The iPhone’s flashlight is one of its simplest and most helpful features. Whether you need to walk your dog at night, turn on your circuit breaker after a power outage, or look for your keys under the couch cushions, the flashlight on your iPhone can help.
The LED flashlight comes from the phone’s camera flash mechanism, located next to the camera lens on the back of your device. At its brightest, an iPhone flashlight emits roughly 40-50 lumens and can be dimmed down to around 8-12 lumens. With iOS 18, Apple expanded brightness control to as many as 7 levels, up from 4 in iOS 17. Compatible devices – like the iPhone 14 Pro, 15 series and 16 series running iOS 18 – also gained a beam-width control that lets you switch between a narrow spotlight and a wider flood of light. You may have even turned the flashlight on by accident from your Lock screen. Just keep in mind that leaving it on for extended periods can drain your battery – testing has shown it can take roughly 1% of battery every 5 minutes – this guide will describe how to use your iPhone flashlight so you can make the most of this convenient tool.
How to Use Your iPhone’s Flashlight
Knowing a few methods available on your iPhone helps you turn your flashlight on or off faster whenever you need it- it’s helpful to remember that your flashlight can always drain your battery over time. In a Petzl experiment, a cell phone flashlight left on for 3 hours caused the battery to drop from 65% to 19% – a loss of nearly 15% per hour, or roughly 1% every 5 minutes. That said, LED lights are long-lasting and efficient, so as long as you’re aware of your battery level, you can keep your flashlight on for multiple hours if you need to.
With iOS 18, Apple also expanded the flashlight’s functionality. Newer iPhones now support as many as 7 brightness levels (up from 4 in iOS 17) and compatible models – like the iPhone 14 Pro, 15 series, and 16 series – gained a beam-width control feature that lets you adjust how wide or narrow the light beam is. At its brightest, third-party testing suggests the iPhone flashlight emits around 40-50 lumens, dropping to roughly 8-12 lumens at its lowest setting.
1. Siri
Speech recognition is improving in all kinds of technology, from cell phones to home devices. Your iPhone is better at recognizing your voice commands with each update. On iPhones, talking to Siri is a helpful way to handle everything from looking for a recipe to sending an email.
You can also ask Siri to turn on your iPhone flashlight- this method is probably the simplest and requires the fewest steps. To access this feature, you’ll have to speak to Siri near your phone so the software can pick up your voice. Your phone can be awake or in sleep mode. Siri can recognize these commands in various conditions. You can say a few different phrases, like:
- “Hey Siri, turn on my flashlight.”
- “Hey Siri, will you turn on my flashlight?”
Siri can accurately respond to nearly any voice command, so you can use similar wording and still get Siri to turn your flashlight on. When you no longer need to use the flashlight, you can ask Siri to turn it off.
If this feature isn’t working, you might have the Listen for “Hey Siri” feature disabled, or you might have blocked the ability to access Siri through the Lock screen. To check Siri’s capabilities on your phone, follow these steps:
- Go to your iPhone’s Settings.
- Scroll down and open Siri & Search.
- Determine whether the Listen for “Hey Siri,” Press Side Button for Siri, and Allow Siri When Locked features are on.
Even with the Listen for “Hey Siri” feature disabled, you can still use Siri to enable your phone’s flashlight. Ensure the Press Side Button for Siri option is on, and press and hold the side button before speaking your command.
2. Control Center
Accessing the flashlight feature through the Control Center requires a few extra steps. Your phone needs to be on and awake to display the Control Center, and it can do so from any app or the home screen. On an iPhone with Face ID, you can follow these steps:
- First, swipe down from your screen’s upper-right corner. This action opens your iPhone’s Control Center.
- In the Control Center, look in the lower left for a flashlight icon, which is the flashlight button.
- Tap the button to turn on the phone’s flashlight.
Alternatively, you can also access the flashlight through the Lock screen on an iPhone with Face ID. The flashlight button is in the bottom left of the screen. Press and hold it, and your light will turn on.
The flashlight icon is usually white with a black background. When you tap and release the flashlight button, the image should change from white to blue, and the background should turn white. You may also get a haptic confirmation that you’ve turned it on.
If you’re running iOS 18 on a compatible iPhone (iPhone 14 Pro or later), you can also adjust brightness and beam width directly from the Control Center. Press and hold the flashlight button to bring up a slider for brightness, and look for the beam-width control beneath it to toggle between a wide or narrow beam. If you’ve recently switched devices, learn what kind of iPhone you have to confirm whether your model supports these features.
You also need to know how to turn off your iPhone flashlight when you no longer need it. To turn the flashlight off, tap and release the flashlight button again. The icon should return to its original design.
3. Phone With a Home Button
On an iPhone with a Home button, you will need to find the Control Center through a different strategy.
- Swipe up from the bottom of your phone’s screen. You can do this from any app or webpage.
- Once you have Control Center opened, the flashlight button will display in the lower left of the screen.
- Tap the button to turn on the flashlight.
You can also access the flashlight on your iPhone’s Lock screen like you can with an iPhone with Face ID. Swipe up from the bottom of the Lock screen to open the Control Center. Then tap the flashlight button. Once again, the icon should turn from white to blue.
Turning your flashlight off on an iPhone with a Home button is easy. Open the Control Center from the bottom of the screen again and tap the flashlight button. The image should go from blue to white. Keep in mind that extended flashlight use can affect overall battery performance — something worth considering when comparing devices.
How to Change Your Flashlight’s Brightness
When you open the flashlight, you might find the light is too dim or bright. Changing the iPhone flashlight brightness is easy once you know how to turn it on. However, to access finer controls, like changing its brightness, you’ll need to open and use your phone’s Control Center. As of now, speaking to Siri only turns the flashlight on and off.
Once your flashlight is on, open the Control Center using one of the methods described above that fits your iPhone’s model. Since tapping and releasing the flashlight icon would turn the flashlight off, press and hold the button instead – this action will open your flashlight’s brightness controls, displayed as a vertical bar.
To make your flashlight brighter, tap on or slide your finger up each level until you reach the desired brightness. Slide or tap your finger down the bar to lower the brightness. With iOS 18, Apple increased the number of brightness levels from 4 to as many as 7, and it gives you more precise control than ever before. At its brightest, an iPhone flashlight emits roughly 40-50 lumens. But the dimmest setting drops down to around 8-12 lumens.
If you own an iPhone 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, 15, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, 16, 16 Pro, or 16 Pro Max running iOS 18, you’ll also see a second control for changing the beam width – allowing you to switch between a narrow, focused beam and a wider, more diffused light.
When you change the brightness setting, the flashlight will display that brightness level until you manually adjust it again. Remember that extended flashlight use can drain your battery – tests have shown that leaving the flashlight on for three hours can take nearly 15% of battery per hour, so it’s worth dimming the light when full brightness isn’t necessary.
Discover More iPhone Tips on Gazelle’s Blog
On iPhones with Face ID or a Home button, the flashlight icon is within the Control Center, which you can access in a couple of ways. If you’re running iOS 18 on a supported model – like the iPhone 14 Pro, 15 series, or 16 series – you’ll also have access to a beam-width control that lets you narrow or widen the flashlight’s beam, as well as up to 7 brightness levels. Whichever iPhone model you have, Siri is always available to turn the flashlight on.
It’s also worth keeping battery drain in mind. Testing has shown that leaving your flashlight on can drain roughly 15% of your battery per hour, so it’s a good habit to turn it off when you’re done. At its brightest, an iPhone flashlight emits around 40-50 lumens, and dimming it when possible can help conserve battery life.
For more iPhone tips and tricks, browse the helpful articles on Gazelle’s blog. You can check out information on your phone’s features, customizing your home screen, connecting with family and more on the blog.
If you are interested in replacing your old phone, Gazelle has pre-owned iPhones with certified quality, honest pricing and a 30-day return policy, so you can be confident in your new device. We think you’ll agree we have some of the top used phones on the market. Shop our collection .