In the city, there's always a source of light somewhere. It's rarely pitch black. But if you've ever lived in the country or done enough camping, you understand the need for a flashlight.
With a real flashlight, you have one button that does one thing. With a phone's flashlight, you may have to go through three or four actions just to turn it on.
If you're using Android's flashlight constantly, here are two essential apps to help you access it more quickly.
1. Icon Torch
Icon Torch is an app that turns on your flashlight. And that's all it does—nothing else.
It has no interface. It's not a widget. There's no configuration. You just tap it, and your flashlight turns on. Tap it again, and it goes off. It's dead simple.
Even better, the app needs no permissions, and it has no ads. It just does its job quietly and gets out of your way. If you love it, there's a donation version as well.
You can put it anywhere on your home screen, including the shortcut bar to access it with just one touch. That reduces the number of steps you need to activate it from three (for the default flashlight) to two: turn on your screen, then touch the button.
Download: Icon Torch (Free)
2. Notification Toggle
Notification Toggle is a great tool with lots of features. It lets you add buttons to the notifications list that do things like enable flight mode, pause your music, and turn on the flashlight.
This app is easy to use and just works. It also has no ads and requires no permissions. There are premium features for sale, but it's really more of a donation.
To enable the flashlight, open the app, scroll down to Other and click one of the checkboxes. Each checkbox is for one row of widgets. You can have multiple toggles per notification row with a maximum of two rows.
You can now turn on your flashlight with just one step. First, go to Settings > Display > Advanced > Lock screen and set your phone to show notifications on the lock screen. Finally, enable Lift to check phone or Lift to wake, depending on what device you've got.
Download: Notification Toggle (Free, in-app purchases available)
Quickly Access Your Flashlight
There's really no need to limit yourself to just one of these apps. Different situations can call for one or the other.
If you're getting out of the car, you can use the notification toggle to turn the light on from your lock screen. If you're noodling with your phone in your tent, you can quickly use Icon Torch to see if that sound was a bear or a beaver.
And this only touches the surface. If you don't want to install new apps, there are other ways to turn your flashlight on and off.