iPhone flashing light and a short beep sound

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Level 1

8 points

iPhone flashing light and a short beep sound

Earlier, noushin85 asked this same question. He never got a decent response, so I'll repeat the question having the same issue.

Can anyone tell me why my iPhone 7 made a loud beeping noise (similar to one when locating my phone) and briefly flashes a light? There is no message or any information that would indicate where it came from.

I'm concerned if my phone was hacked. Apple released today a patch to a critical vulnerability, but since iPhone 7 is no longer supported by Apple, I am unable to update the patch. Any ideas, please?

Posted on Feb 14, 2023 4:07 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Eric_G1

Community Specialist

Feb 15, 2023 5:09 PM in response to jta-jta

Hello jta-jta,

Are you using an Apple Watch in addition to the iPhone? If so, see if the sound matches the one that occurs when playing a sound on the iPhone via the Apple Watch's Control Center, as seen here: Use Control Center on Apple Watch - Apple Support

Open Control Center: From the watch face, swipe up. From other screens, touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up.

If it is a reoccurring sound, you may try manually closing open apps individually, and see if it stops when a particular app is closed: Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support

With regards to an LED light flashing, check in Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual, and see if "LED Flash for Alerts" is on.

Cheers.

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Answer 2

Sparks0829

Community Specialist

Feb 16, 2023 8:19 AM in response to jta-jta

Hi there jta-jta,

From what we can tell, there doesn't seem to be any cause for concern in regard to the flashing you're seeing on the screen of your iPhone when this sound comes through. Just to be sure we're on the same page, which exact iOS version is listed in Settings > General > About on your iPhone?

Did you try the previous suggestion to close apps individually to see if you may be able to identify the source of this sound/flash?

Are you seeing a notification on the screen of your iPhone when this happens?

Also, is this a recurring issue or did it only happen once? Send over these details, and we'll take a closer look from there.

Thanks!

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Answer 3

ryane77

Community Specialist

Feb 16, 2023 9:38 AM in response to jta-jta

Hi jta-jta,

Got it. If this was a one-time issue, we wouldn't be able to speculate as to what caused it, but it does not sound like it would be related to a security update. However, if you find it happens again, make note of the circumstances and feel free to reply back here. That might help work out more about it.

You can also reach Apple using this link if you'd like: Apple Support

Best wishes.

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Answer 4

jta-jta Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 16, 2023 8:08 AM in response to Eric_G1

Thanks Eric for the good comments. The sound was indeed the same as if I pinged my iPhone from Apple Watch. However, doing that does not flash the light. In the settings "LED flash for Alerts" is off, so there is no explanation to why the combined sound+flashing.

I've never seen this before and just experienced it yesterday. If this was a MS product, I would be happy thinking that its just some sort of feature that I don't understand. However, with Apple, I've not used to encounter such phenomena as Apple's products are usually extremely reliable and functional. That's why I'm so astonished and bothered.

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Answer 5

jta-jta Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 16, 2023 9:18 AM in response to Sparks0829

Thanks Sparks!

The flashing is not on the screen. Its the flashlight/lamp that flashes.

I didn't try anything, since I am not able to duplicate this event. It occured once, has never happened before and has not come back. There was no notification on the screen or anywhere to be found.

Why I wrote the issue here, is that this really strange behavior coincided with Apples media announcement of a critical vulnerability and request to update all devices. Unfortunately, the iOS version is 15.7.3, which is the lates that is available for my iPhone 7. I am not prompted for any updates.

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Answer 6

jta-jta Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 16, 2023 9:48 AM in response to ryane77

Thanks ryane!

You are right and this will now be filed in the "unsolved cases" folder. I, too, hope that exploitation of the vulnerability would not be the reason, but I guess we'll never know. I'll post more, if this reappears. For now, consider the case closed!

Thank you everyone for good comments, fast response and your effort to help solve the issue. This is one of the reasons why I'll be continuing to buy the fruit-company products :)

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Answer 7

bailier

Community Specialist

Feb 16, 2023 10:18 AM in response to jta-jta

Hey jta-jta,

You're most welcome. Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Have a great day.

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iPhone flashing light and a short beep sound

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