One thing you may not know about your iPhone’s power button is that pressing it automatically ends an active call. This is the default behavior in iOS. But users have long complained about this feature, and Apple introduced an option to turn it off in iOS 16’s Accessibility settings. Keep in mind that having the side button hang up ongoing calls isn’t necessarily a bad idea. It’s an easy way to end a phone call without looking at your iPhone screen.
It’s hard to argue with the convenience. But for many, this convenience comes at a cost, and they may end up accidentally hanging up on an important conversation without meaning to. If this has happened to you, the good news is that Apple has made it easier to prevent the side button from ending calls on iPhones. And the whole process takes less than a minute.
Disable the side button to hang up calls
To prevent the side button from ending calls on your iPhone, open “Settings”, go to “Accessibility”, go to the “Touch” section and turn on the “Prevent lock to end call” toggle. Keep in mind that the option is only available on iPhones running iOS 16 or later. After making changes, pressing the side or power button during active calls no longer ends them. Instead, you’ll get the chance to see all the cool things your iPhone’s lock screen can do, while the call continues.
There is, however, a downside. After disabling the power button to hang up calls, pressing it twice during an incoming call won’t reject one either. However, pressing this button once will always silence incoming calls, as this is the default feature. This choice to prevent the side button from ending calls is one of the lesser known tricks that will change the way you use your iPhone. If you’re not sure which route to take, consider enabling the “Prevent lock to end call” option for a week and see how it goes. You can always reactivate it.
