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I do agree with the sentiment that it shouldn’t be called “always” on because it clearly isn’t always on. They should have a toggle in the settings to say “I want it on ALWAYS” and so even in a pocket it’s on, so overriding Apples idea of turning it off at certain times
But then when you turn the phone off, the screen won’t be on, which is frankly unacceptable. Do better Apple.
 
But then when you turn the phone off, the screen won’t be on, which is frankly unacceptable. Do better Apple.
Oh I found out Siri wasn’t working either with voice command. I made a separate thread about it. Check yall Siri on voice command!!!
 
You’re wrong. Apple clearly state it goes off when it’s dark. How else could the screen turn off in a pocket, having the screen on then would be a waste of battery!
Some light sensors on certain phones may be more or less sensitive, and so stay on in dim conditions. My 15pm and now my 16pm all go off in a very dark room. The phone can’t know whether it’s in a pocket or bag or in a dark room. They’re smart but not that smart

I don’t see anywhere that Apple says it turns off if the environment is dark. Can you link to where they say this? They do say it turns off if the screen is face down or obstructed from view.

I would guess the proximity sensor would be used to turn off the display if it is face down or obstructed from view as opposed to a light sensor. Of course that is just an assumption and could be wrong. They may detect this based on another sensor or combination of sensors.
 
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Adding details of my situation. The Always on Display turns off when on battery power while laying face up in somewhat dark room (not in Low Power Mode or any Sleep Focus mode). It also turns off when attached to a MagSafe powered stand while in portrait orientation in a dark room. My standby mode works if on a MagSafe charger in horizontal orientation, but this too goes completely dark after a short amount of time. The standby mode turns back on if I move in view of the phone. So waking up in the middle of the night, I have to wave my hand in front of the phone to get the standby screen to show. Does this sound like how these features are supposed to work? I’m new to the AOD, and just thought it would stay on in a dark room and that the standby mode would keep the display on all night as long as it was on the charger.
 
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... My standby mode works if on a MagSafe charger in horizontal orientation, but this too goes completely dark after a short amount of time. The standby mode turns back on if I move in view of the phone. So waking up in the middle of the night, I have to wave my hand in front of the phone to get the standby screen to show. Does this sound like how these features are supposed to work? I’m new to the AOD, and just thought it would stay on in a dark room and that the standby mode would keep the display on all night as long as it was on the charger.
StandBy has a separate setting.

It needs to be set to Never if you want it to remain on.
 
StandBy has a separate setting.

It needs to be set to Never if you want it to remain on.

Thank you! This likely solves my Standby issue.

I was curious if setting the Standby to turn display off to "Never" might also allow the Always on Display to stay on in the dark, but alas it had no effect on that.
 
The 15 Pro never stays on all the time. As previously stated, it turns off in a very dark room. When connected to power at bed time, the clock only comes on when motion is detected. It also turns off when the phone is left in a room without the watch present and active.
 
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The 15 Pro never stays on all the time. As previously stated, it turns off in a very dark room. When connected to power at bed time, the clock only comes on when motion is detected. It also turns off when the phone is left in a room without the watch present and active.
Hmmm that’s a Negative for my experience. My 15PM (I believe my 14PM too, I just can’t remember lol)literally stays on and dim the entire time when docked. This is in a dark room. You can clearly see it lit up. It never turned off, hence always on.
 
I didn’t even know there was a standby feature. Can someone explain me what that is lol.
 
It is a feature to show a clock or widgets when your iPhone is in horizontal orientation on a charging stand like a MagSafe stand.
 
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I didn’t even know there was a standby feature. Can someone explain me what that is lol.

Usually, it's used as a bedside alarm clock but can be used to keep showing photos or whatever.

I have it on my iPhone 11, but after 20 seconds the display goes off. It's one of my main reasons for wanting to upgrade to a phone with AOD. It's a shame the 16 doesn't have it (the Pro does).
 
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I've upgraded from a 13 Pro Max to a new 16 Pro Max today. One of the features I looked forward to trying was the always on display, and it is one the main reasons I chose the 16 Pro Max over the 16 Plus. Well, my experience today seems to be that the "Always on Display" does not stay on if you are in a dimly lit room. I was watching a movie tonight with the lights off and the iPhone display goes completely dark about 20-30 seconds after being locked. Is this normal behavior for the Always on Display? Is there any way to keep the always on display to be always on in dim rooms?
if the room gets dark and it's at night or if you cover the sensor it will dim to save battery. Kind of like going to your pocket, if it's exposed it will always stay on.
 
This is the first iPhone I’ve had with an always on display and it was also one of the first settings I went in to, to turn off. Not a feature I need as I use an Apple Watch for any relevant notifications.
 
Adding details of my situation. The Always on Display turns off when on battery power while laying face up in somewhat dark room (not in Low Power Mode or any Sleep Focus mode). It also turns off when attached to a MagSafe powered stand while in portrait orientation in a dark room. My standby mode works if on a MagSafe charger in horizontal orientation, but this too goes completely dark after a short amount of time. The standby mode turns back on if I move in view of the phone. So waking up in the middle of the night, I have to wave my hand in front of the phone to get the standby screen to show. Does this sound like how these features are supposed to work? I’m new to the AOD, and just thought it would stay on in a dark room and that the standby mode would keep the display on all night as long as it was on the charger.
I think the 16 Pro (not Max) is more sensitive to light. I had both my 16 and 15 Pro next to each other on Friday and the 15 would stay lit while the 16 would go off. Maybe Apple is trying to save more battery or will adjust on a future update. But the 16 will turn off much sooner than my 15. But my 15 would eventually turn off too in the dark and not plugged in. As I type, my 16 just turned off in a gloomy room but by no means dark.
 

I've upgraded from a 13 Pro Max to a new 16 Pro Max today. One of the features I looked forward to trying was the always on display, and it is one the main reasons I chose the 16 Pro Max over the 16 Plus. Well, my experience today seems to be that the "Always on Display" does not stay on if you are in a dimly lit room. I was watching a movie tonight with the lights off and the iPhone display goes completely dark about 20-30 seconds after being locked. Is this normal behavior for the Always on Display? Is there any way to keep the always on display to be always on in dim rooms?
I had this happen this morning for several minutes. This is not normal. Never happened on my 15PM. It eventually came back, but perhaps we need a software update.
 
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I didn’t even know there was a standby feature. Can someone explain me what that is lol.
IMG_6510.PNG
 
I can confirm the same AOD behavior

15PM when on wireless charger in dark room AOD stays on.

16PM same situation, turns off.

Same behavior when neither is charging. 15 on, 16 off after about 10 seconds.

Adjusting the standby setting to NEVER does not resolves it. This is for landscape mode whole charging.

Mine is exact same thing! Thank you for confirming. I think I didn’t notice it because I didn’t update to iOS on the 15PM.
 
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For the record, AOD shutting off when docked is happening again. It may have something to do at night and darkness.

But the question is, why the difference between the 15PM and 16PM. I can only deduct to new ios18 at this point. It’s coded differently. I may just need to accept the fact that “it will turn off to save battery”, but it still annoying from what we’ve been used to.

Life goes on lol.
 
I’m guessing it’s a bug. Can’t call it always on if it’s not always on.
Or it may have been coded differently for ios 18. Again, there seems to be a pattern here. ios18 def is the culprit imo. I don’t think I’ll be going to apple for a replacement. I’d ride this one out. I do like the phone.
 
Y’all here arguing semantics and I found this thread when googling because my wife and I both got 16PM’s and mine has AOD but even though the setting is on hers just turns full -screen-off when you hit the button. Same room, same level of light, side by side.
 
Happens with my 16 Pro Max too , glad I'm not the only one experiencing this. If you have an apple watch paired with the iPhone does the display stay on ?

First time iPhone user & it's been a frustrating experience, first the touch issue and now the always on display 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
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