Raise to Wake lets you see your Lock screen without pressing the Home button. Here’s how to enable or disable it on the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, or iPhone 6s Plus.

iOS 10 has many new features, but one that hasn’t gotten much media attention is Raise to Wake. If you turn on Raise to Wake, you can see your iPhone’s Lock screen without having to touch the Home button.

Raise to Wake is particularly useful if you have the second generation Touch ID sensor, which is so fast that it makes it hard to see your Lock screen before you get taken to the Home screen.

In this how-to I’ll show you how to enable Raise to Wake (or disable it if you prefer not to use it).

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One caveat though that you should know about Raise to Wake. As I write this post the feature requires the M9 processor found in the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, and the iPhone 6s Plus. So if your phone doesn’t have that, you won’t be able to use Raise to Wake. 

How to enable or disable Raise to Wake in iOS 10

It’s very easy to turn Raise to Wake on or off.

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap on Display & Brightness.

3. Tap on the Raise to Wake switch.

That’s it, when you raise your iPhone up you will now see your Lock screen without ever having to touch your Home button.

If you change your mind, you can easily disable Raise to Wake by tapping the switch again.

Why I love Raise to Wake on the iPhones 6s Plus

You’d think that something like Raise to Wake would not be a big deal, given all the other cool new features in iOS 10. But I’ve found that it’s one of the best things about Apple’s new version of iOS.

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When I pick up my iPhone and I see the Lock screen, I can easily swipe left to load the camera app, or I can swipe right to access my widgets. I can also access notifications right on the Lock screen, including Messages notifications that I can reply to immediately.

Once you get used to having Raise to Wake, it’s pretty tough to do without it. It’s an iOS feature that feels like it should have always been there.

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Jim Lynch is a technology analyst and online community manager who has also written for many leading industry publications over the years, including ITworld, InfoWorld, CIO, PCMag, ExtremeTech, and numerous others.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Jim Lynch and do not necessarily represent those of IDG Communications, Inc., its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.

Copyright © 2016 IDG Communications, Inc.