iOS

Four Ways To Shut Off Your iPhone or iPad

Why so many different ways?

Screenshot showing Siri response to “Shut down” command, asking “Just to confirm, you want to power off this device?” with “Cancel” and a “Power off” button choices
Screenshot by author

Yes, I suppose smashing it with a hammer might work, but let’s stick to non-destructive shutdowns. The first one I learned was to hold down the power button. That had to go away when Apple decided to have holding that button down call up Siri instead. I had to learn to hold the power button and then press the Volume Down, which was not easy.

With iOS 11, Apple added a Shutdown option to Settings->General. It’s way down at that bottom and in a different color, so many people have never noticed it. It took me a while, too.

Showing “Shut Down” in Settings->General at bottom of screen in blue text
Screenshot by author

In 2022, iOS 16 added Siri commands. You could say “Turn off my iPhone”, • “Shut down my iPhone”, “Shut down”, or “Turn off”.

In iOS 18.1 (in Beta as I write this, but coming soon), you can type to Siri by double tapping on the black bar at the bottom of your screen.

Screenshot showing where to double tap to type to Siri
Screenshot by author

In iOS 18, Apple made a tiny addition to Control Center. It’s so small and so…

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Anthony (Tony/Pcunix) Lawrence đź‘€
Tech and Me, Loving It or Hating It

Retired Unix Consultant. I write tech and humor mostly but sometimes other things. See my Lists if your interests are specific.