Your Android phone will no longer blind you in the dark

Have you ever experienced how when you turn your phone’s display off and turn it back on, it is blindingly bright? This is because your phone’s display is set at a particular level when locked and remains that way until it is unlocked, after which it will then automatically readjust itself.

For those who have been blinded multiple times due to this system, you might be pleased to learn that Google is finally going to do something about it. According to a report from Mishaal Rahman, it appears that within Android 13’s QPR2’s source code, Google is working on a way for Android to detect the light of your surroundings to determine your phone’s initial brightness level, even when your display is turned off.

"Use a brightness sensor to determine the screen's initial brightness"

Test: Use the device in a bright room, turn the screen off, go to a dark room, turn the screen on, see that the screen doesn't start as too bright.https://t.co/r59GQDBWbM

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 23, 2023

This means that let’s say you were outdoors and your phone’s brightness was automatically set to the maximum levels, you lock it, place it in your pocket, and enter a dark room like a cinema. Instead of your phone’s screen now being at the max levels, it will be able to use the ambient light sensor to detect that it is dark and lower the brightness so you don’t blind yourself when you unlock your phone.

If this sounds like an awesome feature, then you might want to keep an eye out for it in the next update. It is currently only available in the Android 13 QPR2 so either it will be available as part of the next Android update, or it might be rolled over to Android 14.