You might try disabling these iPhone settings if auto-brightness annoys you more than it helps. Your auto-brightness problems could be resolved by turning off two settings.
Do you find the automatic brightness and darkening of your iPhone screen annoying? To help prevent eyes train and make your screen a little easier to read, your phone can detect how much light is in your surroundings and change the brightness of the display. However, auto-brightness isn’t always a good feature.
The issue can be that, even while you’re in the sun, your display automatically dims down. Your phone may be misled into automatically darkening your screen if you’re partially in the shadow, even if it doesn’t have to. It may get challenging to see what’s on your screen as a result. Because of auto-brightness, if you manually raise the brightness, it will just drop again. Although turning off the required settings isn’t always the easiest approach to resolve this problem, it’s an excellent place to start.
To assist stop your iPhone from dimming itself, we’ll show you two options you need to turn off. Note that even if you disable those two options, your iPhone may still automatically alter its brightness.
You should also read everything we know about the iPhone 15 and the essential information regarding the iOS 17 Beta while you’re here.
Turn off auto-brightness first.
Yes, this may sound a little self-evident, but the first thing you need to do is check your settings to make sure automatic brightness is turned off. The function is quite self-explanatory: it automatically modifies your brightness based on ambient light. You must turn off this function if you wish to stop your display from constantly attempting to adapt.
Toggle off Auto-Brightness at the bottom of the page by selecting Accessibility > Display & Text Size in the Settings app. Since auto-brightness is hidden in Accessibility, it’s typical for it to be activated without your knowledge. You would imagine that this setting would be found in Display & Brightness.
Hidden under the Accessibility options is auto-brightness.
You must turn off another setting if your brightness keeps changing on its own.
Additionally, you must disable True Tone.
The True Tone function on iPhone SE (2nd gen) and subsequent models detects the brightness and color temperature of your surroundings and modifies the display to fit. When you need it, True Tone is helpful since it’s gentler on the eyes, which is important if you read on your phone all the time. It also helps display more realistic colors in different lighting conditions.
Once more, you must disable the function if you don’t want it, don’t use it, or are just upset that your brightness keeps changing on its own. Toggle off True Tone under the Brightness heading under Display & Brightness in Settings. Turning off True Tone should stop your iPhone from automatically altering your brightness, provided that auto-brightness is likewise turned off.
Your display may be the problem if Auto-Brightness is turned off and it still adjusts itself.
There is one exception.
Keep your iPhone from overheating.
One of the ways your iPhone protects its internal components is by automatically lowering the screen’s brightness. Your iPhone will automatically alter the display intensity if it is overheating, even if you have both auto-brightness and True Tone turned off.
Apple advises using your iPhone at temperatures between 32 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (zero to 35 degrees Celsius) and storing it in temperatures between 4 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 to 45 degrees Celsius) to help avoid this. On hot days, there’s a significant risk that your iPhone will overheat and cause your display to dim if you leave it in your car, on the pavement, or even if you try to use it near the beach or pool.
If your phone becomes too hot, a warning message will appear.
It’s not only sunny days that induce overheating. Your iPhone may also overheat due to a malfunctioning battery: To determine whether your battery needs to be changed, navigate to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. Software bugs might be another factor: To address any software flaws and issues, make sure you are always using the most recent version by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Could the Battery Life of Your iPhone Be Increased by Apple’s New Adaptive Power Feature?
You could eventually be able to do away with the Low Power Mode setting thanks to this new functionality, which is being tested in the iOS 26 developer version.
Starting this autumn, I will be able to ask my iPhone to do more of the adjusting. Normally, I am the one who adjusts my behavior based on how much battery is left in my device. By strategically reducing energy use in little ways, iOS 26’s new Adaptive Power setting can increase battery life and the amount of time you have before needing to recharge.
Also see: The iPhone 17 Air May Avoid This Serious Danger Thanks to iOS 26’s Adaptive Power
At the moment, the iPhone only uses as much power as is necessary to complete its functions. By turning off the always-on display and lowering screen brightness, among other things, you may prolong the battery life. In addition to those screen modifications, Low Power Mode lowers background activities like downloading data and retrieving messages if your battery is beginning to run low. Moreover, when the battery level hits 20%, Low Power Mode automatically activates.
Adaptive Power is the scalpel that strategically cuts energy savings where they are needed, whilst Low Power Mode is the hammer that reduces power usage. “When your battery usage is higher than usual, the iPhone can make small performance adjustments to extend your battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to take a little longer,” reads Apple’s description of the control, which indicates that the savings will be felt primarily in power-hungry situations like recording videos, editing photos, or possibly even playing games. At 20%, Low Power Mode could activate.
How to activate adaptive power
Adaptive Power requires your consent to be used; it is not enabled by default. The Adaptive Power option is located in Settings > Battery > Power Mode in iOS 26.
I believe the capability will be available on iPhone models that support Apple Intelligence, such as the iPhone 15 Pro and beyond, as Adaptive Power seems to be utilizing AI to choose which settings and processes to modify. This is suggested by a Reddit discussion concerning Adaptive Power, where users have pointed out that the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro devices with the beta loaded do not display it.
Gaming Mode, which was introduced in iOS 18 and directs all processing and graphics resources to the frontmost app while pausing other processes to provide the greatest experience possible—at a significant cost to battery life—sounds like the logical progression of Adaptive resources.
How does this affect the way you charge?
Adaptive Power’s optimizations may not always be active, even if you leave the option on, according to the description, even if we all desire the longest possible battery life. “When your battery usage is higher than usual” may refer to a few different circumstances. However, given that 61% of respondents to a CNET study change their phones due to battery life, a feature like Adaptive Power might increase the phones’ lifespan just by updating to iOS 26.
Additionally, I wonder if even little adjustments to the display’s brightness may cause disruptions. However, the feature’s selective de-prioritization of processing tasks implies that the external consequences will be negligible.
Battery improvements are frequently the final changes made to operating systems in development shortly before shipping, so we’ll know more about how effectively Adaptive Power performs as the iOS 26 beta program approaches the anticipated release date in September or October. The first developer beta of iOS 26 is already available for download; a public beta is anticipated in July. Just be in mind that beta software, particularly these early versions that were just released from Apple’s laboratories, is dangerous.
Do you miss the volume bar on the lock screen of your iPhone? Here’s How to Restore It
In 2022, Apple eliminated the bar from the iPhone’s lock screen, but there are a few simple ways to restore it.
You most likely touch the buttons on the side of your iPhone if you want to adjust the volume while listening to music or a podcast without unlocking it. You may have to choose between a volume that is a little too loud or a little too quiet, even if the buttons only change the volume by a predetermined amount. However, you may restore the volume bar to your Lock Screen if you keep your iPhone updated with the most recent iOS versions. This will allow you to adjust the volume on your iPhone more precisely without unlocking your device.
When Apple introduced iOS 16 in 2022, the volume bar was taken off of your lock screen. However, the company’s December release of iOS 18.2 made it possible to restore the volume bar on the Lock Screen of your iPhone. You may bring the volume bar back to your lock screen if you choose to use it.
Disclaimer
This article is intended for informational purposes only. All product names, features, and software versions mentioned are based on publicly available information as of the time of writing. Settings and options may vary depending on your iPhone model and iOS version. Please refer to Apple’s official support resources or contact Apple directly for the most accurate and up-to-date guidance. We do not guarantee that the methods mentioned will work in all cases or resolve every issue.