How to disable homescreen rotation on Apple's Plus-series iPhones

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2017
By default, Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and 7 Plus add an auto-rotating home screen to iOS, rearranging icons and the dock whenever a device is tilted sideways. Aside from the Control Center orientation lock, here's an indirect way of achieving the same result.




Within the Settings app, tap on Display & Brightness, then on "View" under the Display Zoom category towards the very bottom. Nominally this option just makes it easier to browse and tap on icons. As a consequence of using it, however, the home screen will no longer rotate.




To make the switch, tap on "Zoomed," then on "Set." Technically an iPhone has to reset to apply the change, but unlike a normal reboot this should only take several seconds.




That's it -- to reverse course, go back to the Display Zoom menu and select "Standard" instead. The above method works in iOS 9 and 10.

Note that at least some apps, like Apple Messages, will continue to rotate their own interfaces even with Display Zoom on, and there may be no way of disabling this within an app's settings.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    adybadyb Posts: 205member
    Why not flick up from the bottom of the screen & tap the orientation lock - or am I missing something?
    mike1
  • Reply 2 of 11
    dayvidalexanderdayvidalexander Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    haha came here to say the same as Adyb
  • Reply 3 of 11
    razormaidrazormaid Posts: 299member
    adyb said:
    Why not flick up from the bottom of the screen & tap the orientation lock - or am I missing something?
    I was thinking the exact same thing. It was like "Hello?  Red button!"  LOL 
    edited April 2017 toysandme
  • Reply 4 of 11
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    I would love for them to add the ability to rotate  the home screen icons on any iPhone, not just the + models.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    zroger73zroger73 Posts: 787member
    I turned on orientation lock long ago on my iPhone 6S Plus. It always seemed to rotate unintentionally more frequently than previous (non-Plus) models and became annoying.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    MetriacanthosaurusMetriacanthosaurus Posts: 880member
    mike1 said:
    I would love for them to add the ability to rotate  the home screen icons on any iPhone, not just the + models.
    No you wouldn't. You only think so because you haven't seen it. Apple has, which is why they said 'nope'.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 11
    21yr_mac_user21yr_mac_user Posts: 85member
    One related thing that has bugged me ever since I got an iPhone is the inability to lock in landscape orientation. Whenever I'm lying down the damn thing is always rotating and on many apps I want to be in landscape. Is there a workaround I'm missing or has Apple just been clueless all these years on basic functionalilty?
    superklotonclexman
  • Reply 8 of 11
    themacmanthemacman Posts: 151member
    adyb said:
    Why not flick up from the bottom of the screen & tap the orientation lock - or am I missing something?
    The orientation lock will keep your phone in portrait mode in all apps. This method will still let rotate the phone with Safari etc  but not the lock screen. That's the difference 
    superklotonredgeminipa
  • Reply 9 of 11
    superklotonsuperkloton Posts: 86member
    Otherwise, if you're jailbroken, use the Cydia tweak "Notate". 
  • Reply 10 of 11
    EsquireCatsEsquireCats Posts: 1,268member
    I think screen rotation in general needs a few check boxes, e.g. "disable rotation lock for these apps" Because there are plenty of times I want portrait mode, but zero times I want portrait-locked video playback. It's also super clumsy on the iPhone home screen, the plus isn't so big to require this behaviour, it's all gimmick.
    edited April 2017 ireland
  • Reply 11 of 11
    joaquimjoaquim Posts: 9member
     I tried but after I did it my YouTube app did not work properly  in landscape  mode.  The YouTube screen went dark and a could only hear the audio.
Sign In or Register to comment.