Originally published at: Do You Use It? iPhone Always-On Display Popular but Not Universal - TidBITS
The results of our poll of iPhone 14 Pro users are in, with two-thirds of respondents saying they keep the Always-On enabled. The remaining third cited distractions and reduced battery life as their reasons for turning it off.
If I had an iPhone capable of this, Iād very much prefer to have the option of enabling it for Standby, but have it off otherwise. It seems such an obvious choice that I canāt see why Apple donāt already allow it.
My objection to Always On is that it isnāt always on (at least, not on the iPhone 15 Pro that Iāve had for about a day and a half now).
I noticed this last night when I put the phone on a stand across the room and the display turned off after about two minutes. I woke the phone, locked the screen, walked away, and the same thing happened. This persisted through various reboots and settings toggles.
In the Always On Display section of Settings, thereās a note that says the phone will turn itself off to save power, which I find contradictory and confusingāeither itās Always On, or itās not, right? Apple has a support doc for Always On on iPhone 14 (not 15 yet, that I can find), where it listed a series of conditions where Always On would turn offānone of which applied. It also said a turned-off Always On would automatically restore itself if a connected Apple Watch came near, which in my case didnāt happen.
There are a few complaints out there that Always On is really Sometimes On, or Mostly On, with several people linking this issue to dark rooms. I tested this by shining a bright lamp at the phone, and sure enough Always On stayed on the whole time I had the lamp on it.
In the time Iāve been writing this, with the phone on a table right next to me in a room with the window shades open on a cloudy day, the display turned itself off after the first paragraph or so; I picked it up, locked it, put it back, and itās still on.
Iād be interested to hear what other peopleās experiences are: Is your display Always On, Mostly On, or only Sometimes On?
1 Like
Thereās a switch for Always On under Settings - Stand By. Itās labeled āWhen Always On is enabled, the display will intelligently turn off when not in use.ā
Does anybody understand exactly what this means? It seems to say that if you enable Always On, the display will do the exact opposite and turn itself off. Does that mean that if you want to have the display always on in Stand By, you actually have to turn Always On off?
The Stand By setting for Always On has no apparent relation to the Always On setting under Display & Brightness.
I like Always On but Iāve noticed an impact on battery life. My solution is to put the phone face down when I donāt need the screen. Not only is the level of distraction eliminated, but the Always On is disabled by the lack of light, saving my battery.
Iāve experimented with how my phone battery performs with Always On enabled and disabled, and thereās a noticeable difference. I have the same experience with my S7 watch. With the watch I realized that I donāt need the face to be on when Iām not looking at it. The Always On feature on the Apple Watch is, IMHO, purely a vanity exercise so other people can see your watch face.
I think many of the complaints about iPhone 14/15 Pro battery life are connected to people using their devices more because of the Always On feature. Iām trying to reduce my screen time by keeping the scree out of side, face down.
1 Like
My understanding has always been that Always On will turn of if youāre not around. While I havenāt tested this scientifically, I have noticed when my iphone is on the desk near as I work, the screen is on but dimmed ā I can still glance at it for the time and other info. If I picked it up, it brightens and reveals the text of any notifications. If I leave the room and come back a while later (Maybe 10 minutes?), the screen is black.
Perhaps the people who complain about Always On impacting their battery life are too close to their phone so itās always in bright mode? Or theyāre on a desk that wobbles slightly and their movements jiggle the phone so it thinks you moved it?
Iāve never noticed any battery impact for me ā I donāt think Iāve ever run my Max down to below 30% in a normal day. It has gobs of battery life. Most days itās at over 50% when I go to bed. (The caveat is I use my iPad to Words With Friends. When I play that on my phone, I get horrible battery life. Itās a battery hog, which is idiotic for what should be a simple game.)
Schrƶdingerās phone will turn off when you are not looking at it
2 Likes
Always on seemed like a terrible idea to me.
1 Like
I might be more interested in AOD if I could actually read the widgets I put on there. But since Apple limits me to one row of widgets with incredibly tiny font, I usually canāt read any of that stuff anyway, so the only thing I do actually end up checking for there is time (large font, yay!) and that I donāt need to do all the time. Ironically, the right swipe from Springboard reveals both battery and weather data widgets that are much larger and more legible, but those I cannot get onto my lock screen.
I get it, Apple is trying to keep a lot of the lock screen blank for notifications. I realize everybody loves notifications and being entertained by their phones constantly beeping about new incoming super important social media updates, but I really donāt. Iād prefer just few bits of information I define and expect in one easily accessible location such that I can actually read them. Oh well.
I canāt read any of these:
But this works great:
Heck, I turned off the always on display on my Apple Watch 8. It makes the battery last so much longer, and I really donāt notice it at all. Everytime I look at my watch, itās on.
I figure the always on display on the iPhone 14 Pro is probably similar. I mean every time I look at my iPhone 12, and the display is on. Who else needs to see it? The fact that ā of the respondents to the poll take the time and effort to shut it off tells you something about how useful this feature is.
What I think stinks is the fact that Standby Mode isnāt on unless you have an always on display, and you keep it on. THE DAMN PHONE IS PLUGGED IN!!! Itās not going to run down the battery. Grrrrr!
I have an old program called Nightstand Central I got back in my iPhone 4 days. It still works, but is no longer available from the App Store. I use this as a time display when I am in bed. Unlike Stand By, it doesnāt shut itself off.
Personally, I wish Apple allowed both the watch and iPhone to retain always on when on a charger. Bedside mode would be great if the time display just displayed and similarly if the iPhone display would stay on at night when itās on itās charger, it would be great. I canāt find settings that will do either, Which seems like a real oversight on Appleās part.
1 Like
Youād probably end up with burn-in if your screen was on that much, which would be a reason for Apple not to allow it.
I often wish for the same when driving (where my phone is always plugged in to power).
If Iām using Maps navigation or Iāve got Maps centered on my location, that will prevent the display from sleeping. But sometimes I prefer to use other navigation apps and then the phone will sleep its display after 5 min unless I touch it, which you obviously shouldnāt be doing while driving.
(BTW, whatās up with 5 min being the max? Why do only iPads get longer options. May I please be the judge of my own battery demands?)
Now I could of cousre turn auto lock to off entirely, but thatās not what I want as soon as I arrive and put my phone back into my pocket. So great, itās 2023 and yet, I now need to remind myself each and every time I get out of the car to go into Settings > Display & Brightness and turn auto lock back to 5 min. 
1 Like
Agreed. And Iāve asked Apple for it many times. Android has has this feature (one of their āDeveloperā options) for years.
Apple needs to have an option for āDonāt lock screen when connected to powerā.
I can (and do) manually lock the screen with the side button when itās on power and I donāt want it on - like when Iām going to bed.
I wonder if this is an app issue? Back when I was using Google Maps, the phone would keep itself lit while navigating. But itās been a few years since Iāve used Google Maps, so I donāt know if this is still the case.
Iād send feedback to the developer of the problematic navigation apps to see if this is something they can fix.
I agree. Itās certainly an app issue. But unfortunately, itās more than just one app and Iāve sent feedback to all asking about options, but so far to no avail. Some of these apps havenāt been updated in a while. But even if theyāre no longer being actively developed and improved, theyāre good so not Iām not too keen on giving them up entirely either. A system wide option would serve as a simple fix.
With my use of the iPhone, problems with Always-On being distracting really donāt come into play. My iPhone stays in my pocket unless I am using it. I rarely need to take it out of my pocket unless I am going to use it for some action that cannot be handled by my Apple Watch. So the display option is mostly irrelevant. Still, when the phone is out of my pocket for any extended time, I prefer to have Always On enabled. I like being able to see basic stuff at a glance without needing to press an extra button or screen tap.
Never heard of the feature until reading this article:)
I have finally arrived at I like AOD but only for the time, no screen image or notifications and like @whshep.shop I REALLY wish it w/b ALWAYS on and live up to its name!
Another insanity is that it seems to be a reality that when talking to Siri via AirPods Pro 2nd gen, if the phone isnāt awake, Siri aināt listening, requiring taking the phone out of pocket! Really cray cray. If I am wearing the buds, Siri s/b listening, period.
Used to be when wearing APP when walking dog, I could say āSiri, read me my messagesā (SUPER useful) but now it seems as though it does not work either all or most of the time; unclear to me if there are different levels of āawakeā. When I take phone out and wake it with a touch or Face ID, works.