The LED light on the back of your smartphone works better as a flashlight than a camera flash. Low-light photos taken with a camera flash deliver below-average results. A dedicated low-light camera mode produces better results than a small light. That doesn't make the camera flash useless. The tiny light can replace the bulky flashlight in your kitchen cupboard and find your seat in a dark theater room.
There are several ways to turn on the flashlight on your budget Android phone. Some of them are well-known, but you might be surprised by a few mentioned in this guide. Read on to learn more about these methods for turning on your phone's flashlight.
Tap the Quick Settings tile for the flashlight
It is likely the default choice since you can access the flashlight from Android's Quick Settings menu. You can access your flashlight by swiping down on your status bar and tapping an icon. To check your phone's flashlight Quick Settings shortcut, do the following:
- Swipe down on your status bar, then tap the Pencil icon.
- Scroll down and look for the Flashlight tile.
- Long press the tile and drag it to your desired location.
- Tap the back arrow when you finish.
- The Flashlight tile appears where you placed it in your Quick Settings panel.
- Tap Flashlight to turn it on. Tap it again to turn it off.
If you frequently use the flashlight on your Android smartphone, consider placing it in one of your first four tiles for quick access. You can rearrange its location by tapping the Pencil icon.
The quick settings menu may look different on your Android phone.
How to use At a Glance to use the flashlight from your lock screen
You can turn the flashlight off from your home screen and lock screen using the At a Glance feature on Google Pixel smartphones. You'll change an option in Pixel Home settings to use the flashlight from your lock screen.
- Long tap the home screen and select Home settings.
- Tap the Settings icon beside At a Glance.
- Scroll down and turn on the Flashlight toggle.
Use the Android Quick Tap flashlight option
Google introduced the Quick Tap feature to the public with Android 12, allowing you to double tap the back of your phone to perform certain actions. However, it was missing something that many users wanted: a flashlight option.
The feature may not work as expected on phones with rugged or thick cases.
With Android 13, you can double tap the back of your phone to use the flashlight. To access the Quick Tap feature and set it to the flashlight action on Android 13, try this:
- Open the Settings App, then go to System > Gestures > Quick Tap to start actions.
- Turn on the feature by tapping the Use Quick Tap button.
- Scroll down, then tap the Toggle flashlight option.
- Double tap your phone's back to see the Quick Tap detected notification.
- Close the Settings App.
- When you quickly tap the back of your Android phone twice, the flashlight turns on, and a second time, it turns off.
If you accidentally trigger the flashlight, turn on the Require stronger taps setting.
Using the flashlight with Quick Tap is helpful in a pinch. You might like this method even better than the Quick Settings tile.
Use the Google Assistant to turn on your flashlight
You can use your voice to turn the flashlight on and off. Here's how to ask Google Assistant to do it for you.
- Bring up Google Assistant using your favorite method. You can swipe from the corner, say "Hey Google" or "OK Google," or double tap the back of your Android smartphone.
- Say or type, "Turn on flashlight." This command has multiple variations. Saying "Flashlight on" or "Flashlight" also works.
- The flashlight comes on with a Flashlight popup.
- Tap the button to turn it off when you're finished.
- You can also say or type Turn off flashlight, Flashlight off, or Off.
Create your own Google Assistant flashlight command button
This method relies on using the previous Google Assistant command. You can also create a button on your home screen to trigger your flashlight. You'll make a custom Block action using Google's Action Blocks accessibility app.
The app allows you to use Google Assistant voice commands from your home screen with the press of a button.
- Download and install the Action Blocks app.
- Open the Action Blocks app to the main screen, then tap I Agree.
- Tap the Create action block button.
- Go to Create custom action.
- In the Action textbox, type flashlight on, then tap Test action. Your flashlight turns on.
- Tap the button in Google Assistant to turn it off and close the screen.
- If the action worked as expected, tap the Yes button to continue.
- You can deactivate the Speak action out loud and Vibrate options if you don't need them.
- When you're done, tap Next.
- To name the custom action, type Flashlight on and tap the Save action block button at the bottom.
- Tap Next on the Add to home screen message.
- Tap the Add to Home screen button.
- Tap Go to home screen.
- You'll see the Flashlight on button you created.
- Tap the shortcut to turn the flashlight on, then tap the button on the Google Assistant screen to turn it off.
- Long press the button to adjust its size and move it around on your home screen as needed.
Consider making a second action button to turn off the flashlight when you press it. Two buttons allow you to turn the flashlight on and off again without manually bringing up Google Assistant.
To change your button, go to the Action Blocks app, tap the block, and then tap Edit.
Getting these two flashlight buttons set up and placed on your home screen might look like a lot of work, but it's simple and useful. Arrange both however you want, but the bottom of the screen is a good choice for large Android smartphones.
Shake your phone to turn on the flashlight
The other methods for turning on your flashlight are part of the Android system or from Google, but there's a third-party app to check out. Shake Flashlight activates the bright light on your Android smartphone using a simple shaking motion, which might be handy in certain situations. With over 1 million downloads, it has been a popular choice since 2015 for third-party Android flashlight apps. To use this app on your phone, do the following:
- Download the Shake Flashlight app from the Google Play Store.
- Open the app to the main screen, then tap the power button on the flashlight.
- Allow the camera permission for Shake Flashlight to access the light on the back of your phone. In this case, the light and camera are tied together, so permission is required for the flashlight to work.
- After you grant the camera permission, the flashlight comes on.
- Shake your phone to turn the flashlight off and back on again.
- If the shaking motion is inconsistent, tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner, then go to Shake Sensitivity.
- Adjust your device's motion sensitivity as needed to see if that makes it better.
Add a flashlight shortcut on the lock screen
Android 14 lets you customize your Pixel's lock screen with different clock styles, fonts, colors, and quick shortcuts. With quick shortcuts, you can place a camera, DND, Google Home, Mute, a QR code scanner, Torch, and a video camera as one of the shortcuts on the lock screen. The trick below is available on Google Pixel phones running Android 14.
How to add a flashlight shortcut to the lock screen on Google Pixel phones
- Open Settings on your Pixel phone.
- Scroll to Wallpaper and style.
- Select Lock screen and tap Shortcuts.
- Select Torch as the left or right shortcut on your Pixel lock screen.
- Use the power button to turn off the screen and check the lock screen.
- Tap and hold a torch icon to turn on the flashlight.
Check our dedicated post to learn all the lock screen customization tips for Android 14.
How to add a flashlight shortcut to the lock screen on Samsung Galaxy phones
The ability to set the torch as a lock screen toggle has been a part of Samsung One UI software. You don't need the latest One UI on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
- Launch Settings on your Samsung phone.
- Select Lock screen.
- Turn on Shortcuts.
- Select Left shortcut or Right shortcut.
- Select Flashlight from the following menu.
- Lock your Samsung phone. The gesture to activate a toggle works differently here. You'll long tap and swipe right (for a left shortcut) or swipe left (for a right shortcut) to switch on the flashlight.
The steps to set the torch as the lock screen toggle are different on Samsung Galaxy phones that run One UI 5.0 or higher.
- Go to Settings and select Lock Screen.
- Tap Edit below the lock screen and select a left or right toggle.
- Tap Torch from the bottom menu.
Use your Android phone to light the way
Your Android device is more than just a phone, especially when using the best apps the Play Store offers. Now that you've learned the various ways to turn on the flashlight on your phone, try what works best for your needs. You can also combine options to make your own unique method.
