iOS 16.2 Includes Settings to Make the iPhone 14 Pro Always-on Display Not So ‘On’

Raymond Wong, writing at Inverse:

Apple released the latest iOS 16.2 beta 3 earlier this week, and as usual, testers quickly picked it apart. Notably, there are two new toggles within Settings → Display & Brightness → Always On Display, one for showing your wallpaper, and one for notifications.

Toggle both to not show, and your iPhone 14 Pro’s lock screen will turn black instead of dimming your wallpaper; only the date and time will be visible when the always-on display setting is on. This makes the iPhone 14 Pro’s always-on display work just like it does on pretty much every Android phone’s always-on display. And because the always-on display will be black when both settings are turned off, it should reduce the amount of battery draw because each black pixel in the OLED display is technically not turned on.

From my iPhone 14 Pro review back in September:

The second super interesting thing about the iPhones 14 Pro is the always-on display. It is really weird. Not weird because it’s a bad idea, but weird because battery life has always been, and remains, a precious resource to be conserved on smartphones. And, until now, one of the surest ways to run down your battery has been to leave your phone in an unattended state while the display remains on. When you look over to your side at your desk, where your iPhone rests face up, and the screen is on despite your knowing that you haven’t touched it in a while, it feels wrong. Like there’s a bug in iOS that’s preventing the screen from going to sleep or something. Over and over and over this past week, I’ve glanced at this iPhone 14 Pro in the always-on state, and I experienced a micro jolt of panic: Whoa, why is the screen on? Oh, yeah, always-on....

Two months later and the always-on display still feels weird to me. My day-to-day battery life has been as good or better than with the iPhone 13 Pro, so I don’t think that’s a reason to turn it off. But for me, feeling weird is a reason.

★ Wednesday, 16 November 2022