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Make Your iPhone Display Flash for Alerts

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Apr 12, 2001
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Unlike some Android phones, iPhones don't have a dedicated notification LED that lights up when you get a call, text, or other alert. What iPhones do include is an optional Accessibility feature for the deaf and hard of hearing that blinks the rear camera flash and provides a visual cue for incoming notifications. And in iOS 26.2, Apple has added the ability to flash the front display, too.

ios-26-2-flash-alert.jpg

Even if your hearing is fine, having a visual cue for incoming alerts can be handy to have if, say, you're in a quiet environment like a library and don't want to create a disturbance. What's more, in iOS 26.2, you can choose for both the display and the camera LED to flash. That way, you'll see the alert flash whichever way your iPhone is lying on a table.

How to Enable Flash for Alerts

Follow the steps below to turn on screen flash for alerts on your ‌iPhone‌ running iOS 26.2.
  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone, then tap Accessibility.
  2. Under "Hearing," tap Audio & Visual.
  3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Flash for Alerts.
  4. Toggle on Flash for Alerts, then tap LED Flash, Screen, or Both.
You'll see that the last menu includes toggle switches so that you can control whether the flash happens when your device is unlocked, as well as if it should flash when in silent mode.

Article Link: Make Your iPhone Display Flash for Alerts
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ios-26-2-make-your-iphone-screen-flash-for-alerts/
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no thanks.

people who have their camera flash every time they get a message are so annoying.

if you're disabled i get it but c'mon. can't wait to see how it takes before their entire phone, front and back, starts lighting up to let everyone in the room know they got a message.
 
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Flashing the camera flash for alerts has been there since iPhone 4 by the way.

krspkbl said:
no thanks.

people who have their camera flash every time they get a message are so annoying.

if you're disabled i get it but c'mon. can't wait to see how it takes before their entire phone, front and back, starts lighting up to let everyone in the room know they got a message.
Click to expand...
This is one aspect of certain Android phones that I like: a small subtle notification LED in the front.
 
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I’ve turned this on because i thought would be less than the flashing on the back. I now seem to have a problem when I notice it and pick it up that the brightness of the screen goes way down. Then I either have to wait for it to slowly come back or do it manually. Not in love with the feature yet.
 
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Seanpatrickh said:
I’ve turned this on because i thought would be less than the flashing on the back. I now seem to have a problem when I notice it and pick it up that the brightness of the screen goes way down. Then I either have to wait for it to slowly come back or do it manually. Not in love with the feature yet.
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I turned it on back when I installed 26.2 on Friday and just realized I haven't seen the screen flash even once!
 
I have enabled that feature clear back with my iphone4. And have vibrate on too. There have been a handful of times when I have made a purchase & because I have my credit card alert me to certain criteria, I get a flash & the merchant asks me how I enabled that feature...
 
Plutonius said:
My phone stays in my pocket so I doubt this would be useful.
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I enabled the feature years ago. When it is in my packet & phone flashes, it catches the eye of who I am talking to or in front of & they look down at my pocket with a a mild surprised look. Flashes thru my jeans a little
 
iPhones don't have a dedicated notification LED that lights up when you get a call, text, or other alert.
Click to expand...

Since iPhones have OLED screens and always-on displays... why couldn't they just put a subtle dot on the screen to indicate that you have a new message?

Other phones had to do it with an actual LED.

But now they could do it with just with the screen.
 
Good for those who want/need this, for me, no thank you, getting alerts on my AW is sufficient
 
libertysat said:
I enabled both years ago
Click to expand...
Me too and so did my Dad. I am Deaf and I do miss notifications when my iPhone is on my desk or beside me so I don't feel it vibrate (Desk is too thick and solid to feel vibration). Flash helps me notice it better. Dad have it on cos he is awful noticing notification and he is older age and hearing getting worse and he keep missing notifications sounds all the time. Flash is more noticeable for him.
 
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For anyone who does turn on "flash on ring options" do be aware of your life partner when those 3am calls asking if you renewed your insurance lead to divorce papers.
 
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IJustWannaTalk said:
Feels like vibrate is still a better option than this. Wouldn't it be easier to feel or see a vibration?
Click to expand...

Feeling the vibration, yes. Seeing it, no. I'm not Deaf and I won't speak in their place, but a vibrating phone (that is not in the pocket) will not be noticeable. You won't always be attached to the desk where it's vibrating, so you won't always feel the phone.

A lot of Deaf people will probably appreciate this as an enhancement to quality of life. They'll probably be able to notice notifications more easily, especially if their device is at a distance. ... If I'm understanding it correctly, anyway.
 
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krspkbl said:
no thanks.

people who have their camera flash every time they get a message are so annoying.

if you're disabled i get it but c'mon. can't wait to see how it takes before their entire phone, front and back, starts lighting up to let everyone in the room know they got a message.
Click to expand...
Dooo Doo Doo Doooo Doo Do Do D-Doo! Incoming!
 
The Blackberry notification LED, and the subsequent Android equivalent, was a good feature. Anyone recall the rumor that the Dynamic Island would incorporate a notification "LED" by using the OLED display and ramping up the brightness for those select pixels? That was low-key a good idea.
 
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