For those accustomed to seeing a completely dark screen when locking their screen, the iPhone’s always-on display—which made its debut with the iPhone 14 Pro and continues with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro—was a significant change. With AOD, you can now see what’s happening on your screen at all times, even when it’s “dimmed.”
See also: Review of the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus
The logo of CNET Tech Tips
For some people, the iPhone’s always-on display is a pleasant addition because it shows ambient information without requiring the user to pick up and unlock the phone. You may easily check the time or any crucial notifications you may have by taking a quick look at your phone.
The AOD might be a bit too much for certain people, even though the most recent iPhone 16 screens can reduce brightness all the way to 1 nit. But don’t worry. There is a setting to return your phone to the time when it had a fully dark screen when you put it down or locked it. Below, we’ll demonstrate how to do it.
See what to anticipate in iOS 18.2 and how to customize the three most vexing iOS 18 features for additional information.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models from Apple
The AOD is exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Martin James/CNET
iOS’s always-on display does momentarily shut off itself, although it varies.
In spite of its name, the AOD will sometimes turn off. In order to save battery life, Apple provides a list of situations in which the display is entirely off:
You have your iPhone facing down.
You have your iPhone in your purse or pocket.
You go away with your iPhone linked to your Apple Watch and your iPhone linked to CarPlay.
After a period of inactivity, your iPhone automatically switches off the AOD (Apple claims that your iPhone recognizes your usage patterns).
Sleep Focus is activated.
Low Power Mode is activated.
You have a continuity camera in use.
How to permanently disable your iPhone’s always-on display
Although the AOD will be momentarily disabled in all of the aforementioned scenarios, if you’re not a fan, you may manually and fully off the iPhone’s always-on display.
Go to Display & Brightness in the Settings app, then go to the bottom and select Always On Display. Toggle off Always On Display to disable AOD.
You may keep AOD enabled while hiding your wallpaper, notifications, or both if you prefer the idea of an always-on display but just want to view the necessities.
iOS’s Always-On Display settings
To disable the AOD, select Display & Brightness under Settings.
Nelson Aguilar/CNET screenshots
Check out the iOS 18 cheat sheet and one of the greatest uses for the iPhone Action button that we’ve yet to see for additional tech advice.