Stop using your phone as a flashlight

Smartphones often come with a pretty powerful flash, which is convenient and easy to use. But you should stop using the flash as a flashlight right now.

Previously, we strongly recommended that you stop using flashlight apps on your phone. I'm going to go one step further and recommend that you stop using flashlights altogether in most cases .

That said, most people have their phones with them 24/7, and the tiny LED flash on most smartphones is used by many people as a flashlight. You can adjust the brightness of the flashlight on your phone, but that's not enough. Your Apple Watch has a flashlight mode, but it doesn't work as well as it should.

You should stop using flashlight apps on your phone.

For those spontaneous moments where you need to find something you dropped under the bed or you're searching for something in your purse in the dark, a super compact flashlight built into a device you're carrying around is great.

But smartphones are expensive and relatively fragile. If someone handed you a regular flashlight that cost $1,000 and was made of delicate glass, you would probably treat it with care and consider buying a more durable flashlight that you wouldn't worry about breaking, right?

However, millions of us use our phones as regular flashlights every day in situations where we could use a dedicated flashlight rather than a smartphone with a flashlight function.

In many cases, if you accidentally drop your flashlight, you can only lose about $15. However, if you use your phone as a flashlight to find lost or stolen items, if you accidentally drop your phone, it can easily lead to a cracked screen or even more serious damage, even with a case. You will have to spend a lot of money to repair your phone.

There are a lot of flashlights to choose from, but which one you choose to replace your phone's built-in flashlight will depend on what you use your phone flashlight for most often.

Many people make a habit of keeping multiple flashlights of various types around their homes, cars, and even on their keychains to ensure they always have the right light for the right job, and to minimize the risk of damaging their iPhone in the process.