Level 1

19 points

iOS disables flashlight when battery is low

I have an iPhone 6, with iOS 11 on it. I just found out last night that when the battery drops below 20 percent, the flashlight is disabled. I find this very annoying. Having 1/5th of my battery left is no reason to start disabling things, especially when people use their flashlight when they go to bed (I don't want to wake up my wife by switching on the light) and 9 out of 10 times, battery is low around that time of day. Last night, I found myself opening the notes app for light... It's like it's 2009 all over again and I need to download a 'flashlight' app that makes my screen go bright (which will drain the battery even faster).

But what I really find terribly condescending is that as far as I know, you cannot switch this 'feature' off. It feels really patronizing when Apple seems to decide when I can and can't use my torch even though I've been using it for many years successfully... Many of us are not kids that need their hand held when deciding how to spend the last bit of their battery.

So, my question is: can you please remove this feature, or at least give us the option to switch it on or off?

iPhone 6, iOS 11

Posted on Sep 22, 2017 12:32 AM

57 replies

Nov 27, 2017 8:39 PM in response to Vickzteer

Nope. Iphone6 tried it 3 times doesn’t work. Super

Sep 25, 2017 5:47 PM in response to rempedaal

I am beyond frustrated with this new feature. I put a flashlight app on my phone like it was 2008 and even that won’t work on my iPhone 6. DONT EVER DISABLE MY FLASHLIGHT. It could literally cost me my life. I can’t tell u how many times I have been at 2% and used the flashlight to find my charger or the outlet! Your battery life already ***** but now your telling me one of the most important features on my iPhone has a 15% less length of use because you want to help drain it slower? I can figure that out myself thank you! This needs to be fixed or this iPhone owner since the 1st iPhone will switch to the galaxy. FIX THE PROBLEM NOW PLEASES 11.0.1 hurry up!!

Sep 26, 2017 6:24 AM in response to rempedaal

Hey Apple, how does this sound. "IOS 11 now gives your flashlight 85% battery life" NO. I need the flashlight to work 100% of the time. Please fix this. I do not need you to disable anything on my phone without the option of un-disabling it. This is very frustrating and makes me wish I did not update my phone. This is the worst "feature" that you could have ever thought of. Horrible idea. Please give me the light back and do not disable this feature ever!

Oct 7, 2017 4:47 PM in response to rempedaal

It gets worse. Apple appear to have blocked the torch apps from using the LED when the battery is low. None of the 6 torch apps I just downloaded and tried would work either. If anyone finds one that does work please post the name so we can all use it until Apple reverse this stupid change.

rempedaal Author

Level 1

19 points

Oct 10, 2017 1:10 PM in response to anypats

Let's address this part of your message. "First world problems. Hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods but my flashlight doesn't work. Buy a small LED flashlight from Walmart for $1. But be sure to keep extra batteries on hand as they'll probably start to go dim when the battery reaches 15%."

1: To me, that seems ironic, as you seem to frequent a forum designed for people to talk about problems with their first world gadgets.

2: let's draw a comparison. You buy an electric drill with a battery that lasts 10 hours. Then they update the software of the drill. And for no apparent reason (same drill, same battery) you suddenly get a drill that quits after 8.5 hours. Everybody would be angry, because it's just the software that's causing it.

3: sure, granted, there are worse things in the world. There are always worse things in the world. But using that as a reason to not want to improve something is a prime example of a logical fallacy; in fact, saying that something is not a problem because there are other worse problems is actually used in textbooks when explaining logical fallacies.

4: you complain about rants, only to follow it up with a rant of your own. If you really want people to change their ways, do you think that that is an effective way to do it? Wouldn't you agree that it would be better to say, similar to the first guy who responded, something like this: "Hey, for those who are complaining here, apple actually only listens to the Product Feedback form, so please direct your complaints there, unless you have a specific question for other users. I don't know of any way to disable this feature, but if I hear about anything, I'll let you guys know." People would respect that a lot more.

Then with regards to your reference to the Use Agreement; if you read the beginning of the thread, you can see that I apologized for my first post right after somebody pointed out that this is not a place for feedback directly to Apple, and then I rephrased my question to check whether anybody had found out how to disable the feature.

anypats

Level 7

21,357 points

Oct 10, 2017 1:23 PM in response to rempedaal

While I sent the reply to you I did see that you rephrased your question. I really wasn’t directing this at you. It was more the people that were complaining after it was already said how to get help by sending feedback. I apologize that I sent the reply directed at you but I didn’t want to send to anyone in particular - just was replying to the main post. Also replying to buy a flashlight isn’t a rant just a suggestion when they’re so cheap if having a flashlight nearby so important.

rempedaal Author

Level 1

19 points

Oct 10, 2017 2:11 PM in response to anypats

No worries, apology accepted anypats, as long as our intentions are to help each other, only good can come out of this thread 😉 Like I said, I think the problem might have actually been solved, it seems that iOS 11.0.2 has fixed the problem, though I haven’t gone below 13% battery yet, I’ll update if it turns out it’s still disabled below 10%.

Oct 12, 2017 7:14 AM in response to rempedaal

I totally agree with this post. What is Apple thinking?! In one foul stroke I have had my access to two very important safety features severely limited. Torch on my phone is a covenience most of the time, and in an emergency I believe it could save lives by acting as a means of identifying location or escaping from a dark space. Imagine for instance the number of people who might be affected if a night time earthquake strikes and the most immediate source of light, an iphone, now refuses to light up because its battery says no... Camera flash could be the deciding factor in capturing an important image of a criminal or a night time accident scene. I have had to use my phone in just such a situation. At lwadt allow us to decide whether we opt in or out of switching off the torch or flash.

Philly_Phan

Level 7

20,737 points

Oct 17, 2017 5:33 PM in response to Reallyapplecmon

Reallyapplecmon wrote:

It could literally cost me my life. I can’t tell u how many times I have been at 2% and used the flashlight to find my charger or the outlet!

That's really amazing that difficulty in locating your charger can cost you your life.

Philly_Phan

Level 7

20,737 points

Oct 17, 2017 5:35 PM in response to Klovell542

Klovell542 wrote:

I was in my grandmothers car which I had never driven in before. I didnt know that the headlights where automatic and I couldn’t see anything.

Wow! You couldn't see anything because the headlights turned on automatically instead of manually. That's amazing. I hope that I'm never driving on the same road with you.

Oct 19, 2017 2:28 AM in response to rempedaal

I hate this 'feature' so much too! Every single night when I go to bed, the lights are out and I want to put my phone on charge.

Normally at night time my phone is on low battery from the day, but because the lights are out, I need the flashlight to find my charger... which requires that the phone isn't on low battery.

This thinking seems very un-apple-like. The reason I love Apple is that they think through everything they do and everything works exactly how you'd expect. Except for this one pain-in-my-arse-every-single-night.

EightDJ

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2017 11:10 AM in response to rempedaal

Not only was this an idiotic design decisions - it's downright dangerous!

My flashlight has literally saved my life in the past, as I was stuck on top of a mountain as the sun went down, and relied on it to climb back down. Not having access to it at all times is absurd! It should even continue to work, even when the phone is dead and running on reserves - as it should be considered an emergency feature!

This was a REALLY bad decision Apple. I hope to see it corrected in the next update and whoever is responsible for its implementation should be fired.

Oct 20, 2017 7:42 PM in response to rempedaal

I had a gas leak in a pipe going to my furnace. I quickly applied some dish soap (life hack: dish soap and water is a super easy way to find a gas leak--bubbles appear) but it was too dark for me to see which joint the bubbles were coming from. I quickly pulled out my iPhone to get some light... Only to find out apple decided my battery was too low to use my flashlight. Maybe they want me to use a match instead? Thanks Apple. You saved my battery but could have cost me my life.

EightDJ

Level 1

8 points

Oct 21, 2017 7:27 AM in response to anypats

Hey Anypats,

You know what else is a perfectly reasonable solution?: being able to use the flashlight on your phone when there is still battery left. You know what’s an even better solution? Being able to use the flashlight on reserve power! Even if it’s limited to 30s or something.

This feature should never be restricted.

Nov 17, 2017 6:27 AM in response to JoaoTwin

JoaoTwin wrote:

Please... someone tell me... where is the "Not Helpful" button? 😐

Polite people, when they have nothing nice to say, say nothing. Perhaps the Hosts want to believe everyone here is polite.

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iOS disables flashlight when battery is low