How to turn on the flashlight by shaking your Android phone

Use a shake app. With Shake Flashlight & Torch, free on Google Play, a shake or two quick chops turns the light on, and the same again turns it off.

Get it on Google Play

Set up the shake with Shake Flashlight & Torch

It works on Android 5.0 or newer, on phones with a camera flash, and has 500K+ installs on Google Play.

1. Install Shake Flashlight & Torch from Google Play and open it.
2. If it asks for camera permission, allow it. On some Android versions the flashlight is part of the camera system, and the app uses the permission only to switch the light, never to take photos or record video.
3. Follow the short tutorial. Shake side to side, fast and hard, until the light comes on, then shake the same way to turn it off.
4. Leave the main switch on, so the screen shows Service Active. While shake detection runs, the app keeps a silent notification.
5. When the app asks, tap Allow background use. It makes the shake much more reliable.

Tips that keep the shake working

• Set the strength. Adjust sensitivity has five levels, from Very hard to Very light, and a Test button that tells you whether your shake was strong enough. Very light may turn the light on while you walk, so change one level at a time.
• Calls. With Ignore shakes while you're on a call, a shake during a call does nothing.
• Restarts. With Auto start when turning ON, shake detection comes back by itself after the phone restarts.
• The tile. The app adds its own Quick Settings tile, which turns the light on and off with one tap.
• Background limits. To save battery, Android holds back background work while the phone is not in use (Google calls this Doze and App Standby), and some phone makers stop background apps more aggressively. dontkillmyapp.com, which tracks this brand by brand, puts Huawei, Xiaomi, OnePlus and Samsung at the top of its list. The app restarts itself when the phone allows it, and when it can't, it tells you the next time you open it.

Questions

Why did the shake stop working?

If it worked and then stopped, the phone has probably stopped the app in the background to save battery. Open the app once and it starts again, and allow background use when it asks. dontkillmyapp.com has settings to check for each phone brand.

Will it turn on in my pocket or while I walk?

Sensitivity is there so the light comes on when you mean it, not in your pocket. If it switches on by accident, move toward Hard; if shakes don't register, move toward Light and check with Test.

Does it work on every phone?

It needs Android 5.0 or newer and a camera flash: without a flash there is no light to switch on. It might not work properly on tablets.