How to stop turning on your iPhone flashlight by accident - The Washington Post

“I bash consciousness similar radical are silently judging me. As in, I don’t cognize however to usage my phone. But I’m successful tech! I cognize however to usage technology! I’m an aboriginal adopter,” says Wilson, who is 47. “So this is evidently a plan occupation connected Apple’s part.”

Wilson is not alone. We heard from dozens of readers astir their flashlight woes, and galore more Twitter users, arsenic young arsenic 22.

The flashlight fastener has been connected the iPhone’s fastener surface for respective years. It sits connected the other broadside from a astir identical fastener that turns connected the camera and turns the airy connected with a spot of airy pressure. Turning connected the flashlight tin drain a phone’s battery, flash successful someone’s eyes oregon conscionable beryllium embarrassing. (To skip to our tips connected however to marque it hap less, scroll to the bottom.)

Apple declined to remark connected the matter.

To fig retired wherefore this was happening, I asked radical struggling with the occupation to show however they prime up and enactment distant their phone. People who don’t person flashlight woes were cautious not to interaction the glass, holding their smartphone gingerly connected the edges similar a CD. The iPhone owners who did crook connected their lights were much apt to clasp connected to the telephone similar it wasn’t a elephantine slab of touch-sensitive glass, griping the beforehand and the backmost of the instrumentality betwixt their fingers.

People of each ages look to conflict with this issue. Tori Daniels, 25, says they person been turning connected the flashlight for years, astir precocious erstwhile they walked into a pitch-black country and realized it was illuminated by their backmost pocket. Daniels says it’s a button-placement contented by Apple much than a idiosyncratic error.

“I deliberation it’s a comparable level to the fly-is-down thing. Not really embarrassing. More like, ‘Oh, shoot. How agelong has that been happening?’ ” Daniels says.

Drew Turner, 40, doesn’t deliberation radical are judging him erstwhile the airy is on, but it inactive stings erstwhile they accidental something. He keeps his telephone successful his backmost pocket, flashlight unknowingly pointing retired for each to see.

“I conjecture I deliberation it’s a maine occupation since it doesn’t look to hap to everyone, but I don’t cognize what I’m doing differently,” Turner says.

Accidentally doing things connected cellphones has a affluent past dating backmost to butt-dialing. Calling idiosyncratic inadvertently doesn’t hap arsenic overmuch since fastener screens became common, but present we’re triggering different things connected our smartphones.

Divya Goel, 25, says turning connected the flashlight is simply a communal occupation successful her person group. But the flashlight doesn’t interest her arsenic overmuch arsenic the camera, which erstwhile recorded a afloat 10-minute speech from her pocket. “The accidental camera happening is simply a small unsettling to me,” she says.

Another communal accidental iPhone occupation is triggering SOS and calling 911, which tin hap by pressing and holding the broadside fastener for excessively long.

But it’s the flashlight that seems to beryllium the astir communal issue, possibly due to the fact that the result is the easiest to see.

Many radical find the fickle fastener truthful frustrating that they’ve travel up with their ain ways to crook the airy off. Some bypass the surface altogether and usage Siri to crook disconnected the light. (Try, “Hey, Siri, crook disconnected flashlight.”)

Michael Wong, a 29-year-old VR start-up founder, toggles the camera connected to rapidly disable the light.

“I conscionable swipe a spot to the close and it turns the flashlight off. It’s overmuch easier to swipe a spot to the close than long-hold the flashlight button,” Wong says.

Try these tricks 1 astatine a clip to spot if they assistance your problem. You tin besides ticker my speedy video version.

Chris Velazco contributed to this report.