Apple has been experiencing problems that iPhone users have been experiencing for a long time. flashlight turning off automatically finally solved the problem. The new setting in the iOS 26.1 update eliminates the situation where a small swipe on the lock screen turns off the flash.
Turning on the flashlight while searching for something in the dark and then turning it off after a few seconds was a common glitch in the daily experience of many iPhone users. This unexpected shutdown was usually caused by a small touch that the screen unintentionally detected. When the surface of the phone comes into contact with a finger or fabric, the system interprets this as a camera opening gesture, so the flash turns off instantly. However, most of the time, the user would start the process of opening the camera application without even realizing it. This situation caused great discomfort, especially for people using the phone manually in low-light environments.
With iOS 26.1, Apple placed the possibility of changing this behavior directly in the system settings. Now users can completely turn off the camera unlock gesture by swiping left on the lock screen. In this way, the screen does not perceive involuntary touches as a signal to open the camera and the light continues to turn on steadily. The update focuses on a small but practically important problem that users experience in daily life.
How to solve the problem of the flashlight turning off unintentionally?
The new feature is located in the Settings > Camera menu. seen here “Swipe on Lock Screen to Open Camera” option is on by default. With this option turned off, horizontal movements from the edge of the screen no longer launch the camera app. Therefore, the possibility of the flash turning off automatically is eliminated. For those who want to turn off the feature, the process is quite short: You go to Settings, open the Camera tab, and turn the relevant toggle at the bottom to the “off” position. Thus, the device ignores small contacts made to the screen while the flash is on.
This arrangement has started to attract attention especially among iPhone 15, 15 Pro and 14 series users. Because the screen sensitivity in these models is quite high and the device’s case easily detects edge movements. This made unintentional camera openings more frequent. With the new update, the flash can be used as a constant light source in the dark. The flash no longer turns off when the device changes hands, is placed in a bag, or slides on the table.