How to Stop Your iPhone's Side Button From Accidentally Ending Calls

An accidental habit

Many iPhone users have experienced a call ending unexpectedly, even though nobody intentionally hung up. According to reporting from Macworld, this often happens because the side button on the iPhone gets pressed by accident while you're holding the phone to your ear. Since iOS 16, that button has ended calls by default, and the behavior isn't expected to change in iOS 27, either — Macworld describes the arrangement as both convenient and frustrating. To avoid unintentionally ending a call, you'll need to change a setting.

Where the option lives

The relevant control isn't in the obvious place. Macworld notes it's buried deep within the Settings app, and the steps to reach it aren't where users might first expect to look.

What changes after the adjustment

Once you've made the change, pressing the physical side button during a call no longer disconnects the call. Instead, it simply turns off the screen. The call stays connected, so you can keep talking without worrying that a stray press has hung up on the other person.

Why it matters

This is a small fix, but a practical one. If you've ever had a conversation cut off with no explanation, the side button is a likely culprit. The default behavior introduced in iOS 16 makes that easy to do — even without meaning to. Changing the setting does not remove the button's ability to lock the screen, so the trade-off is limited. Macworld's original report comes from its German sister publication Macwelt, which was translated and localized for readers.

What the report makes clear

The underlying issue isn't a software bug or a network problem. It's a physical design decision that turns the side button into an end-call control by default. For anyone who regularly holds the phone against their ear during calls, the accidental-press scenario is plausible, and the fix is available in Settings. Macworld's advice is straightforward: find the option, adjust it, and the side button will no longer hang up your calls.

That's the full scope of the report — no broader privacy, security, or performance claims are made, and no specific iOS release date is offered beyond the expectation that iOS 27 will keep the current behavior. Readers who want the exact navigation path should consult Macworld's original article, where the step-by-step instructions appear.