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Requirement to enter passcode every 48 hours

i use the touch id function on my iPhone 5s but am required to enter the passcode every 48 hours. is this normal and can it be turned off?

iPhone 5s, iOS 7.1.1

Posted on May 4, 2014 7:58 AM

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214 replies

Oct 3, 2015 10:02 AM in response to joelSC

I saw this message this morning for the first time ever, and I saw it on two different devices, an iPhone 6 and an iPad Air 2. I've been using both devices for close to a year, and both had been used less than 12 hours previously, so there's no reason the "48 hours" message should have appeared. I also suspect an iOS 9 bug.

Oct 4, 2015 12:26 AM in response to 2manygadgets

This happened to me this morning too. I have definitely used my phone multiple times in the last 48 hours, the last time being less than 3 hours earlier because I checked my phone when woken early this morning. I had the added problem that I couldn't enter the passcode because the on screen keyboard wasn't working. It didn't matter which keys I tapped, nothing appeared in the password box And the screen would go off after 10 seconds. I did a hard robot but still could not enter my passcode because the keyboard wasn't working. I kept trying and after about 2 minutes the keyboard suddenly started working.


Not impressed with iOS 9. It seems to have introduced lots of bugs.

Oct 6, 2015 5:19 AM in response to kvance83

Same thing happened to me this am. I use my phone several hundred times a day for teleconferencing, etc. Yesterday alone I used the touch id at least 35 times. That is just going by my call history. That doesn't include if I checked my email, played a game, listened to music, etc. This morning I woke up to the same message about unlocking every 48 hours. Clearly we are using the phone within this time frame and it is still asking for the passcode before proceeding. ODD and more than likely it is a 9.01 iOS issue. I did recently update to the new iOS and before that never had this problem.

Oct 7, 2015 8:16 AM in response to ChadM1975

It happened to me this morning also. I understand about Profiles and Exchange accounts and I've never had either and I've never had this message before. My phone had been unlocked about 20 minutes before I got the message so it wasn't even close to 48 hours. There have been a number of similar posts about this since iOS 9 was released.

Oct 8, 2015 6:47 AM in response to j wfromtorrance

I think you've stated the issue accurately. Some people on this thread are trying their best to answer, but some haven't really understood the original question, which you have clarified.


My wife and I are having the same issue-- I've used my phone last night, but I'll get dialog box that (paraphrase) "You haven't unlocked your phone in 48 hours", please enter password.


I'm not sure if this is a security 'feature' or some testing software bug that was left in the release version.

Oct 8, 2015 7:53 AM in response to gfs2008

gfs2008 wrote:


...


I'm not sure if this is a security 'feature' or some testing software bug that was left in the release version.



I think it is a combination of the two. There has always been a security feature for Touch ID regarding 48 hours. That is quoted below from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204587

To configure Touch ID, you must first set up a passcode. Touch ID is designed to minimize the input of your passcode; but your passcode will be needed for additional security validation:

  • After restarting your device
  • When more than 48 hours have elapsed from the last time you unlocked your device
  • To enter the Touch ID & Passcode setting

The bug part of it is that with the release of iOS 9 (or 9.0.1 or 9.02.), the 48 hour requirement is being triggered in some cases when 48 hours have not elapsed. iOS 9 was released on September 16; iOS 9.0.1 on September 23; iOS 9.0.2 on September 30. I updated on each of those days. So far I have only had the 48 hour message one time (and it was only about 20 minutes after the previous unlock). To me it appears to be a very intermittent bug.

Oct 9, 2015 5:54 AM in response to Chris CA

Chris CA wrote:


850T5 wrote:

Annoying, especially with passwords that are more complicated to comply with my corporate guidance.


How is a 6 digit password "complicated"?

Don't think I mentioned a 6 digit password, but a password that complies with my corporate's guidance. That is 8 characters, including upper and lower case and numbers. But why would you care?

Having to enter the password is simply annoying after purchasing a device which has touchID to prevent exactly that!

Requirement to enter passcode every 48 hours

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