Apple seems to be paying attention to the rising instances of law enforcement agencies abusing their power in the US. The company is giving its users an old way to protect themselves. It is now adding a quick way to disable your Touch ID in iOS 11.
The new feature lets iPhone users tap the power button five times in quick succession to call emergency helplines. Take note, it doesn’t automatically dial for you. Instead, it brings up a quick menu where you can tap to dial, while also offering you the option to temporarily disable your Touch ID until you enter a passcode.
The new feature appeared in the latest beta version of iOS 11. Previously, you’d have to dive into your menu settings to disable our Touch ID. The new method is more discreet and faster to activate, both important points if you’re in a situation where you fear someone might try to force you to unlock your iPhone.
See, if law enforcement agencies suspect you of a crime (whether you’re guilty or not), you might be intimidated into handing over your phone whether that’s legal or not. But an officer can’t stop you from tapping your power button, something you can do quickly and quietly the second you sense trouble. You wouldn’t even have to think twice because there’s a simple password to reactivate it.
Of course, the feature is even more useful considering Apple is expected to debut its iPhone 8 with face scanning instead of a Touch ID. There’s no way to stop a police officer from holding your phone up to your face, so it’s probably better to just have a way to deactivate it.
Of course, this is also a decent tactic to keep nosy parents and relationship partners out of your phone. Unless they know the activation password of course