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Level 1

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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148 replies

TL-LA

Level 1

19 points

Oct 19, 2020 6:44 PM in response to Vegan Advocate

I wish people would stop telling us to just adjust the brightness on the phone or the watch. That is NOT the problem here. We ALL have ALL of our settings set to the brightest setting and that works great - in bright light! But the Watch 5 and Watch 6 have built in light sensors to automatically DIM the brightness in lower light. This feature is deliberate and meant to extend battery life. However, unlike the iPhone, iPad or Mac, this “auto dimming” feature cannot be disabled manually on the Watch. Hence, we are left to strain our eyes trying to see the dimmer watch screen. This is the feature we do not like about the Watch 6 and this is the feature we would like Apple to correct so that we can MANUALLY adjust the brightness and control the battery life as WE see fit.

MarqueIV Author

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.

MarqueIV Author

Level 1

48 points

Oct 19, 2020 7:39 PM in response to hbomb98121

No, I still have it specifically because of the blood-oxygen sensor in the time of Covid. I can say if it wasn’t for that though, yes, this would have gone back, just like the 5 did.

The fact that this is a software issue, not a hardware issue—again as clearly demonstrated by simply shining your iPhone’s flashlight at the watch face—makes it extra frustrating that they did not fix this yet. I’m not hopeful they will.

that’s why the best that we can do is file this as a bug report because it directly affects accessibility, and that’s one area that Apple does seem to place a lot of focus on. So please file actual bug reports. Again venting here is great because you know you’re not alone, but I’m not optimistic this actually changes anything.

Zaro281

Level 1

4 points

Oct 20, 2020 11:28 AM in response to nortdogz

I’m not sure i understand correctly.. the issue is the light sensor (so anyone is having the same issue had to send the watch to be repaired) or is a software issue and they should fix it with a new watch os release?

Starxd

Level 1

4 points

Oct 20, 2020 11:10 PM in response to MarqueIV

I’ve been very happy with my Series 4, but I finally decided to upgrade. The Series 6 Titanium Edition arrived today and I discovered this EXACT same issue. It is WAY too dim in a dark-ish room, plus the brightness level constantly jumps around. I’ve only been wearing it for about 3 hours and I already decided it has to go back... but I’m going to give it at least 24 hours.

BazAspen

Level 1

4 points

Oct 22, 2020 12:57 AM in response to MarqueIV

Yes, very dis-appointed that it’s not truly always on.

There should be an option to stop it dimming, for people like me who are not worried about battery life, and just want a watch that always looks like a watch, without having to bring your arm up and twisting.

Am contemplating sending it back because of this.

Oct 23, 2020 10:43 PM in response to MarqueIV

I totally agree. I just received my series 6 and immediately noticed how much dimmer it is in low light than my series 4. Apple should allow the user to adjust the brightness for low light conditions. This is extremely disappointing.

MarqueIV Author

Level 1

48 points

Oct 24, 2020 9:19 AM in response to BazAspen

Could be? Yes. Is it? No. That’s why we need to let Apple know they have to change this. They have to put such an option on the device because right now there isn’t one. There is just the brightness slider but that has nothing to do with the ambient light sensitivity. The ambient light sensor is what we need to tamp down.

MarqueIV Author

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.

Oct 28, 2020 12:34 AM in response to MarqueIV

I was so excited to get my first Apple Watch and decided to get the series 6.

My girlfriend owns a series 3 and I thought series 6 would be way better!

Yeah, right....

In the dark, series 3 makes 6 look it has a defect screen!

if Apple doesn’t fix this dimming issue I will be it returning ASAP and never look back.

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.

MarqueIV Author

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.

TL-LA

Level 1

19 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?

TL-LA

Level 1

19 points

Nov 6, 2020 6:11 PM in response to nortdogz

Hmm, maybe it’s my imagination but it does seem like it’s minimum dimness has been brightened a bit with the update. I would still like the ability to turn the auto-dimming off completely hit this is bearable now...

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.

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