Auto-brightness - anyone find dimming works OK?

[border terrier]

Has anyone seen auto dimming work on an iPad recently, or at all? I had an iPad 2 that didn't auto dim and now I have an iPad Air that doesn't work either. I've set brightness in a darkened room but the fact is that unlike my 5S which works flawlessly, the iPads do not dim automatically to changes in light in my experience.

The only way I see an auto dim is to toggle off then back on auto brightness and it dims immediately but then immediately fails after the screen responds to brighter lights again.

Is this a feature or a bug only iOS7 didn't work it's the same with iOS8?

 

[border terrier]

Just me then I guess.

 

[outbackpaul]

Has anyone seen auto dimming work on an iPad recently, or at all? I had an iPad 2 that didn't auto dim and now I have an iPad Air that doesn't work either. I've set brightness in a darkened room but the fact is that unlike my 5S which works flawlessly, the iPads do not dim automatically to changes in light in my experience.

The only way I see an auto dim is to toggle off then back on auto brightness and it dims immediately but then immediately fails after the screen responds to brighter lights again.

Is this a feature or a bug only iOS7 didn't work it's the same with iOS8?

I bought an Air 2 and the auto brightness doesn't work at all. I can turn it on and off but it always goes all the way dim. I just exchanged it in the store and I have a new one and it's the same way. Something isn't right.

 

[IrishVixen]

Retina Mini works fine for me; auto dimming was something I never used on any devices pre iOS 8 because it was so fickle, and it's very reliable now.

Tried the usual? (Hard reset, reset all settings, restore from backup, restore as new...)

 

[bandofbrothers]

Honestly.... I always toggle it off.

I find that feature is a battery drainer and so use f.lux

 

[outbackpaul]

Yes, I tried the usual things.

So today I went to the Apple store. I picked one up and it didn't work either. I asked for some help and found there was a "trick" to getting it to work. The "trick" was to turn off auto brightness, set it where you like it, then turn on the auto brightness. That worked. I asked why the people on the phone didn't know this. My 1.5 hour phone call and my returned iPad could have been avoided.

 

[Aspasia]

Yes, I tried the usual things.

So today I went to the Apple store. I picked one up and it didn't work either. I asked for some help and found there was a "trick" to getting it to work. The "trick" was to turn off auto brightness, set it where you like it, then turn on the auto brightness. That worked. I asked why the people on the phone didn't know this. My 1.5 hour phone call and my returned iPad could have been avoided.

Interesting. It's always worked on my iPad 2. Sometimes I change the brightness, depending on where I'm using my device, and it automatically responds. But I've never turned the auto setting off then back on. Still on iOS 7, if that has anything to do with it - but probably not.

 

[Rodster]

I haven't found an iPad where the auto-brightness doesn't work. I own several iPad's and the auto bright feature works great on all of them.

 

[border terrier]

Yes, I tried the usual things.

So today I went to the Apple store. I picked one up and it didn't work either. I asked for some help and found there was a "trick" to getting it to work. The "trick" was to turn off auto brightness, set it where you like it, then turn on the auto brightness. That worked. I asked why the people on the phone didn't know this. My 1.5 hour phone call and my returned iPad could have been avoided.

Temporary fix for me. maybe I need to make a visit!

 

[border terrier]

I now have a permanent fix!

OK, took my iPad Air into the Genius bar. The Genius confirmed the sensor was faulty and replaced the device. He was wrong!

Got home and all was well until I 'rebuilt' the device, no restore back up here, set up from scratch. All working well and then all of a sudden auto brightness failed again. So I rebuilt it again from scratch and all was fine..... and I added things one at a time and checked auto brightness each time. Then I turned on iCloud Keychain. Instant failure!

When I set Keychain to on the auto brightness fails every time, I can toggle it on and off! Weird, but there it is. I'm now certain my previous iPad Air was fine, as now is the replacement.

FWIW I did have the same issue with my iPhone some while ago and had the device replaced (other reasons) by a brand new 5S in December. No issues with auto brightness there either since then. I checked, and keychain access is turned off here too though I hadn't realised.