How to Enable or Disable Your Phone’s Flashlight

The flashlight is one of the most useful phone accessories, it comes in handy in different situations. You can enable or disable the flashlight on your Android and iPhone through different methods, but not all smartphone users are aware of these options.

In this article, I’ll show you different ways to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight whether you use an Android or iPhone. Some are well-known, but you might be surprised by a couple of the tips I’ve suggested in this guide. 

How Can You Enable or Disable Your Phone’s Flashlight?

You may not always need the flashlight function your phone offers, but it’s a lifesaver when you do. Below are different ways to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight. 

How to Enable or Disable Your Phone’s Flashlight: Android

There are various ways to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight, especially if you own an Android device.

Using Quick Settings

• Swipe down from your lock screen or home screen to open the Quick settings panel.
• There will be a flashlight icon there. Click on it.
• Your phone’s flashlight will be enabled.  To turn off the flashlight, just tap it again.

You might need to swipe left or right to see more icons if you can’t see the Flashlight toggle. If you want to make the flashlight toggle more visible, hit the Edit (pencil) icon and drag the title to a more handy position.

Depending on your hardware manufacturer and Android version, this menu will vary. But once you figure it out, it’s much easier to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight. 

Using OEM Shortcuts and Gestures

A lot of Android OEMs provide quick ways to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight. If you have a Samsung, Motorola, or OnePlus handset, you can use the following flashlight shortcut:

On Samsung phones

On Samsung devices (only One UI and later versions) do the following to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight:

• Navigate to the Settings app.
• Swipe down and select Optional Features. 
• Press the Side Key.
• Tap Open App under the Double Press menu.
•  Choose Torch.
• You can now turn on your flashlight by pressing the power key twice. To turn it off, press the power key just once.

On OnePlus devices

You can enable off-screen gestures to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight if you use a OnePlus smartphone.

• Click to the Settings app.
• Swipe down to access Buttons and Gestures. The Alert slider, navigation bar & gestures, and quick gestures are all available here.
• Click on quick gestures. System gestures and the screen off gestures section should both be visible. Navigate to screen off gestures. 
• Press any of the settings Draw an O, a V, an S, an M, and a W.
• Select the flashlight option.
• Then, set your phone to sleep. Draw any letter when the phone is in sleep mode to turn on the flashlight, which will turn on even with the always-on display. Click the power key to turn it off. 

On Motorola phones 

Motorola offers a fantastic function called double chop to access the flashlight. It is also referred to as the fast flash. Here’s how it functions:

• Navigate to the Moto app in your app drawer.
• Scroll down to Moto Actions and then click on it.
• You should now be able to see the fast torch, enable it.
• Now, all you have to do to enable the flashlight when your phone is in sleep mode is shake it twice in a chopping motion. To turn it off, repeat the motion.

Using Google Assistant

The following method is perhaps the simplest to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight. All you have to do is use Google Assistant through the steps below:

• Hold down the power key or say the words “Hey Google” to activate the Google Assistant.
• Say “Turn on the flashlight” as soon as the Assistant pops up. 
• Your phone’s flashlight should come on after this command.
• Next, summon Google Assistant once more and say “Turn the Flashlight off“. 

Also, you can turn to using a flashlight app on Android if you don’t like either of the previously described techniques for some reason. It’s also a good option if you’re using an outdated Android phone.  On the Google Play Store, there are many of them, but you must be careful when choosing one.

How to Enable or Disable Your Phone’s Flashlight: iPhones

It’s easy to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight if you’re in the Apple ecosystem. The iPhone’s flashlight is accessible with ease through iOS, as you might expect.

Through the Lock Screen

This is the simplest method to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight. Long-press the flash icon on the bottom left side of your lock screen until you feel the phone vibrate, and the flash will turn on as soon as you let go. To turn off the flashlight on your iPhone, long-press and release the icon once more.

Using the Control Center

To open the control center when on the home screen, slide down from the top right corner. To turn on the flashlight, tap the torch icon (tap once again to turn it off). If you press and hold the icon for a few seconds, you’ll see a slider that allows you to adjust the brightness of the flashlight.

Using the Back Tap gesture

You can also enable or disable your phone’s flashlight using the back touch gesture on iPhones running iOS 15. Here is how it works:

• Launch the Settings app.
• Select Accessibility.
• Press Touch.
• At the bottom of the page, tap Back Tap.
• Click on Double tap.
• In the Options menu, select Flashlight or Torch.
• You can now turn on your flashlight by double-tapping the back of your iPhone, and turn it off by double-tapping it again.

This shortcut allows you to easily enable or disable your phone’s flashlight without waking up the screen.

Using Siri

This is another simple way to enable or disable your phone’s flashlight if you use an iPhone.

• Summon Siri on your iPhone by tapping the power/home button or just saying “Hey Siri”
• Then say “Turn on the flashlight“.
• Afterward, say “Turn off the flashlight” to Siri once more to turn off the flashlight.

To conclude, using the aforementioned tips, you should be able to easily enable or disable your phone’s flashlight. Just be careful not to leave the light on for too long because doing so may severely drain your battery. You can try some useful tips to preserve your iPhone and Android battery, if necessary.