Is the "auto-brightness" feature a hoax/gimmick?

[Dayvidpriddy]

I tried looking for a general forum for talk about iPhone (in general) but can't seem to find one except for here...my phone is NOT jailbroken!

Anyways I was curious as to everyones opinions here regarding the "auto brightness" feature in iOS...does it actually work or is it just a gimmick? I have tested it out and low, medium, high, etc, then turn the lights off or on but the screen brightness never changes...it just stays where I originally set it at.

To compare, I also tested the auto brightness feature on my soon to be sold BlackBerry Bold 9780 and you can actually see the screen darken or brighten depending on room lighting...so the BlackBerry actually seems to work, where the iPhone isn't doing anything no matter what I have it to set to.

Has this ever worked?

[Prox]

It works for me just fine, the brightness of the area your using the phone the lighting.. Let say I'm asleep and wake up in the middle of the night to answer a text the brightness is low and a few seconds later it brightens up.

[Dayvidpriddy]

That's not what a light sensor is, it's suppose to change the brightness of the screen depending on what the ambient light is in the room (if you go outdoors the screen should brighten up...if you go in a dark room the screen should darken.) It's not doing this, in fact it does nothing.

Many Google hits reveal the same info:

iphone auto brightness - Google Search

iphone auto brightness not working - Google Search

iphone auto brightness doesn't work - Google Search

iphone auto brightness sensor - Google Search

Apple - Support - Discussions - Iphone 4 light sensor problem ...

[matthew_d]

The auto brightness feature is definitely not a gimmick. Set you brightness bar alittle more than half way and turn auto brightness on it seems to work the best for me when it's in that position. Its kind of hard to find but you can see the light sensor in bright light right above the speaker. At least that's where it's at on a iPhone 4.

[Madman604x]

try this for the auto brightness test.

remember how bright your phone is currently,

cover the top of the phone where the light sensor is, right next to the ear speaker.

press the sleep button to turn off screen, then press it again, then unlock it.

when i lights up this time, it will be noticeably dimmer. that means its working.

[krosis]

I've noticed the auto-brightness on the iP4 to be even more pronounced than on my old 3G, often being dimmer than I'd prefer indoors. In very dark areas, sliding between 0 and 50%, it stays at minimum brightness. In very bright areas, sliding it between 50-100% stays at maximum brightness. This shows me that when it's set at 50%, it can actually vary through the full range based on external lighting. It's possible yours isn't working for some reason, but not because it's a gimmick.

[StealthBravo]

I really don't notice it much

[Dayvidpriddy]

try this for the auto brightness test.

remember how bright your phone is currently,

cover the top of the phone where the light sensor is, right next to the ear speaker.

press the sleep button to turn off screen, then press it again, then unlock it.

when i lights up this time, it will be noticeably dimmer. that means its working.

Doesn't do nothing man, and all the others complaining can't mean it's just my phone. As stated auto brightness is suppose to work in REAL TIME when the ambient light around the device changes...that is what auto brightness means. In any iPhone I've had, it's never worked! The screen will dim right before it auto locks but other than that...nothing!

Copied from the iPhone User Guide:

Brightness
Screen brightness affects battery life. Dim the screen to extend the time before you need to recharge iPhone, or use Auto-Brightness.
Adjust the screen brightness: Choose Brightness and drag the slider.
Set whether iPhone adjusts screen brightness automatically: Choose Brightness and turn Auto-Brightness on or off. If Auto-Brightness is on, iPhone adjusts the screen brightness for current light conditions using the built-in ambient light sensor.

It definitely does not do the above!

For instance on the BlackBerry I'm about to sell...with auto brightness ON, if I were to go outside or walk into a bright room, the screen would automatically brighten so that I could see it (because in a bright room/outside with a dimmer screen you wouldn't be able to see the screen) or if I were to come inside or into a darker room from a brighter room, the screen would darken a bit...that is how auto brightness is suppose to work.

[StealthBravo]

It works well on the iPad

[Dayvidpriddy]

I wonder why then it's not working on the iPhone. It has to be a software issue. People were even raising concern about this back with the 3G, apparently it's never been addressed and probably never will be. I submitted feedback to Apple regardless.

[StealthBravo]

Might be. It works wel on the iPad