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48 points

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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MarqueIV Author

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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148 replies

TL-LA

Level 1

20 points

Oct 28, 2020 5:49 AM in response to MarqueIV

That is an excellent suggestion! However, I believe another easy fix is just to have a toggle in the settings to turn auto-dimming on or off. That feature is available on the iPhone, iPad and Mac so why not the Watch?

MarqueIV Author

Level 1

48 points

Dec 17, 2020 12:48 PM in response to Ministylin

All I can say is please, please report this to Apple. Posting here doesn't seem to do anything. We posted here about the 5 having this same issue but got no resolution. If you scroll up, you'll see I've crafted an entire message you can simply cut/paste to the provided support link to report this very thing. That's all we can do... complain until they listen. This is an accessibility issue. They're supposed to be great on accessibility. They really need to fix this. But again, they won't if people aren't complaining.

Jgigna

Level 1

4 points

Jan 6, 2021 8:32 AM in response to MarqueIV

I upgraded from an Apple Watch 4 to the NEW “supposedly better” Apple Watch 6...

Holy Crap it’s so much dimmer at night like all these complaints claim! I’ve also submitted a report and I’d encourage everyone to do the same. This screen or light sensor is Garbage!

nortdogz

Level 1

4 points

Sep 28, 2020 6:14 PM in response to MarqueIV

Make sure you call them. As of now they are saying no one else has the issue.

1 (800) MYAPPLE

TL-LA

Level 1

20 points

Oct 2, 2020 5:24 AM in response to MarqueIV

Remember to send complaints about it to: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

nortdogz

Level 1

4 points

Oct 8, 2020 5:30 AM in response to DomainKing

let Apple know at https://www.apple.com/feedback/

I would also recommend posting videos of this issue on YouTube.

nortdogz

Level 1

4 points

Oct 8, 2020 10:41 AM in response to Ministylin

let Apple know at https://www.apple.com/feedback/

nortdogz

Level 1

4 points

Oct 8, 2020 10:42 AM in response to violinslt

let Apple know at https://www.apple.com/feedback/

nortdogz

Level 1

4 points

Oct 19, 2020 7:48 PM in response to MarqueIV

Remember to send your feedback to Apple. That’s the only way they do anything according to the tech I spoke to.

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

TL-LA

Level 1

20 points

Oct 20, 2020 11:49 AM in response to Zaro281

Software issue. Unlike iPhone, iPad and Mac, there is no way to manually turn OFF auto dimming.

nortdogz

Level 1

4 points

Oct 24, 2020 12:45 PM in response to usmce9

Everyone needs to fill out this form.

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

MarqueIV Author

Level 1

48 points

Oct 1, 2020 6:19 PM in response to Davebeebe228

Does the SE also have an always on display? It seemed this issue was only related to models that did because in those cases, because of the extra power required, they decided to be more aggressive with the ambient light sensor. But then again, maybe for consistency they just matched it right across the board. After all, if they had a cheaper model that was out performing the more expensive models, that could definitely be considered problematic for sales.

All I know is my Series 4 does not have this problem and my Series 6 does, just like the 5. $800 for a watch I can’t see even when it’s awake. So **** annoying.

Oct 8, 2020 10:24 AM in response to MarqueIV

I just bought the 6 yesterday. Last night I’m sitting there watching TV, looking at my iPad and glance at the watch because it buzzed. Could not see it. I have problems with my eye sight because of laser eye surgery. So I need max brightness 100% of the time. I’m really ****** to see that there’s NO WAY TO FIX THIS!!!!

MarqueIV Author

Level 1

48 points

Oct 13, 2020 11:57 PM in response to usmce9

To everyone posting here in my thread, please make sure to report this to Apple. While it is great that it’s here and Apple does occasionally poke around the forums, it really should be filed as a bug report. I know they look at those for sure.

MarqueIV Author

Level 1

48 points

Oct 28, 2020 2:36 AM in response to normandfromstetherese

"When it's darker, it is less bright (maybe a little bit too much)"

That's just it. It's not a 'little' too much. It's WAAAY too much so people such as myself and others have a difficult time reading the screen. It is night-and-day different from what the 1-4 were. They started this with the 5 and it's still a problem in the 6.

They need to let us adjust what the aggressiveness should be because right now there's no recourse for us. There's nothing we can do. It's very frustrating to have an $800 watch that you can't see.

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