There was a time when your smartphone's flashlight feature was a distant afterthought – but once people realized you could use the camera's built-in flash to illuminate a dark room, there was an explosion of third-party apps to let you easily enable the flashlight. 

Eventually, the flashlight was built into the Android operating system, and today it's just a swipe away on most phones. Here's how to turn on the flashlight on your Android phone. 

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How to turn on the flashlight on an Android using Quick Settings

This should work for all newer phones – it has been a part of Android since 2014's Android 5.0 Lollipop. 

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the Quick Settings icons. 

2. Find the "Flashlight" icon and tap it. The flashlight should come on instantly.

3. Tap the Flashlight icon a second time to turn it off. 

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How to turn on the flashlight on an Android using Google Assistant

1. Tap and hold the Home button at the bottom center of your phone until the Google Assistant pop-up window appears. If your phone is set up to listen for "OK Google," you might not even need to do that – just say "OK Google."

2. Say "OK Google, turn on the flashlight." The flashlight should come on instantly.

3. You can turn the flashlight off in the same way; say "OK Google, turn the flashlight off."

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How to turn on the flashlight on some Androids using a gesture

A small number of Android phones can enable the flashlight using a gesture, but there is no standard or systematic way of knowing if your phone has a flashlight gesture built in. If you want to explore this possibility, here are some ways you could get started:

• Check Gestures in Settings. Some phones have a gesture in Settings you can enable. Open the Settings app and search for Gestures. If you find an option to enable a flashlight gesture, turn it on. 
• Some Motorola phones let you turn on the flashlight by shaking your phone in a "chopping" motion. 
• OnePlus phones let you enable the flashlight by drawing a "V" gesture on the screen (for this to work, the screen needs to be turned off).

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Freelance Writer

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