- The iPhone’s LED flash can alert you to calls and notifications
- This feature was designed for deaf or hearing-impaired people
- It’s also useful for when your device is muted
If you’re in a noisy environment, or your iPhone is on silent, you’ve probably grown used to missing alerts whenever your phone is face-down on the table. Did you know that it’s possible to make your iPhone camera’s LED flash when you get an alert?
It’s one of several hidden accessibility features that can be put to wider use on iOS. Here’s how it’s done, along with a couple of accompanying tricks.
LED flash for alerts
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual (under the Hearing banner) and scroll to the bottom. Tap the LED Flash for Alerts toggle to activate it.
Your iPhone’s camera LED will now flash whenever you receive notifications. Don’t worry, it will only flash briefly when the notification initially arrives.
Turn flash off in silent mode
From this same Settings screen you can control whether this alert flash feature works when your iPhone is in silent mode. Turn the main LED Flash for Alerts feature on, as described above, then toggle the Flash in Silent Mode off if you don’t want the alert flash to activate when you switch your phone into silent mode.
Most people will probably want to leave this toggled off, especially if you’re in the habit of quickly switching to silent mode in a cinema or theatre, where a bright flash going off will be disruptive. Still, for those who want strong but non-audible notifications without the buzz of a vibration motor, it could be the perfect solution.
Get flash alerts even when unlocked
Want your iPhone’s camera flash to alert you of new notifications even when your phone is unlocked? Along with that first step, also ensure that the Flash While Unlocked toggle is active.
Otherwise, with the toggle turned off, you won’t get any camera flash notifications while your phone is awake and unlocked.