User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
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Apple Watch Series 6 not bright enough in dark environments. (Same issue as Apple Watch 5)

So I just picked up the new Apple Watch 6 (Silver Stainless 44mm) and as excited as I was, that changed pretty quickly when I realized it has the same annoying screen brightness (or rather *dim*ness) issue that made me return the 5 and stick with my 4.


In dark environments the ambient light sensor is too aggressive and makes the screen too dim to the point it can be difficult to read. In a side-by-side with the 4 it is *noticeably* dimmer! The 4 is perfect but for the 5/6, this is problematic for people such as me who wear glasses need that extra brightness to be able to read it.


This is most problematic if you're outside in the dusk, or in a dark environment like watching TV with the lights off or sitting in a movie theater because it ramps down too low.


The screen is more than capable of the brightness too because again, just like with the 5, in daylight, it really is bright. You can see this yourself! Just shine your iPhone's flashlight at your watch face and you'll see it turn practically blinding.


This was clearly a choice by Apple to implement because again, the hardware can easily handle it, and considering they never addressed it last round, I'm not optimistic this is even on their radar to address.


Also, since I've been asked this a few times, yes, the brightness in settings is turned all the way up, and yes, I am comparing the 'active' brighness (i.e. you're tapping on and interacting with the screen), not the 'always-on' brightness which is more of a 'stand-by' mode.


I even tried disabling the 'always on' screen to make it mimic the 4 exactly. Same result. The 4 is brighter. The 5 and 6 are too dim!!


I know why they did this... to eeek out as much battery life as possible. But that's just it... let *me* decide if I want to sacrifice battery life for brightness. I have never ran out of battery and usually end the day with around ~40% so I would happily give some of that up for more brightness because without it, I can't *read* half the text, even with my glasses on!


If it wasn't for the pulse-oximeter in it, this may have been sent right back just like the 5. I'm gonna give it a few days and see how annoyed I am with it before I decide.


Come on Apple... you're always so great around accessibility. A market leader actually. But twice now you've dropped the ball here! Please give us a version of the firmware where we can change the responsiveness of the auto-dimming to not be so aggressive! I want to love your products. #TakeMyMoneyNow! But give me light in return.


Here's the entire discussion about the same thing with Apple Watch 5.


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250654320


Anyone else seeing this too? Again, against a 5 it's identical. Against a 4 it's blatantly obvious. It's not a subtle difference.

Apple Watch

Posted on Sep 21, 2020 6:10 PM

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User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Posted on Jan 29, 2021 12:53 AM

OK… Digging more I think I found out why this trick works. You actually don’t have to go into the keyboard twice. It’s the act of going into the keyboard from the phone app at all that disables the light sensor. (You only need to “go into it twice” if when you go to the phone app the keypad is already on the screen so you have to exit the keypad, then go back into the keypad, and then the light sensor disables.)


This actually makes sense because if you’re interacting with the phone, which is a really important feature, they want to make sure the screen is shown clearly, thus Apple disables the light sensor (or rather ignores it. Not sure which but the result is the same.)


Confirming that’s the case even more, when you are in this “mode” even if you go to settings and try to adjust the brightness, it remains on full. In other words, it’s locking the brightness to 100%.


When you hit the crown button, you’re essentially exiting the phone app before it has a chance to re-enable/engage the light sensor so your watch remains on full brightness until something else engages it.


As others have pointed out, if you have your watch screen set to turn off completely, it will reset every time. If you use the Always-On mode however, it will remain engaged. Be prepared though… It’s actually pretty blinding at this brightness. Still, at least I can read it now.


Of course this is still a hack, but at least it’s easy to do. I’m going to make sure to bring this to Apple’s attention.

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User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Jan 29, 2021 12:53 AM in response to andrewfromhastings

OK… Digging more I think I found out why this trick works. You actually don’t have to go into the keyboard twice. It’s the act of going into the keyboard from the phone app at all that disables the light sensor. (You only need to “go into it twice” if when you go to the phone app the keypad is already on the screen so you have to exit the keypad, then go back into the keypad, and then the light sensor disables.)


This actually makes sense because if you’re interacting with the phone, which is a really important feature, they want to make sure the screen is shown clearly, thus Apple disables the light sensor (or rather ignores it. Not sure which but the result is the same.)


Confirming that’s the case even more, when you are in this “mode” even if you go to settings and try to adjust the brightness, it remains on full. In other words, it’s locking the brightness to 100%.


When you hit the crown button, you’re essentially exiting the phone app before it has a chance to re-enable/engage the light sensor so your watch remains on full brightness until something else engages it.


As others have pointed out, if you have your watch screen set to turn off completely, it will reset every time. If you use the Always-On mode however, it will remain engaged. Be prepared though… It’s actually pretty blinding at this brightness. Still, at least I can read it now.


Of course this is still a hack, but at least it’s easy to do. I’m going to make sure to bring this to Apple’s attention.

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User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Oct 19, 2020 7:33 PM in response to TL-LA

I’m the OP and have been on the fence about replying to such comments, because they are trying to be helpful, but you’re exactly right… that setting is *not* the problem, the ambient light sensor is And it is an active choice by Apple that has made this problematic for us, especially with those of us who don’t have perfect vision and therefore this is an accessibility issue for us.


Only thing I can say is these are just discussions for us people. Yeah and Apple rep may come in here once in a while, but the real thing to do is file bug reports with Apple.


So again, everybody in this thread who is having this problem, please go fill out a bug report for this. Apparently enough of us didn’t speak up when the 5 came out because the problem still exist with the 6. We really have to now.


Again, every day I end with between 40 to 50% battery life even with the screen always on, so I have plenty of power to spare that would be better served brightening the screen by reducing that stupid ambient light sensor sensitivity so I can actually see the watch in the evening.

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User profile for user: checkmate7673
checkmate7673
User level: Level 1
4 points

Nov 9, 2020 5:05 PM in response to MarqueIV

try this:

unpair your watch from your phone.

re-pair the watch, but don’t restore from backup.


I know this is a pain but I’ll explain my experience below.


(also, if you are having the issue where once in a while you can’t swipe up or down, make sure you turn off the zoom option on initial setup. That fixed the issue for me)


I bought the SE and it was fine for a couple days. Then this brightness issue started happening. My brother got the 6 and says his doesn’t do it.

I contacted support and went round and round. I sent them video of it happening. We went through tons of troubleshooting steps. Nothing worked.

then they had me unpair the watch from the phone and all of a sudden the brightness was ok.

it came back the next day.

they said it was hardware and replaced my watch.

same thing happened with the new watch within a day.

if I unpair it and re-pair it, the issue stops. I tried changing a bunch of settings to see if something was messing with it.

then one time I went to re-pair and my backups weren’t available. So I set up as a new watch.

I didn’t have the issue again until this latest update. Probably at least a month. Now it’s happening again.

I just unpaired it and set up as a new watch again. Hope this works.

it’s a pain loading watch faces and changing settings, but it worked before so I’m trying it again.

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User profile for user: roroapple
roroapple
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 6, 2020 8:46 AM in response to MarqueIV

*** SOLUTION/WORKAROUND***

ok, I stumbled upon this solution yesterday and it works for 2 straight days, and here are the steps:

-1- Select the 'Phone' app.

-2- Select 'Keypad'.

-3- Click on the little green '<' icon.

-4- Reselect 'Keypad'.

-5- Press the Digital Crown (watch winding button) twice to return back to your clockface.


Notes:

i) You may or may not have to select Keypad twice. You should notice the full-brightness either the first time or the 2nd time you select Keypad...

ii) iwatchOS7.1 is my release (I am hesitant to update it until I see a release update indicating they have included an Auto-Brightness option to disable in the settings. This is proof that this can be a new setting implemented in the next release)...

iii) When you take your watch off to recharge, it is disabled and the dim returns (which could be a good thing since you may not want to have the supernova brightness when you sleep)...

iv) Apple should hire me to do their QA from their factory (mine was shipped directly from China) before releasing it to their customers :)


Good luck and hope this works for everyone here.

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User profile for user: checkmate7673
checkmate7673
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 28, 2020 1:17 PM in response to checkmate7673

Mine has not had the issue for almost 2 months since I did the reset without restoring from backup. I have the SE, so I’m not sure it works for all models. It’s a pain changing all the settings to where you want them again and reloading watch faces, but I wouldn’t want to go back to not using this watch and I just couldn’t live with the dim screen.

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User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Oct 25, 2020 11:10 PM in response to MarqueIV

All, please submit this to the following link.


https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html


Also, you are limited to 800 characters. Here's what I posted. Feel free to copy/paste it.

____


I'm reporting the ambient light sensor ramping down the display's brightness too much in low-light situations. This is a problem that existed with the Series 5 appears to still exist in the Series 6.


Specifically, in dark environments the ambient light sensor is too aggressive and makes the screen too dim to the point it can be difficult to read. In a side-by-side with the Series 4 it is *noticeably* dimmer! The 4 is pretty much perfect but for the 5/6, this is problematic for people such as me who wear glasses need a little extra brightness to be able to read it.


I even tried disabling the 'always on' screen to make it mimic the 4 exactly. Same result. The 4 is brighter. The 5 and 6 are too dim!!


Also, since I've been asked this a few times, yes, the brightness in settings is turne

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User profile for user: therealdesib
therealdesib
User level: Level 1
4 points

Oct 28, 2020 6:10 PM in response to MarqueIV

I just got my Series 6, 44m Blue Aluminum, and found the exact same thing.


i wore it side by side with my stainless steel series 4, and thought it was due to a difference between the two


however I spoke with an Apple support rep as well as searched the web and found no such claim that aluminum models have lower brightness. Then I came across this thread and to my surprise, many others have experienced the same.


i will be returning my series 6 as well, as despite being max brightness, this is not good enough for me either.


thank you for creating this thread OP and thank you to everyone else who replied because this seems to be inherent to the Always on screen design having some sort of battery management or ambient controller that simply doesn’t have the best brightness in all settings

this is regular ambience at max brightness. And YES the series 6 (on the right) has been “raised to wake”



this is both after being directly shined under a lamp


both have max brightness enabled. The sad part is the top photo, the series 6 has been risen to wake.



here are both off



and here are both awake. Note the second hand is showing in the second pic so you know it’s raised to wake.



one last comparison between a brighter face



it’s very obvious in person, more so than pics


(taken on iPhone 12 Pro)

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User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Oct 28, 2020 2:44 AM in response to MarqueIV

As a developer myself, I think the easiest solution for Apple can be a simple minimum brightness setting. That way Apple doesn't have to touch the ambient light sensor code or worry about its sensitivity curves, etc. That can stay the way it is, but just never go below a level we set.


If you think a minimum-brightness would be a good solution, please submit that as a defect or e a feature request at the following link...


https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html


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User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Oct 24, 2020 9:20 AM in response to NYNJEngineer

Then please file bug reports with Apple. It’s been this way since the series 5 and they don’t view it as big enough of an issue to address. More people need to speak up.


Remember, everybody who is not coming from a four or earlier has no point of reference and they think what they are saying as normal. They don’t realize it can be better.


It’s like eating boxed mac & cheese your whole life never realizing there’s actually gourmet versions of it out there.

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User profile for user: MarqueIV
MarqueIV Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Oct 28, 2020 2:38 AM in response to coscosto71

The screen isn't the issue. It's Apple's setting of the brightness on it. You can see the screen is more than capable of getting much brighter. Simply shine your iPhone's flashlight on it while in the dark. Your watch will ramp up to blindingly bright levels. But a few seconds later, it will again get too dark. That's the issue. They need to change it with a 'minimum brightness' setting or similar because what they have now is a problem for people such as myself who wear reading glasses where the extra brightness makes it easier for us to focus our eyes.

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Apple Watch Series 6 not bright enough in dark environments. (Same issue as Apple Watch 5)

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