- Flashlight brightness control is coming to Pixel phones
- It’s been spotted in the latest Android preview version
- Previously you needed a third-party app to access the feature
The flashlight is a useful extra you’ll get on all the best smartphones, and it’s even more useful when you can adjust its strength – a feature which finally looks set to arrive on Pixel phones with an upcoming update to Android.
As spotted by Android Authority, the latest Android Canary release – the earliest testing version of Android – includes the option to adjust flashlight brightness from the Quick Settings panel, via a simple on-screen slider.
It’s something you can already do on the best iPhones and the best Samsung phones, so we’re glad to see the Pixels are finally catching up – there are lots of scenarios where being able to adjust flashlight strengths can come in handy.
The functionality has actually been around since 2022 and Android 13, but it hasn’t been fully implemented in Pixel handsets before. Up until now, you needed a third-party flashlight app to change the intensity.
Coming soon
It’s not certain how long this will take to roll out to Pixel handsets, but it shouldn’t take long. It could well roll out with the Android 16 QPR2 update (that’s Quarterly Platform Release, by the way), which is scheduled to arrive for everyone in September.
Other new features that Pixel users can look forward to in Android 16 QPR2 include support for an improved dark mode and better icon theming, more customization for the Quick Settings panel, and lock-screen widgets for phones.
The Identity Check feature will also be expanded to more apps, which means they require biometric authentication (like a face or fingerprint scan) for access. There’s also an upgraded remote-locking feature called Secure Lock Device.
All of these features will of course appear on the newly unveiled Google Pixel 10 phones, which come with an earlier version of Android 16 out of the box – but you may find it’s the flashlight brightness adjustment that you find yourself using the most.