Why I haven't manually adjusted my screen brightness once since upgrading to Android 16

21 Sep 2026, 13:00 by Conor Cawley · Android Police

One of the best things about smartphones in 2026 is automation. Instead of a bunch of tools you have to turn on and off every time you use them, devices like the Google Pixel 10 Pro come with features that streamline the process.

This has been true for brightness settings on smartphones for a while now. Since 2018, with Android 9, adaptive brightness has made the brightness slider obsolete, using simple light sensors to set your display's brightness.

With Android 16, though, users have been given a bevy of new features aimed at making your display the perfect brightness and color for any moment, without requiring a single manual task.

I changed this one Android setting and stopped fighting outdoor screen glare for good

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Even dimmer for the win

Adaptive brightness got even more adaptive

Few things are worse than a bright screen in a dark room. In addition to awkwardly announcing to the room that you're using your phone, all that light is brutal on the eyes, especially if you are getting ready for bed.

Google solved this a few Android versions ago by adding the Extra Dim accessibility setting, which lets your device get dimmer than before, so low-light situations aren't as unpleasant when you scroll.

However, Android 16 has improved this substantially. Rather than a toggleable setting you have to turn on, Even Dimmer is now a native display setting that works automatically.

As a result, all you do is go to the Display & touch menu in Settings and turn on Adaptive Brightness, and the Even Dimmer feature will take care of the rest when you are in a low-light setting.

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Expanded Dark theme to keep it dark

Those holdout apps can be quite a shock

I reach for the brightness slider most often when I use TikTok. Not because the videos are brighter than other apps, but because when your device is in Dark theme, a few bright white interfaces can still shock the system if you are not ready for them.

TikTok isn't the only app holding out, with a few pages that aren't Dark theme-friendly. The Fitbit and Foxtrot apps have this problem, and those are the ones I use regularly.

To address this, Android 16 rolled out an Expanded Dark theme, which automatically applies dark mode to apps that aren't fully compatible.

To turn it on, go to Display & touch and click Dark theme. You will see the Standard and Expanded options; click Expanded, and you're set.

The Expanded Dark theme is a bit of a mess sometimes. On a few occasions, I experienced some awkward glitches and interface issues that were an aesthetic issue, but did not impact my use.

Schedule Night Light for better sleep

Your brightness goes down with the sun

The biggest change in your smartphone brightness is around bedtime. As the sun goes down, natural light fades, leaving your bright smartphone display right in your face.

Even if you set the brightness slider to the lowest setting, your phone's blue light can still affect your sleep and feel too abrasive to be comfortable when the sun is down.

When you schedule Night Light to turn on when the sun sets, you can enjoy the substantially toned-down brightness without touching the slider.

Go to Display & touch and scroll down until you see Night Light. Instead of turning it on, click the menu to schedule it for a certain time, either when the sun goes down or at a custom time of your choosing.

The smartphone brightness problem

And the bevy of solutions at your behest

Your smartphone's light may be having more of a negative impact on your life than you realize. Blue light can disrupt your sleep and ruin your day, and the strain on your eyes is no picnic.

Android 16 has been all about trying to solve these small problems with automation, providing simple toggles that will improve your experience for everything from excessive brightness to aggressive haptic feedback.

In 2026, companies like Google are trying to make phones that solve your problems rather than making them worse. All you have to do is explore the new settings available in recent updates, and you could be living an entirely different life.