A pattern in consumer tech: small reductions in friction produce outsized gains in engagement, especially at scale. E.g. Google found that adding 100-400ms delay to search results reduced searches per user by 0.2% to 0.6% (that’s a lot at Google’s scale).
The lock screen is the barrier between you and what you can do with the phone. Apple has been reducing that friction in two ways: making the lock screen faster to get through, and making it unnecessary to get through at all. Both increase usage, which increases lock-in and revenue.
(Other phone manufacturers/mobile OS developers do this as well, but I only have an iPhone — it’s easier for me to write about.)
Making the gate faster
To unlock the phone, users went from entering the passcode to Touch ID to Face ID. Each method is faster than the last. Face ID is nearly invisible (most of the time), the phone is unlocked before the user has consciously decided to open it. Or with Apple Pay, you can just double-tap the side button to bring up your card.
The faster the gate open, the more often people pass through it. This means more sessions → more time in apps → more information generated inside the app, or even more purchases.
Moving things outside the gate
Apple has also been moving functionality to the outside of the lock screen, so users don’t need to unlock at all.
An example is the camera. In iOS 5, accessing the camera from the lock screen required double-tapping the Home button, waiting for the camera icon to appear, then tapping it. In iOS 5.1, this became a single swipe-up gesture on the camera icon. Since iOS 10, you just swipe right-to-left, regardless of what buttons you put on the lock screen.
Over the years, Apple has done the same with widgets, Control Center, Live Activities,… These features don’t require passing through the gate.
Where this becomes lock-in
More content, harder to leave
The camera example is the most direct. Easier camera access → more photos and videos → more iCloud storage consumed. Exporting from iCloud has no “Download All” button, and you can’t select more than 1000 photos per batch. Apple offers a transfer tool, but only to Google Photos, and it strips Smart Albums, Live Photos, and album organization in the process. You can leave, but the friction of leaving is high.
More usage of Apple services
If the apps are Apple’s such as Notes or iMessage, faster unlock means more content is generated, and this content is stored on iCloud. Or if it’s Wallet with your cards, passes, IDs, and keys, that’s even more lock-in.
Where this becomes revenue
iCloud subscriptions
More photos and files mean more users upgrading. iCloud storage is a revenue stream that grows as the content library grows.
App Store commissions
More time in apps means more in-app purchases, and Apple takes 15-30% cut of every transaction processed through its payment system.
Apple Pay
With bank apps from where I live, you have to: open the app → authenticate → open the QR code scanner feature → scan → press confirm → enter PIN.
Compared with Apple Pay, you: double-tap the side button to bring up your card (without having to open Wallet) → use Face ID to authenticate → done.
If Apple Pay was widely supported here, bank apps wouldn’t have the chance to survive against Apple. And as every transaction through Apple Pay generates a small fee, this will add up to a lot.