Prevent people accessing private info on your lock screen

Ever noticed the short horizontal line that appears under the mobile network, wi-fi and battery icons in the top right of the lock screen on an iphone X or later? This is actually a handle you can swipe down to open the Control Centre on newer iphones with Face ID. On older models, Control Centre is opened by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

This provides a handy way to access frequently used settings and tools when your device is locked – volume and brightness controls, airplane mode, media playback, torch and so on. But, depending on how your Control Centre is set up, it could allow anyone who picks up your device to access personal information and more.

For example, if you’ve enabled Homekit controls in your Control Centre, someone could gain access to your web-connected ‘smart’ home devices. People can also potentially view what music or podcasts you’ve listened to recently, and add notes or record voice memos (though your device would need to be unlocked to access existing notes and voice memos).

There are two solutions for this.

You could tap Settings, Control Centre and remove any options that might compromise your privacy. Next, you can disable Show Home Controls to remove access to smart-home devices, or tap the red button next to Notes or Voice Memos to remove these.

Alternatively, you could disable access to the Control Centre from the lock screen altogether. Tap Settings, ‘Face ID & Passcode’ (or ‘Touch ID & Passcode’ on older models), then scroll down to Allow Access When Locked and switch off the Control Centre option (see screenshot right). You’ll now notice that the small line has vanished from your lock screen.