Make Your iPhone Screen Red With a Triple-Click
A setting already on your iPhone turns the whole screen red at night. No app, nothing to download, about a minute to set up.
I triple-click the side button on my iPhone and the whole screen goes red. Triple-click again and it’s back to normal.
People keep asking how. It isn’t an app, and it isn’t something I can send you as a file. It’s a setting that’s already on your iPhone, tucked away in Accessibility. You set it up once and it stays.
Why red
Night Shift only gets as far as orange. This goes properly red, and dimmer too. In a dark room it’s much easier on your eyes and lights up the room far less, so you can check your phone in bed without waking anyone. It’s the same reason astronomers use red torches: red light does the least damage to your night vision.
1. Make the tint red
Open Settings › Accessibility › Display & Text Size › Color Filters, then:
- Turn on Color Filters.
- Pick Color Tint.
- Drag Intensity and Hue all the way to the right.
The screen goes red straight away. Now switch Color Filters off again. iOS remembers the red, and the next step gives you a quick way to bring it back.
2. Put it on the side button
Go back to Settings › Accessibility and scroll to the very bottom. Tap Accessibility Shortcut and tick Color Filters. Leave everything else unticked.
3. Triple-click
Press the side button three times, quickly. Red on. Three more presses, red off.
That’s the whole thing.
Good to know
- iPhone with a Home button (like the iPhone SE): triple-click the Home button instead. iPads work the same way.
- Still too bright? Turn on Reduce White Point in Display & Text Size for an even dimmer screen. If you also tick it in the Accessibility Shortcut list, triple-click shows a small menu to pick between the two instead of switching straight away.
- Rather tap than click? Add Accessibility Shortcuts to Control Center and it does the same thing from there.
- Want it gone? Untick Color Filters under Accessibility Shortcut. Nothing else changes.