response to TugboatThor

TugboatThor ~ The following isn't exactly what you want, but it will automatically open your Settings to the Auto-Lock pane when you arrive at a pre-determined location...


In Shortcuts app, use a travel trigger to run a personal automation based on your location. Add that new personal automation into the Travel > Arrive section, and put the following actions in that automation:


URL action

prefs:root=DISPLAY&path=AUTOLOCK


Open URL action


...When your personal automation is automatically triggered & run by arriving at the specified location, the above actions will open your Settings to the Auto-Lock pane where you can change the setting manually. By the way, that "prefs:root" URL is unofficial and there are many more such unofficial URLs for Settings panes documented here:


A Comprehensive Guide to All 120+ Settings URLs Supported by iOS and iPadOS 13.1


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I want to change auto-lock settings via a shortcut

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