TIL my phone's flashlight has a dimmer mode I never knew about

I was messing around with my phone last week trying to find a setting to make the flashlight less blinding when I'm walking the dog at night in my neighborhood near Portland. Turns out if you long press the flashlight icon on most Android phones, it pulls up a slider to adjust brightness. I've had this phone for like 18 months and never thought to press and hold anything. Used to just shine it directly at the ground or cover half the lens with my finger like a caveman. Now I can set it to a low glow that doesn't wake up every squirrel in a three block radius. Has anyone else stumbled on a hidden feature like this that was staring them in the face the whole time?

2 comments

2 Comments

casey_barnes1mo ago

Whoa, I read somewhere that iPhones have a similar shortcut too.

the_richard1mo ago

Gotta say, I was one of those people who rolled their eyes at phone shortcuts. Thought they were gimmicky and not worth remembering. Then my buddy showed me you can double-tap the back of your iPhone to trigger the flashlight, and it completely changed my tune. Now I use it all the time when I'm fumbling for my keys in the dark. I still feel dumb for ignoring it for so long, but at least I'm not blinding my neighbors anymore with the full blast.