Automatically Toggle iPhone Orientation Lock for Specific Apps

[MacRumors]

Tired of toggling your iPhone's Orientation Lock for certain apps? Keep reading to learn how you can make iOS do it for you automatically.

In iOS, many apps display a different view when you rotate your iPhone from portrait to landscape orientation. Depending on the app and the way you use it, this behavior isn't always desirable, which is why Apple includes the Orientation Lock option in Control Center.

However, certain apps work more usefully with Orientation Lock disabled – in the Photos app for example, where rotating your device to landscape orientation makes for a better fullscreen viewing experience.

If you tend to keep the lock on, you have to disable it in Control Center each time you open these kinds of apps to get the fullscreen experience. Then when you close the app, you have to remember to enable Orientation Lock again, which isn't ideal. Fortunately, there is a simple personal automation you can create that will take over this process for you for specific apps, so you don't have to keep going in and out of Control Center any more.

The following steps show you how it's done.

1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and select the Automation tab.
2. Tap the plus symbol in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. Scroll down and select App in the list.
4. Make sure Is Opened and Is Closed are both checked, and select Run Immediately, then tap the blue Choose option.
   
   
   
   Select the apps that you want the automation to work with (Photos in our example), then tap Done.
5. Tap Next in the top-right corner.
6. Start typing "Set Orientation Lock" into the search field, or swipe along the "Get Started" row to reveal the script, then tap to choose it.
   Tap Done in the top-right corner to finish.
   
   

Your automation will now be saved in the Shortcuts app, and will be activated the next time you open or close any of the apps you selected for it to work with. Bear in mind that if Orientation Lock is already disabled when you open one of the selected apps, the lock will be turned back on, which is probably the reverse effect that you intended.

Article Link: Automatically Toggle iPhone Orientation Lock for Specific Apps

 

[Cromulent]

I always leave the lock on. I can't stand it when the phone switches to landscape view.

 

[dustin_]

Wow this is great, thanks!

 

[19callum93]

Shortcuts is such a mess. It's ridiculous having to do all the above in order to achieve such a simple thing.

 

[Channan]

Shortcuts is such a mess. It's ridiculous having to do all the above in order to achieve such a simple thing.

I was thinking the same thing. I see tutorials for some amazing things the iPhone can do with the Shortcuts app, but then I see the instructions and I’m like “nah, I’ll pass.”

Don’t know how some people come up with this stuff. It’s impressive because I never would be able to figure it out on my own.

 

[senttoschool]

The problem is the default iOS media player. It doesn't have a rotate button. This means if you always have the lock on, you must toggle it off while watching a video on the default player.

YouTube has this button. Most popular video apps have this button.

Apple refuses to add a rotate button in the default iOS video player.

In the last 5 years, I don't think I've ever toggled lock orientation off except for trying to watch a video via the default iOS media player horizontally.

 

[contacos]

Shortcuts is such a mess. It's ridiculous having to do all the above in order to achieve such a simple thing.

I know … I always have to Google for a lifetime and YouTube to get the most basic things done. I am not surprised no one I know ever even opened the shortcut app. It’s such a shame too cuz it can be really powerful

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Nice and handy tips! That was very helpful. Thank you!

Anyone miss the Landscape Mode on iPhone?

 

[JePe]

This is very useful. Thanks!

 

[maxfromdenmark]

It should be an easier solution for that, like an option in settings when we can choose how notifications are delivered.

 

[MysteriousStain]

You can set the action to TURN on and off and not just toggle

 

[ADudeInBoston]

Excellent tip ! I don’t care so much about rotation lock, but was able to modify the automation to address a different pet peeve: I normally use dark mode, but find it hard to read for maps. So using this same automation approach, I was able to select Maps as the app, and for the action, search for “dark mode”, choose the setting, and voila!

I did have to create two automations, one to switch to light mode on app open, and the other to switch back to dark mode on app close, but it works! A long standing annoyance, gone.

 

[Mitsjke]

When they say iOS is 'easy to use' and 'easy to understand' they mean this :'(

 

[ds10]

Am I missing something? I have an app on my iPad that is only useful to me in Portrait mode. I tried using this solution, and it did lock the rotation, but it didn't rotate the app first (iPad usually used in landscape mode). Is there an automation action to set portrait mode?

 

[hugo7]

Nice and handy tips! That was very helpful. Thank you!

Anyone miss the Landscape Mode on iPhone?

Yes indeed! … I didn’t use it a lot but it was nice to have.
Given that these phones are getting taller (and hopefully wider), a return of landscape mode would be handy.

 

[winxmac]

iOS 15 on iPhone 7 Plus, when there are no widgets, the icons follow the iPhone orientation...

iOS 16 on iPhone 14 Pro Max, even if there are no widgets, the icons do not follow the iPhone orientation...

The tip is nice for those that prefer to have only certain apps change orientation depending on how the iPhone is handled/held...

 

[Dydegu]

The problem is the default iOS media player. It doesn't have a rotate button. This means if you always have the lock on, you must toggle it off while watching a video on the default player.

YouTube has this button. Most popular video apps have this button.

Apple refuses to add a rotate button in the default iOS video player.

Wait, YouTube has a dedicated rotate button? Where?

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

Nice, some actually useful info

 

[Kevin2055]

Shortcuts is such a mess. It's ridiculous having to do all the above in order to achieve such a simple thing.

This is the place we need AI to program the shotcuts

 

[senttoschool]

Wait, YouTube has a dedicated rotate button? Where?

Bottom right corner of the Youtube player.

 

[klasma]

Wait, YouTube has a dedicated rotate button? Where?

I think they mean the "maximize video" button, which sort-of works like a rotate button on iOS.

 

[anthogag]

You can also set rotation as a back double-tap if your iPhone has the back-tap feature; my 14 Pro Max does.

Settings -> Touch -> Back Tap -> Double Tap ..."lock rotation"

 

[senttoschool]

I think they mean the "maximize video" button, which sort-of works like a rotate button on iOS.

Of course, I originally meant adding a rotate the video to landscape button in the default maximized iOS media player.

 

[klasma]

Am I missing something? I have an app on my iPad that is only useful to me in Portrait mode. I tried using this solution, and it did lock the rotation, but it didn't rotate the app first (iPad usually used in landscape mode). Is there an automation action to set portrait mode?

Probably not, so you need to have started the app in the correct orientation.

More generally, the rotation control isn't very robust on iOS, because it seems like it's mostly just apps reacting to a "the screen has been rotated" event, and not the OS forcing the app into a particular orientation. This becomes apparent when sometimes an app seems to "miss" the event and remains in the wrong orientation. That also happens for iOS' own task switcher every now and then.

 

[jealousguy86]

didn’t work