iPhones are a reliable line of devices, so you might have difficulty wondering, “Why won’t my flashlight work on my iPhone 12?” The flashlight has many uses, so you need it handy for the next time you need to look under the bed or take a photo in a poorly lit room.
You, therefore, have to understand all the potential causes of a malfunctioning flashlight to be able to fix it, and this is the best article to help you do this.
Here is more information on the causes and best fixes for all issues with the iPhone 12 flashlight;
Why Won’t My Flashlight Work On My iPhone 12?
A flashlight on your phone is handy, but it is only helpful if it works when needed. The flashlight is used mainly for light and in the camera feature. Sometimes, you will look at the control center and find the flashlight icon grayed out or tap it, and nothing happens.
A series of factors can cause this;
- One of the most common ones is battery saving whic,h disables secondary features like the flashlight. A low battery or a malfunctioning power system can have the same effect. Sometimes, the issue can be caused by malfunctioning firmware that causes miscommunications between software and hardware. These glitches are common and might cause the control center to indicate the flashlight is one when it isn’t.
- iPhone updates could sometimes cause these issues if you don’t correctly install them, as they cause mismatches between hardware and software. An outdated system will inevitably develop issues so it is crucial to properly install all new update patches to get the best user experience.
- Sometimes, the flashlight on an iPhone 12 won’t turn on because it is damaged and needs to be replaced. If the phone drops, the impact could rattle the interior components and dislodge a few connections that might affect the flashlight.
- Water damage is also a concern for the flashlight as it uses a lot of power, so it is at a higher risk of short-circuiting when the iPhone gets wet. You should be careful with your phone and be able to pinpoint any external damage to the flashlight system and have it repaired.
What Are The Best Fixes For A Malfunctioning iPhone 12 Flashlight?
Adding flashlights to phones is a big advantage, adding to their versatility and improving the user experience.
This can be a significant hindrance when you want to use your iPhone’s flashlight, but you get the grayed-out icon, or the flashlight stays off.
Here are a few quick ways to fix the flashlight and get your iPhone’s operations back to normal;
1. Get out of low-power mode
When your battery power runs low, the phone will automatically go into low power mode to conserve power. This disables some iPhone features that take up battery life but are not essential for primary use.
You can tell when your iPhone is in power-saving mode since the battery level color changes to yellow from green.
This change is triggered automatically when the battery level drops below 20%, and it can extend your battery life for a few hours.
This is an advantage, but the flashlight feature is often disabled by power saving mode, so turning it off could bring the flashlight back on. Go into the settings menu and select battery, then turn off Low Power Mode in the menu.
2. Close the Camera App
The camera flash on an iPhone 12 uses the same hardware as a flashlight feature, so their operation is connected. If you turn on the camera, the phone will automatically gray out the flashlight app in the control center.
The OS gives the camera priority and uses its settings to determine whether or not the flashlight can come on, so you can’t use both features simultaneously. You can solve this by closing the camera app before trying the flashlight again.
3. Check Your iPhone’s temperature
The flashlight might stop working if your iPhone gets too hot, and it’s inadvisable to keep using any phone if it is overheating.
The iPhone will automatically shut down to cool off if it exceeds certain temperature thresholds, but you don’t have to push it that far.
The phone will send a warning when the temperature is too high, and at this point, most functionalities will start failing, including the flashlight. Put the iPhone in a cool, dry place to let the temperature drop naturally.
Don’t put it in a freezer or a cold place, as it will get damaged; instead, go for a shady or naturally cool place, and the flashlight will be back on when it restarts.
4. Charge the iPhone
Your flashlight might still stay off even after you change the power settings. This is primarily the case when the battery is deficient, and your device simply doesn’t have the power to turn on the flashlight.
The flashlight takes up significant power from the battery, so the device’s power isn’t enough at a certain level. You should connect your iPhone charger and let it charge past 20% so that the iPhone has sufficient power to activate the flashlight feature.
5. Use The Camera Flash
You can get creative and use the camera app if you can’t turn the flashlight on from the control center. The two features use the same flashlight, so you can launch the camera and go to video mode to get the permanent flash.
Swipe down in the video window to access the additional options. Turn on the flash option, and shine it on whatever you need without hitting the record button. You can also use the camera flash to eliminate glitches and fix the flashlight.
Turn the camera flash on and off to eliminate glitches in the same way as recording a video. This time, set the flash to toggle on and off several times, which could restart the flashlight’s standard functionality.
Issues like water damage to the camera system can cause such problems, so this workaround could give more insight into the cause.
6. Use Siri
Siri is one of the best features of the iPhone 12, and you can use voice commands to get around your flashlight troubles. If the camera flash trick doesn’t work but you have enough power in your phone, you can use Siri to turn on the flashlight.
This trick will work even if the icon is grayed out since Siri can access most functions and settings on your phone. You first need to set up Siri on the iPhone and then activate the feature by saying, “Hey, Siri.”
The Siri icon will come up on your screen, and you can give your command to turn on the flashlight. Siri will work in the background and turn the flashlight on for you.
7. Restart, or Reset, or Remove Updates From Your iPhone
You should try restarting your iPhone if the above methods don’t fix your problem. Restarting will clear cache files and give the iPhone a new platform to rerun all its features more efficiently.
Go to the settings tab and find the shutdown button under general settings where. Once the phone is off, give it a few seconds the hold the power button until the phone boots up. A restart might not be enough if the issues stem from the versions you are using.
An incomplete update can cause this problem, so you can restore the iPhone to its former update to see if it still works. You will lose some data, but fixing and properly reinstalling the updates will be best.
The final and most drastic solution to this problem is restoring all your device settings to the defaults. Go to general settings and look for the “Transfer or Reset iPhone,” then tap reset and select the option to reset all settings.
It will allocate all your settings back to the factory default, and it will take a lot of time if you have a lot of data on your phone. This is, therefore, not the best solution if you need the flashlight urgently.
When doing this, avoid hitting the “Erase All Content and Settings” in the Reset menu. This option will delete all the data on your device and leave the memory blank. You can find ways to protect cloud data on your iPhone, but all locally stored data will be erased.
If you try all the above solutions and the flashlight is still not working then it is time to visit an Apple Service Provider. It could be a hardware issue, so a technician could open the device and give you a professional opinion on what to do next.
Conclusion
You have all the fixes for the question. “Why won’t my flashlight work on my iPhone 12?” This is a common problem; you can fix it unless the flashlight is damaged. It is mainly caused by a change in settings or the camera running in the background.
Restoring the settings or hard resetting the iPhone will fix the issue in most cases, but there are many other fixes. You can also change the power setting or charge the phone to keep the iPhone in optimal performance so that all the features, including the flashlight, can work.
