TekRevue

  • HOME
  • MAC
  • macOS MOJAVE
  • iOS 12
  • WINDOWS
  • MOBILE
  • GAMES
  • REVIEWS
  • EDITORIALS
  • TIPS
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Mobile
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Feed
archer-night-vision-retinas

"Archer" (21st Century Fox)

Mobile / Tips

Enable the iOS Invert Colors Shortcut and Save Your Eyes from a Bright iPhone Screen

By Jim Tanous on November 5, 2014 at 5:32 AM • @JimTanous

A bright iPhone or iPad screen in a dark room can be a painful experience. Features like auto-brightness can help, but there’s nothing quite as jarring as waking up to check an important email in the middle of the night and being greeted by a bright white screen. iOS users who want to tone things down can use one of Apple’s accessibility features called “invert colors” which, you guessed it, inverts the display’s colors to provide better contrast for those who need it.

By default, the iOS invert colors option is all or nothing. You have to navigate deep into the iOS settings menu to find and enable it and, while it can make viewing your iPhone screen in the dark much more pleasant, those without special vision requirements won’t want to leave it enabled all the time. Wouldn’t it therefore be nice if you could quickly enable the iOS invert colors setting when you need it, but then just as quickly disable it when you’re done? It sure would, and that’s why Apple provides just such a workflow via “Accessibility Shortcuts.” Here’s how to set one up to invert colors on your iPhone or iPad screen.

Grab your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and head to Settings > General > Accessibility and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list. There, you’ll see an option labeled Accessibility Shortcut. Tap on it to open the list and you’ll find six iOS accessibility features that Apple allows a user to set as a shortcut. For our purposes, choose Invert Colors. Once your shortcut is selected, you can enable or disable it at any time by triple-clicking the home button. Note that there’s a difference between a click and a tap. A tap is merely making contact with the home button using your finger or thumb, but without enough force to depress the button. An example of triggering an action with a home button tap is the new Reachability feature for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. A click, on the other hand, is pressing with enough force to depress the home button.

iPhone iOS Invert Colors

So go ahead and triple-click your iPhone or iPad’s home button. You’ll immediately see the colors invert, with white becoming black, black becoming white, and everything in between shifting accordingly. The effect can be a bit overwhelming at first, and if your app already has a lot of black colors, the screen may even get brighter than before when everything inverts to white. The majority of apps, however, use light colored backgrounds more frequently than dark, and tasks like email and Web browsing in Safari will be much easier on the eyes in a dark room with colors inverted.

The best part is that you quickly turn this feature on and off as needed, which will come in handy during late night browsing sessions or (as a passenger) using the iPhone during an all-night road trip. If you really hate the iOS invert colors option, or want to set a different accessibility feature as the home button shortcut, just head back to the location in Settings identified above and tap Invert Colors again to deselect it. Note that you can configure multiple accessibility options as your home button shortcut. If you do so, a menu will appear when you triple-click the home button, asking you which of your enabled options you wish to activate.

Want news and tips from TekRevue delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest using the box below. Get tips, reviews, news, and giveaways reserved exclusively for subscribers.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email

  • Categories: Mobile / Tips
  • Tags: #Accessibility #How To #iOS 7 #iOS 8 #iPad #iPhone #iPod touch #Tips

Sign Up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest

Read more in Mobile or Tips on TekRevue

  • parallels custom touch bar
    Parallels Desktop: Using XML to Create Custom Touch Bar Buttons for Windows Apps

    Filed Under: Tips

  • flip camera facetime ios 12
    How to Check FaceTime Data Usage on the iPhone

    Filed Under: Mobile

  • change default card apple pay watch
    Apple Watch: How to Change the Default Apple Pay Card

    Filed Under: Mobile

Search

Related Articles

  • iPhone 6 Camera Flash
    Increase Your iPhone’s Visibility by Enabling LED Flash Alerts
  • iOS Button Shapes
    Make iDevice Navigation Easier By Enabling iOS Button Shapes
  • iPhone 6 Plus Reachability
    How to Enable and Use Reachability with the iPhone 6

Connect with TekRevue

  • TekRevue on Twitter
  • TekRevue on Facebook
  • Cheats
  • Contributor
  • Deals
  • Distractions
  • Editorials
  • Gadgets
  • Games
  • Gaming
  • Giveaway
  • Hardware
  • Home Theater
  • Mac
  • More in Mobile
  • News
  • Podcast
  • Reviews
  • Sponsor
  • Tips
  • Windows
  • flip camera facetime ios 12
    How to Check FaceTime Data Usage on the iPhone
  • change default card apple pay watch
    Apple Watch: How to Change the Default Apple Pay Card
  • iphone live photo
    How to Convert a Live Photo to a Still Image With a Custom Key Photo
  • apple watch track calories
    How to Track Calories with the Apple Watch
  • iphone in-app purchase list
    PSA: The iOS App Store is No Longer Listing All In-App Purchases
  • iphone haptic feedback vibrate
    How to Turn Off Haptic Feedback on the iPhone
  • airdrop website between iphone ipad mac
    How to AirDrop Websites Between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac
  • safari chrome bookmark sync
    How to Add a Website From Safari to Your Synced Chrome Bookmarks in iOS
  • apple music iphone
    How to Turn Off Apple Music Ads and Features in the iOS Music App
  • apple watch breathe notifications
    How to Turn Off Breathe Reminders on the Apple Watch
  • apple watch rearrange control center
    watchOS 5: How to Rearrange Apple Watch Control Center
  • ask siri for password
    How to Find Passwords with Siri in macOS Mojave and iOS 12
  • camera continuity ios mojave
    Send Photos from iPhone to Mac: Camera Continuity in iOS 12 and macOS Mojave
  • iphone do not disturb control center
    iOS 12: How to Use the New Do Not Disturb Options in Control Center
  • safari print reader view
    Use Safari Reader View to Print and Share Clean Copies of Web Articles
  • exclude app siri suggestions
    How to Exclude Apps From Siri Suggestions in iOS 12
  • iphone low battery
    Safari Scrolling Choppy on Your iPhone? Check Your Low Power Mode Setting
  • iphone limits locked
    iOS 12: Set Screen Time Limits for Specific Apps
  • turn off screen time ios 12
    How to Turn Off Screen Time on the iPhone or iPad
  • insert drawing iphone mail
    How to Insert a Drawing into an Email on the iPhone

Tips

  • Apps
  • Gaming
  • Mac
  • Mobile
  • Online
  • Windows
  • parallels custom touch bar
    Parallels Desktop: Using XML to Create Custom Touch Bar Buttons for Windows Apps
  • replace notepad notepad plus plus
    How to Completely Replace Notepad With Notepad++ in Windows
  • chrome picture-in-picture windows
    How to Use Chrome Picture-in-Picture in Windows 10
  • eartrumpet
    EarTrumpet for Windows 10: A Better Windows Volume Mixer
  • xbox store autoplay video
    How to Turn Off Xbox Store Autoplay Videos on the Xbox One
  • slow steam browser windows
    Here’s One Potential Fix for a Slow Steam Browser in Windows
  • How to Manually Dim the Xbox One Screen
  • xbox one store games
    How to Browse Games by Genre in the Xbox One Store
  • disable auto-brightness mac
    How to Disable Auto-Brightness on Your Mac
  • siri touch bar mac
    How to Remove Siri from the Touch Bar
  • mac gpu usage history
    How to View GPU Usage in macOS via Activity Monitor
  • clipped documents
    How to Use Mojave’s Quick Actions to Quickly Combine PDFs on the Mac
  • flip camera facetime ios 12
    How to Check FaceTime Data Usage on the iPhone
  • change default card apple pay watch
    Apple Watch: How to Change the Default Apple Pay Card
  • siri mac sierra
    Enable ‘Type to Siri’ to Type Your Siri Questions Instead of Speaking
  • iphone live photo
    How to Convert a Live Photo to a Still Image With a Custom Key Photo
  • plex web shows
    How to Disable Web Shows in Plex
  • youtube dark theme web
    How to Enable the YouTube Dark Theme in a Desktop Browser
  • chrome new look vs old
    How to Switch Back to the Old Chrome Design
  • google drive shared expiration
    How to Set Expiration Dates for Shared Google Drive Files
  • windows 10 lock screen tips
    How to Turn Off Windows 10 Lock Screen Tips
  • av1 windows 10
    How to Play AV1 Videos in Windows 10 With the Free AV1 Codec
  • replace notepad notepad plus plus
    How to Completely Replace Notepad With Notepad++ in Windows
  • windows 10 power user menu
    How to Edit the Power User Menu (Win+X Menu) in Windows 10
Company
  • About TekRevue
  • Get in Touch
  • Sponsorships

Sign Up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest

© TekRevue LLC. All Rights Reserved.

  • TekRevue User Agreement
  • TekRevue Privacy Policy

Built by Blazer Six

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.