If you have an iPhone 12 or other device with a lock screen, you may find that the flashlight shortcut keeps turning on when you’re not using it. This can drain your battery and be an annoying feature to have.
Thankfully, there are several ways to turn off your iPhone’s built-in flashlight. This includes a quick shortcut that lets you do it from the Lock Screen without opening Control Center.
Swipe down from the top right corner of the screen
There’s a shortcut to turn off the flashlight icon on your iPhone 12 screen that doesn’t require a password. Swipe down from the top right corner of the screen and you’ll see a “Control Center” appear. Tap on it to toggle the flashlight off and tap on it again to turn it on.
You’ll also find a few other quick settings on this panel, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, mobile data, and maybe location or power saving. These are all designed to help you manage the amount of time your iPhone spends in the background, which can cause it to drain battery more quickly.
However, the flashlight shortcut can be annoying when you accidentally press it in public. It can be difficult to disable, but there are a few ways to do so.
Press and hold the flashlight icon
There’s a built-in flashlight on your iPhone 12 that you can turn on or off. It’s a handy feature that works well for taking photos and also helps you find your way around the dark, but sometimes it can get annoying.
Thankfully, it’s easy to turn off the flashlight on an iPhone 12. In fact, it’s a simple tap and hold that you can perform without opening Control Center.
If you use Face ID, you can also turn off the flashlight from your Lock screen. Simply press and hold the flashlight icon in the lower left corner of the screen.
Alternatively, you can create a Shortcut that toggles the flashlight on or off. That shortcut can be created in the iOS Shortcuts app and assigned to Back Tap.
Swipe up from the bottom center of the screen
There are a few ways you can turn off the flashlight on an iPhone 12. One way is to swipe up from the bottom center of the screen. This shortcut will display the flashlight icon, which you can then tap to turn it on or off.
Another option is to use the Control Center. This quick-access menu provides shortcuts to frequently used settings and apps on your iPhone.
You can also turn off the flashlight using a shortcut on your Home Screen. This shortcut will appear like an app and can be dragged between Home Screen pages or to the Dock if you want.
Apple’s MagSafe system is another key feature of the iPhone 12. This is a ring of magnets arranged under the back of the iPhone 12 that enable a range of accessories to simply click onto the phone.
Tap the flashlight icon a second time
The flashlight feature on iPhone 12 is great if you need extra light in the dark, but it can also be a bit annoying. Sometimes, you can accidentally tap the flashlight icon on the lock screen, causing it to turn on without you even knowing it.
To help prevent this from happening, we recommend you store your iPhone with the display towards the inside of your pocket. This will prevent you from accidentally tapping on the flashlight icon and turning it on.
Alternatively, you can use the Back Tap accessibility feature on iPhone 8 or later to toggle your flashlight on and off. You’ll need to create a Shortcut first, then tell the device you want to run it whenever you double or triple tap on the back of your iPhone.
To create a shortcut, long-press an empty area on your home screen. Then, tap the “+” button on the Shortcuts page.
