Facedown Detection

Hey skaidiver,

Facedown Detection is an inherent feature of iOS 9, and you don’t have to turn it on or off. You can find more information about it here:

Foundation

• Longer battery life

◦ Up to one hour of additional time before you need to charge your battery

◦ Facedown detection for turning display off when not in use

◦ Low power mode optimizes device performance to extend battery by up to an additional three hours

• Software updates require less space to download and offer an option to install later

• iOS apps and user interface now use Metal to deliver faster scrolling, smoother animation, and better overall performance

• Improved security with two-factor authentication support and a default 6 digit passcode support for Touch ID devices

iOS 9

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1842

Thanks for coming to the Apple Support Communities!

Hi skaidiver,

Make sure that Fitness Tracking is enabled by going to Privacy > Motion & Fitness in the Settings app. For some that was the problem but if you are like me it wont help since i have it on and facedown detection isn't working on my iphone 6. Well it seems ios9 is full of bugs anyway and 9.0.1 made things even worse for me...

Im testing by putting my phone on table facedown and making sure that the camera and the light sensors are covered. And by the way I found a video in youtube which shows that the facedown detection works on glass tables aswell so im pretty sure our way of testing should work.

Hi skaidiver,

I’m not sure how you are testing this, but the ambient light sensors on the iPhone are sensitive. If you are checking this on the iPhone by even lifting the phone slightly, the sensor may still pick up the light in the room and show the screen in anticipation of your desire to view it.

If you are testing another way or think there still may be an issue, please contact us for further troubleshooting: https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action.

Is the face down feature only for the new iPhones or will it work for my iPhone 5s

On newer devices only but 5s should be supported.

More info here:

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2015/09/why-facedown-detection-feature-in-ios-9-doesn t-support-iphone-5-iphone-4s-ipads-and-i…

Hi, it appears when my phone is facedown I don't get audio notifications, I couldn't find any info on this, is it a bug?

Thanks.

Hi there,

I know this is late, but this feature is only available on the iPhone 5s and later.