The flashlight of an iPhone is not an element very given to present problems, but it is not ruled out that these appear. Despite being a very well built and implemented system in the system, it can cause certain failures that make its functionality stop being what is expected. For this reason, in this article we address all the possible situations to go through to solve those problems with the flash of your iPhone.
How to test the flashlight
There are several ways to check if the iPhone flash works. We recommend that you try each of them to rule out that what is failing is the functionality or the flashlight itself. These are the available methods:
- Open the flashlight from the iOS Control Center.
- Click on the corresponding button on the lock screen.
- Try taking a photo with the flash on.
- Use a third-party flashlight app (there are several in the App Store).
You can also test if the different intensity levels that the iPhone flashlight can give work correctly, for which you must do a long press on the flashlight icon in the Control Center and slide up and down.
Check the battery level you have
When the battery is low on the iPhone, the flashlight may not work. This is so due to an iOS configuration through which it is intended to save energy, the flashlight being an element that being turned on can consume more than necessary. Therefore, we recommend that you check the battery percentage that your device has and, if it is low, put it on charge and recheck the flashlight once it has charged enough.
Make sure it is not a software bug
As a good physical element that it is, the flash could be considered part of the iPhone hardware, however it must be taken into account that the software can influence its correct operation. Therefore, below we show you what are the different indications to follow to make sure that this does not interfere with the operation of the flashlight.
Reboot device
If there is an open process on your iPhone in the background that is preventing the correct functioning of the flashlight and other elements, the fastest and most effective way to eliminate them is by turning off the device and turning it on again. In fact, it is recommended that it be turned off for a few seconds before being active again.
Update the software
IOS bugs exist and while they are sometimes more widespread or more serious, problems with the flash can be one of them. To make sure that what happens to your iPhone is not a failure of this type, we recommend updating the version of the operating system it has, for which you must go to Settings> General> Software update. In this section you will find, if any, the new version available for download and subsequent installation.
Restore the system
This is already a pretty extreme solution for the case in which you find yourself. Formatting the iPhone is an option that is recommended for obvious software problems, but if at this point the flashlight still does not work and you want to make sure that it is not iOS that interferes, you can do it. Of course, if you decide to do so, we recommend that it be a complete restoration from a computer with iTunes (or Finder on Mac with macOS Catalina and later). Afterwards you should not load any backup, since if you do you could be bringing back the internal errors.
Can the LEDs be burned out?
By proxy they can. To be honest, we have known few cases in which this happens and it is more common that after a blow to the back of the iPhone, the flashlight has been damaged. Both in this case and that of a possible meltdown, we recommend you go to Apple‘s technical service or, failing that, to a SAT (Authorized Technical Service). In these places they will be able to verify if that is the problem and offer you a solution. The cost will depend on what the problem really is and the model of your iPhone, although they will tell you the budget beforehand without any commitment to accept it.
If the iPhone flashlight turns on by itself
If you are in this case it is very possible that, without realizing it, you are pressing the button on the screen through which the flashlight is turned on. If it has happened to you on a sporadic occasion, this possibility is more possible, especially if you carry the iPhone in your pocket, you forgot to lock it or something similar. However, if this problem occurs regularly, it is clear that there is a software problem. In this case, we recommend that you follow the steps indicated in one of the previous sections of this article in which we discuss how to solve this type of failure, since the proposed solutions will also serve for this case.