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[Conor_Fool]

Do you remember the first time you saw someone turn their cellphone into a flashlight?

It must have been shortly after iphones were created when I saw it for my first time. It was back when you actually had to download a flashlight from the app store. I remember losing something in a massive patch of grass and my homie just whipped out his phone and we found it in less than a minute. I couldn't believe it. I may be mistaken but back then I remember my buddy's phone battery draining a ridiculous amount whenever he used the app.

I feel like it's one of those things that leaves a tremendous yet subtle impact

 

[Ace Harding]

Of all the things that our phones can do that blow my mind, becoming a flashlight is not one of them. It is handy though!

 

[Gravy Boat]

I remember some old Nokias having flashlights before iPhones.

 

[AtomskEater]

Honestly I still sometimes just use my screen like a dumbass. Cellphones having flashlights was just kind of an "oh cool" moment.

 

[Premium Quality]

I'm surprised how often I use it. Definitely comes in handy when you have to wake up before sunrise.

 

[SoulUnison]

I actually use mine almost every night just before bed, due to poorly thought out light switch placement.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

My old ass Nokia had a flashlight built into around 2003. I also had a Motorola phone that had an AM/FM radio built into it around the same time.

 

[cameron]

Slider phones from 2006, like the LG Chocolate, had a flashlight mode using the LED camera flash.

 

[User 479360]

It took me a minute to register what was going on. I didn't have a smartphone, and hadn't really used one, so I didn't realize they could do that.

It made sense, though, afterwards...you know, since they have cameras and cameras have a flash.

I've used mine a few times. It's handy.

 

[Jeffrey]

Iphones didn't have led flash for like 2-3 iterations though.

I think there were flip phones that did this.

It's great though when you drop shit down under the bed.

 

[TI82]

Used it a lot at first but not really anymore

 

[TickleMeElbow]

I didn't even notice they could do that until a little over a year ago. I was never in a situation where another person had to use their phone as a flashlight, so I was never made aware of that function. I was using the light from the screen like a dumbass lol.

 

[Coreda]

Do you remember the first time you saw someone turn their cellphone into a flashlight?

It must have been shortly after iphones were created when I saw it for my first time. It was back when you actually had to download a flashlight from the app store.

About the same time as the dinos roamed the earth, right?

In-built flashlights pre-date touch phones that quasi-implemented them by a good while. A variety of feature phones still have them.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

About the same time as the dinos roamed the earth, right?

In-built flashlights pre-date touch phones that quasi-implemented them by a good while. A variety of feature phones still have them.

Yeah. I remember a lot of the phones in the early 2000s having weird features. Even before color screens, they were doing stuff like flashlights. I remember sometimes getting a new phone and losing features. Like going from a phone with an monochromatic screen but an internal antenna, to a color screen and an external antenna.

 

[HappyPuppy]

I read it as Fleshlight, I thought that was a bit too much. I would be interested in trying in it though.

 

[clav]

Flip phones had flashlights.

LED is at right middle.

Activated by holding down one of the volume control keys.

So handy. Now you have to go through menus.

 

[Socreges]

My OnePlus One has an incredibly useful gesture where (with the screen off) if you do a V on the screen the flashlight turns on. I use it every night to get around without turning lights on, to take the dog out for one last pee, etc. My phone is pretty much always in my pocket with the screen off so I always have a flashlight at my fingertips.

May seem strange but this will be a required feature on my next phone.

 

[AlexBasch]

My brother turned down a cheap phone (Moto E2) because it didn't have flash.

He grabbed a generic, shitty Android phone instead that actually had it, and it doesn't work anymore.

I keep bothering him about it, telling him I should have gotten him a cheap $5 AA battery flashlight from the gas station.

 

[Nickle]

I have the entire sum of human knowledge on my phone.

 

[Hexa]

I have the entire sum of human knowledge on my phone.

Nah. You'd be surprised how much stuff is behind paywalls or classified.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

You know, I don't think about it much, but it's been a very handy feature of sorts. My first smartphone (Windows Mobile) Didn't have a flash, but it had an app which would turn the screen brightest white and turn brightness all the way up. I was insanely jealous of cameras with flash. And that was only roughly 10 years ago!

 

[CadetMahoney]

Ctrl+F Fleshlight

 

[Nickle]

I have access to Wikipedia on my phone.

 

[Dennis]

I need a tablet-sized magnum fleshlight for my monster dong.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

As a absent minded glasses wearer, the flashlight is by far one of my phones most useful features.

 

[HappyPuppy]

I need a tablet-sized magnum fleshlight for my monster dong.

Spoken like a true gaffer ... pics pls.

 

[doctorcdcs]

What a coincidence! The power in my house is gone right now, so I'm using my phone as a flashlight currently!

 

[Rhaknar]

It's my most used unconventional app

 

[dc3k]

First saw it when I had one of these in high school and lost something under my bed.

 

[Dennis]

What a coincidence! The wife in my house is gone right now, so I'm using my phone as a fleshlight currently!

fixed

 

[Staccat0]

I do actually remember the exact moment. We had just done a set-up and the projector was on the fritz. The lights were down and my boss helped me find the funky cable with his iphone's flashlight app.

Blew my mind tbh

 

[Staccat0]

I have access to Wikipedia on my phone.

You're right the internet IS a more inpressive invention than the smart phone.

 

[doctorcdcs]

fixed

imagine a phone that also worked as a fleshlight.


I'm a genius


It would certainly make things more manageable especially im sitting here alone in the dark

 

[ugly]

I actually use mine almost every night just before bed, due to poorly thought out light switch placement.

Or is it your bed placement that's ill-thought out? Welcome to heaven son

 

[KennyLinder]

Really handy. Helpful for when taking the bin out at night and wanted to shine a light on the floor to avoid a slug

 

[SomedayTheFire]

I had an old Nokia phone with a flashlight at the bottom of the phone beside the charging port before the iPhone was a thing.

 

[Marky Mark]

What's the easiest way to have a torch available at all times on my android? It's one thing I haven't figured out yet. My wife's iPhone has it always accessible from a pull up or pull down, even when locked, whereas the only thing o can find is an icon on my home screen which I need to unlock my phone to access. Thanks.

 

[RoadHazard]

What's the easiest way to have a torch available at all times on my android? It's one thing I haven't figured out yet. My wife's iPhone has it always accessible from a pull up or pull down, even when locked, whereas the only thing o can find is an icon on my home screen which I need to unlock my phone to access. Thanks.

This is my lock screen pull-down, flashlight at lower right:

If your phone doesn't have this you are running some old or ruined-by-the-OEM version of Android. I'm pretty sure this has been in vanilla Android since 5.0.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

Instead of using an app I'd go into the camera's video mode and turn flash on.

 

[Souldriver]

Nokia 1100.

250 million sold since 2003, making it the best selling mobile phone in the world. Had a built in flash light.

So it's definitely not something new, related to smartphones or iPhones.

 

[Marky Mark]

This is my lock screen pull-down, flashlight at lower right:

If your phone doesn't have this you are running some old or ruined-by-the-OEM version of Android. I'm pretty sure this has been there since vanilla Android 5.0.

I don't even have a pull down on the lock screen. I'm using a Samsung S5 with android 5.0 pushed out by my carrier.

Let it be known, I am not a power user nor am I one to be offended at the sight of touch wiz (I've always assumed it was default android). I am using Nova as a launcher but nothing for a lock screen and all I can do with my lock screen is enter my unlock code, open the camera or make emergency calls.

 

[Alpende]

Flip phones had flashlights.

LED is at right middle.

Activated by holding down one of the volume control keys.

So handy. Now you have to go through menus.

No you don't. I can pull down my action bar and activate it from there. No menus needed.

 

[RoadHazard]

I don't even have a pull down on the lock screen. I'm using a Samsung S5 with android 5.0 pushed out by my carrier.

Let it be known, I am not a power user nor am I one to be offended at the sight of touch wiz (I've always assumed it was default android). I am using Nova as a launcher but nothing for a lock screen and all I can do with my lock screen is enter my unlock code, open the camera or make emergency calls.

Really, you can't access the quick settings shade from the lock screen on an S5? Man, I have no idea why they'd remove a useful thing like that for no reason.

 

[Zepp Twofist]

It was back when you actually had to download a flashlight from the app store.

Guy who made that app was raking in cash for a while.

 

[Pankratous]

I remember when I was younger my brother and I broke into the town hall when there was some underground pipe work taking place. There was a hole in the ground and we broke in by going underneath into some weird tunnels. It was pitch black and all we had for light was the screens of our pre-smartphone era mobile phones.

Man that would've been much easier to break into if we had smartphone flashlights.

 

[Marky Mark]

Really, you can't access the quick settings shade from the lock screen on an S5? Man, I have no idea why they'd remove a useful thing like that for no reason.

UnlessI'm a complete idiot and missing something it doesn't seem like it. ;( I've tried pulling up and down to no avail. Oh well, I'll stick to using my wife's phone when I can and stubbing my tire when o can't. Thanks anyway.

 

[TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared]

My brother had one of those giant brick flip phones around...2004? And that had a torch on it.

 

[Zaptruder]

Need a hard button for flashlights. Maybe some sort of button press combo.

Triple click to activate the flash light kinda thing.

 

[Symphonia]

Now you have to go through menus.

Not really. Swipe down once on my phone, boom.

 

[RoadHazard]

UnlessI'm a complete idiot and missing something it doesn't seem like it. ;( I've tried pulling up and down to no avail. Oh well, I'll stick to using my wife's phone when I can and stubbing my tire when o can't. Thanks anyway.

Just tried it on an S6 running 5.1.1, and it works there. Did the S5 never get that version?