iPhone screen dims randomly

I have the same exact problem when I use Waze. When I use Waze my iPhone X gets very warm after about 15 - 20 minutes of navigation. The screen gets darker and darker until I can longer read the screen directions and street names for example. With only the voice directions the app becomes useless. Using the wireless charging feature seems to accelerate the issue.

Waze is the only app causing a problem.

Additional info: Once Waze darkens the screen all apps have a dark screen. It takes about 15 minutes for the phone to cool down and the screen to come back to normal brightness. The phone never shuts down completely and never shows the warning screen that your phone is getting too hot and needs to cool down. The local Genius Bar ran all their diagnostic tests and found no issues with my phone. I uninstalled Waze and reinstalled app - no difference. I did a fresh install of my operating system after whipping my phone clean - no difference. I only installed a handful of apps on my fresh operating system and again - no difference.

I am unable to run Waze in my car for more than 15 - 20 minutes and still read the screen!!

Extremely frustrating and unacceptable for a $1,000.00 phone

I too never receive any warning that the phone is getting too hot. Just a nice dim screen making it nearly impossible to see the screen!!

My only solution is to purchase

a new radio that supports CarPlay and with iOS 12 coming this fall I’ll just use Waze through the radio instead of my phone now that CarPlay will support Waze.

It’s going to cost me more money but at least I’ll have screen that won’t dim. I guess that’s a positive?!

I don’t think Apple is going to even acknowledge this issue. It amazes me how much this thread is growing and you’d think that would grab Apple’s attention.

I honestly don’t believe Waze has anything to do with it… This is my third iPhone X and it continues to Dim. The phone Dims outside, inside, plugged in to a charger or not plugged into a charger. I am at a loss. Now I’m in an area where there is not an Apple store, so that means I would have to send this phone via mail.

I’m right there with you Pete193, this issue has nothing to do with Waze. I believe it’s a heat issue or perhaps a malfunction of the hardware of the phone when it reads sunlight.

Something I recently learned, it also happens with my 12.9“ iPad. And the screen responds in a more erratic wackier way than my iPhone. Bright, dim, bright, dim, it’s as if it doesn’t know how be outdoors in sunlight. Im curious if any of you have the most recent generation of iPads and have taken them outdoors in the sunlight and experienced the same similar occurrence.

I’m somewhat in agreement with you but it’s weird that the screen can dim within minutes of use while on my dash.

An example, yesterday it was about 65 degrees F. I placed my iPhone in the cradle with Waze running and w/in 3 minutes the screen dimmed. It seems like it’s happening way earlier now since it used to take upwards of 20-25 minutes to happen and it’s now doing it w/in minutes. Now it was not hot out so I don’t get why it would dim so quick.

I’ve never had my screen dim during normal usage, ie playing games, Netflix, surfing the web or messaging. Only when it’s in the cradle, charging wireless and running Waze or Apple Maps.

Just weird

Update: I just got my new phone. I started the restore process and as soon as I picked it up to type on my Apple ID, it dimmed. It’s actually dim while I’m typing this. The phone is still restoring apps in the background so I think cpu and heat may be part of the process. I’m going to let Apple know and see if someone can actually look into this for once.

REASON:

If a phone gets too hot then it will automatically lowers brightness to help cool it down. If brightness is lowered but still gets hot from processing then it will drop brightness even more making it very dim. This happens a lot when I play a high graphics games like PUBG. Once the device drops back down to certain temperature then brightness goes back to normal.

MY SOLUTION:

I remove the case when playing games that have high demanding graphics and this allows phone to not overheat or cool down much quicker. Most phone cases create an "insulation layer" around phone trapping heat from the processor inside causing it to overheat.

You are correct Apple added this feature to prevent yo from getting heat damage. There are lots of things in your phone that can easily be broken by high temperatures such as the glue holding you’r screen to you’r phone.

I am having this problem with my iPhone X as well.

I was out in the sunshine this week trying to read a book using the Amazon Kindle app and, while it was bright enough when I began reading, after five minutes or so the screen dimmed, and then it dimmed some more, and then it dimmed some more until I couldn't make out what was on the screen. It definitely did it in increments.

I don't think it has anything to do with the Waze app, (or whatever it's called), I've never heard of it or used it. For me it seems to happen with all apps, including Google Maps etc.

If I restart my iPhone in the usual way it always restarts with a brighter screen, but then begins dimming again.

I have an iPhone X running iOS 11.4. It is in a genuine Apple iPhone X Leather Case, which only covers the body and not the screen. In Settings>Display & Brightness I have True Tone switched on, but Night Shift switched off.

When this problem has occurred I have checked that setting, (with some difficulty because of the dark screen), and the slider has always been fully over to the right, (ie. Maximum brightness), and so it has been impossible to increase brightness.

When indoors, out of direct sunshine, the display behaves perfectly, brightening & dimming as required.

After scanning this thread I've switched off Face ID Attention-Aware features, but I've not used the phone in the sun since then, so I don't know if it has had any effect.

I have a solution for the diming screen problem: sort of.....I have my iphone attached to vent in my car. Its constantly cooling down by AC . No more problem. But I want to ask Apple what to do in winter time ,and, would Apple provide ice packs with Apple logo for summer outdoor use of that $1000 product to work as it suppose to?

After checking this with Apple, it appeared to be a feature, not a bug, to prevent Burn-in when the phone is hot because the iPhone X has an OLED screen which will burn-in if it is too bright and hot. So the phone dims the display to prevent burn-in.

ScreenGate

I don't buy the burn-in feature explanation as I've experienced dimming when phone is not hot at all. Also, burn-in is more related to having a static image that doesn't change for a period of time. I suspect most of us are actively using the phone when we experience dimming. Certainly, there may be internal components they are trying to protect as well but I think most of the dimming is completely unnecessary.

More importantly it’s beyond inconvenient in that it makes the impossible to use outdoors. I get the need to keep it cool but they should have come up with a work around that doesn’t make the majority of a $1000 device unusable outdoors.

Same issue here. Any time I am in the sunlight taking pictures, 5-10 later i5 will dim to a point that it is impossible to see the screen unless I take the phone to shade. It has to be a heat issue. Extremely disappointed that I can’t take pictures for my job. Judging from the response, Apple is not concerned. I’ll take my phone to ATT, stand outside innthe sun for 10 minutes and have the employee come out and request that he read the screen. Switching to a Galaxy.

Well, if this is indeed a 'feature' of OLED display iPhones, I rather think my next iPhone will not be an OLED one...

What is the point of a 'brilliant' display if one cannot see anything on the ****** thing?