iOS 15 gives iPhone owners more control over Night Mode

Night Mode has been a welcome addition to Apple’s iPhone, helping the cameras take solid photos in low-light and making Apple’s handsets a mainstay on our list of the best camera phones. But not every time is the right time to use Night Mode.

Night Mode kicks in automatically, so you’ve got to manually turn the feature off if you want a shot that uses only ambient light. The real hassle, though, is that you’re forced to make that change any time you fire up the Camera app — though that’s about to change in the iOS 15 software update.

9to5Mac spotted a change in the beta for iOS 15 that will give you the option to not only disable Night Mode, but keep the feature off until you decide you need some help with your low-light shot. Previously, when users turned off Night Mode, the feature would toggle back on every time you opened the camera app.

In iOS 15, users are getting more granular control. Just head to the Settings app and select Camera. From there, tap Preserve Settings and then Night Mode, where you can toggle on the ability to keep Night Mode turned off if you want.

Once you select that toggle, Night Mode is permanently disabled on the phone until you use these same steps to turn it back on again. Having the feature set this way seems like a more logical way to operate the camera. This gives users more control when crafting the perfect shot.  

You turn off Night Mode from within the Camera app, by tapping on the quarter-moon icon. A slider will appear set to auto; sliding to the left turns the feature to the off position.

Night Mode is a convenient feature in situations where ambient light is minimal, whether it be outside or indoors. However, Night Mode’s automatic grain reduction and sharpening is not always an instant fix and it can annoy more experienced photographers who would rather fine tune settings themselves. 

iOS 15 is currently available as a public beta, and if you’ve got it downloaded onto a phone, you can try out this new feature now. Otherwise, the full iOS 15 release arrives in the fall, likely at the same time Apple hosts an event where it will unveil the iPhone 13.