Android has improved a lot over the years, but one of the first additions to the operating system was automatic brightness. Nicknamed “Adaptive Brightness” in modern versions of Android, it does exactly what the name suggests. Namely, increase or decrease the screen brightness according to the surrounding environmental lighting. And, as you can guess, that does a lot for everything from saving your eyes to saving battery life.

However, adaptive brightness doesn’t always work exactly as advertised. Depending on the device in question, the hardware used and a number of other factors. In some cases, even on top gadgets in the budget and premium segments, the screen will not recognize a bright environment. For example, if it is held at an angle away from the light. Or it may not recognize that it is darker where you use your phone.

Regardless, these instances often require users to lower the notification shade, and then lower it again, to adjust the brightness manually. And, in some cases, even that doesn’t always work. Especially when the phone decides to automatically adjust the brightness again. But, as is often the case, there is a solution. In this case, for those who want to go back to manual settings. And that is exactly the purpose of this guide.

How to turn off adaptive auto brightness on your Android phone or tablet

Whatever reasons you might want to learn how to turn off auto brightness on your Android device, this is a pretty straightforward process. In fact, it’s just a few steps in total.

  1. Swipe down from the top of your screen to pull down the notification shade
  2. Once again, swipe down from the top of your screen to view the quick settings tiles and other options. Some phones or tablets only require one swipe to access the menu we’re looking for
  3. Tap or select the gear-shaped ‘Settings’ icon in the row just below the Quick Settings tiles
  4. In the Settings app, scroll down to select the option labeled “Display”
  5. Near the top of the Display Settings menu, an option will be available that says “Adaptive Brightness” or similar wording.
  6. Tap to deselect the toggle switch next to the label mentioned above
  7. Now your brightness will only adjust manually. So, to adjust the brightness, you will have to lower the notification shade again. And, in most cases, you’ll need to pull down the shadow twice to reveal the brightness bar at the top of the screen. It’s integrated with a sun icon
  8. Swipe to slide the brightness bar left or right to darken or brighten your screen

… and how you can turn it back on, just in case

Of course, it can be helpful to go through the process to turn off auto brightness on Android. Especially for those who don’t need the screen to be so bright. But, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the functionality goes a long way in saving battery life. And, it goes almost without saying, goes a long way in keeping your screen visible in almost all conditions. Depending on the device.

So, learning how to turn the setting back on in Android can be as helpful as learning how to turn off adaptive auto brightness on your phone. And, as you might expect, you can do it by following the same steps outlined above.

Just follow steps 1 to 5. Then in step 6, tap the toggle to turn the auto brightness function back on instead of turning it off.

It may not work exactly the same on all Android phones or tablets.

Now, it goes without saying that while Google has worked to ensure a consistent experience on smartphones or tablets running Android, the method of turning off auto-brightness on an Android phone or tablet isn’t always the same. Some OEMs go their own way with both menu placement and naming conventions. So if you can’t find the feature using this guide, you might need to try something else.

If so, here are some tips and tricks you can try. Although these may also be random for some OEMs.

  1. Try opening the Settings app and use the search bar or icon at the top of the settings list as your search. Some suggestions, in terms of what to look for, include:
    1. Automatic brightness
    2. Display brightness
    3. Adaptive brightness
  2. Once you find the parameter itself, the function should remain the same among OEMs. Namely, it should be a toggle switch to turn auto brightness on or off. Conversely, some OEMs include a quick toggle or mosaic in the notification shade for auto brightness. So that would be another possible place where he could be found. Usually by swiping down from the top of your screen, sometimes just once and sometimes twice, depending on your OEM. And then browsing through the available Quick Tiles pages or selecting the pencil-shaped edit icon to add the icon to – or remove it from – your Quick Settings