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.
