Over the years, the hardware differences between iPhone and Android have become fewer and fewer, but this was far from the case before. In one moment, Many mainstream Android devices come with dedicated LEDs this will light up whenever you receive a notification. It was a passive way to know if you had something on your phone that needed to be taken care of, without having to actually activate the display and risk being unnecessarily pulled into your device.
The iPhone never had this particular feature, but Apple has included a workaround for anyone interested in a similar experience. For years, you've been able to dive into accessibility settings and turn your iPhone's LED flash into a notification light. Every time you receive a text message, app notification, or call, your camera's flash goes off, ensuring you don't miss an important update. This can be useful both for those who are hard of hearing, who can't rely on audio alerts, and for those who keep their phone on silent but would like a visual signal that they have a new notification.
For the first time in years, Apple is updating its Flash Alerts feature. With iOS 26.2which the company released on Friday, you now have the ability to make your iPhone display blink when new alerts appear. You can make the display a single flashing light, or use this feature in combination with an LED flash, which I think makes the most sense for people who like this option. So, it doesn't matter whether your iPhone is face up or face down: you'll always see a light flash indicating new alerts, one way or another.
The display flash doesn't work as well as you might expect, especially if you've used LED flashes before. I thought my iPhone would turn the bright light on and off several times, simulating the LED flashes. Instead, when you receive a new notification, the screen instantly turns up the brightness for a few seconds and then turns it down again. It works—you'll definitely notice a jump in your display's brightness if it's not already set to maximum—but it doesn't grab your attention as much as an LED flash.
How to set up Flash for notifications on iPhone
To get started, open the Settings app on your iPhone, then go to Availability. Scroll down to Hearingthen select Audio and video. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Flash for alerts.
What are your thoughts so far?
If you're using an older version of iOS, you'll only have the option to turn on “LED Flash.” However, iOS 26.2 and later users will also see a Display option. Select this option if you want the display to flash when new alerts occur, or “Both” to have both lights on.
You'll also find two options that affect when these flash alerts will fire, no matter which of the above options you choose. First, you can choose whether your iPhone uses Flash alerts when it's locked. If you disable this option, you will only see these light alerts when your iPhone is unlocked. Secondly, you can choose whether to use flash alerts in silent mode. I'd leave this option turned on because it seems to be most useful when your iPhone has no other way to notify you of new notifications.
It's also important to note that using an Apple Watch can make this feature a little more complicated, at least in my experience. When testing this option, I had trouble receiving alerts on a locked phone without first accessing the watch. If you have an Apple Watch, and its notifications reflect your iPhone settingsYou'll be able to get the most out of this feature when your iPhone is unlocked.
