Strange behavior with Standby

[MacInWin]

iOS 17 introduced "Standby," a function where the iPhone goes into Standby mode when on a charger and turned 90 degrees on its side. You can select what Standby displays with swipes and widgets, within limits. Here is Apple's info on it from the iOS User guide;

Use StandBy to view information at a distance while iPhone is charging

Display your favorite photos, clock, Live Activities, and more while your iPhone is charging.

support.apple.com

I want to use it on my nightstand, as a clock, but it seems to work only randomly. So, I'm wondering if anybody else is using Standby and if so, is it reliable? What settings are you using for it? I have Standby turned on, Show Notifications is ON, Show Preview on Tap Only is ON, Display has Turn Display off set to "Automatically," Night Mode is ON and Motion to Wake is ON.

About half the time, it works at night, but it works every time during the day. When it works, it's brilliant as the screen has a very low light level red display of a clock and the weather, which is how I set it up.

What happens when it does NOT work is I put my iPhone on the charger and the at my bedtimen turn it sideways. The screen will darken and shift to the lock screen after a few seconds, then the screen just goes black. If I tap it, it brightens to the lock screen. If I move the iPhone a bit, it also brightens to the lock screen. Won't show the Standby options at all.

I've rebooted, done a cold restart, turned Focus on and off, turned Do Not Disturb on and off, tried every combination of the Standby settings and nothing seems to make it work consistently at night. It works fine during the day, every time. It's only at night that it fails to work about half of the time, randomly. I've also tried the exact directions in the Apple Article above, which are to turn it on, connect to a charger, turn it on the side and press the side button. When it works, it works, when it doesn't work, none of that makes a difference. It's very frustrating because it fails when I don't want to spend a lot of time on it (bedtime) but works perfectly when I do (anytime during the day).

So, is anybody using it and how well does it engage for you?

 

[Jimmysb]

I have noticed "Standby" when my iPhone is charging, but only as I come to pick the phone up to check it is charged, and it goes off very quickly, and so not worked out what it is for, or why!

 

[MacInWin]

As I said, I want to use it as a bedside clock. It looks like this:

When it senses it is dark, the face dims and turns red, a perfect night light that doesn't destroy night vision. Very handy, if it would work consistently.

 

[lclev]

I have standby set to Show Notifications On, Show Preview on tap only On, under Display - Never turn display off, and Night mode automatically goes to on.
When I put it on the magnetic charger stand it will show the home screen, after like 10-30 seconds it dims the home screen then shows the clock face I like in red. Eventually like after I am asleep it goes to black but if I move near it the clock comes back on. If I get a notification it will show and stay on forever until I swipe it up to get rid of it. Then it goes back to clock mode. I do wish it would stay on clock mode all the time but at least it reacts fast if I wave my hand.

I did find when I set the display to never turn display off the clock stayed on longer - how long is unknown because I fall asleep before it dims.

Lisa

 

[MacInWin]

That's how it works for me, when it works. And that's how I want it to work. The only issue is that 50% of the time, randomly, it simply won't enter Standby, no matter what I do. And yes, it does go black eventually, but like you, a tap on the nightstand jostles it enough to turn it back on to the red screen. It might even be reacting to my movement instead of the tap, but either way, when it works, it works. When it doesn't, it doesn't, and that is the frustration for me. I'm on an iPhone 15 Pro, by the way, running iOS 17.1.

 

[lclev]

I am also on an iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 17.1. I will say until I changed Display from Automatically to Never it was erratically irritating. Can't remember the exact behavior but I do remember it would go from home screen to clock to black fast and it took a good tap to wake it up. Now it is actually usable.

Lisa

 

[MacInWin]

Thanks, Lisa, I'll make sure it's on "never" and see if that fixes it. I think I tried that already, but will def do it again.

 

[lclev]

Yes, give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Lisa

 

[ferrarr]

Does wearing the Apple Watch while sleeping have any affect?

 

[MacInWin]

Does wearing the Apple Watch while sleeping have any affect?

It should not, and nothing in the Apple documentation relates the two. I do wear my Watch to measure sleep functions. When Standby works, it works with the watch being worn. When it doesn't, it doesn't work with the watch being worn, so the watch doesn't seem to make any difference.

 

[lclev]

My watch is on it's charger right next to my iPhone. It does not affect Standby mode. I do believe there is something glitchy with Standby mode though. I mean if I have never turn off display set then shouldn't that mean NEVER?

Lisa

 

[Rod]

What I have read infers that Standby will only work on latest model iPhones with Always On Display options. Consequently my iPhone SE 2 does not qualify so I continue to use Nite Time app on dark red which remains on and does not disturb my light sensitive partner.

‎Nite Time - a simple night clock for your nightstand with flashlight

‎An insanely simple clock app to place at your bedside. Big clear numbers, easy to read in the dark. Looks great in landscape or portrait. Perfect for your nightly docking / charging. This app puts the time first and gets the rest out of your way. -All new for iOS 8 -Supports landscape and...

apps.apple.com

 

[MacInWin]

What I have read infers that Standby will only work on latest model iPhones with Always On Display options. Consequently my iPhone SE 2 does not qualify so I continue to use Nite Time app on dark red which remains on and does not disturb my light sensitive partner.

‎Nite Time - a simple night clock for your nightstand with flashlight

‎An insanely simple clock app to place at your bedside. Big clear numbers, easy to read in the dark. Looks great in landscape or portrait. Perfect for your nightly docking / charging. This app puts the time first and gets the rest out of your way. -All new for iOS 8 -Supports landscape and...

apps.apple.com

Basically, any iPhone that can run iOS 17 can use standby, although there are cautions that not all functions might be available. No list of what phone can use what functions, though, that I could find.

 

[Rod]

Ah, sorry, I should clarify. When I said it, "will only work on latest model iPhones with Always On Display" I meant that without AOD the screen goes black after a few seconds while I wanted it to stay on. Like Nite Time.
There are a few settings the iPhone SE2 simply doesn't have eg. Display Settings as you can see.




Without being able to set to "Never" the screen goes off after about 5 secs but Standby does work at least after I discovered the only way to get rid of Cupertino time was to delete that widget and create a new one for Makassar.

Below is an iPhone 14"s Settings for Standby Mode;



This doesn't help you with your problem though, sorry.

 

[MacInWin]

Ah, sorry, I should clarify. When I said it, "will only work on latest model iPhones with Always On Display" I meant that without AOD the screen goes black after a few seconds while I wanted it to stay on. Like Nite Time.
There are a few settings the iPhone SE2 simply doesn't have eg. Display Settings as you can see.


View attachment 38844

Without being able to set to "Never" the screen goes off after about 5 secs but Standby does work at least after I discovered the only way to get rid of Cupertino time was to delete that widget and create a new one for Makassar.

Below is an iPhone 14"s Settings for Standby Mode;

View attachment 38845

This doesn't help you with your problem though, sorry.

Those two screens are the same on my iPhone 15 Pro. If I select "Never" the "Motion to Wake" disappears, which makes sense. I suspect that your iPhone fully supports Standby.

EDIT: The time display (clock) uses World Clock settings, so whatever is the main time in World Clock is what is shown. You don't have to delete the widget to set World Clock.

 

[MacInWin]

Yes, give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Lisa

Last night, with "Never" selected, it worked fine. It did go dark sometime in the night, but a tap on the nightstand lit it up again. The problem is erratic, so while it's good news it worked, the key will be the nights to come. I'll report back.

Thanks, Lisa!

 

[lclev]

Last night, with "Never" selected, it worked fine. It did go dark sometime in the night, but a tap on the nightstand lit it up again. The problem is erratic, so while it's good news it worked, the key will be the nights to come. I'll report back.

Thanks, Lisa!

Great! I am playing with the idea of what would happen if I changed my Display & Brighness -> auto-lock to never. Right now I have it set to 2 minutes and I actually timed it last night to see when it went black. I was at the 2 minute mark. So I could be on to something... I will let you know!

Lisa

 

[MacInWin]

I tried it. Screen stayed bright, as expected, and Standby didn't start. I did get it going by pressing the side button, and it worked fine with that. I went back to 1 minute, and after that time, screen darkened, moved to Lock Screen and then a bit later the Standby kcked in. You may be on to something!

 

[lclev]

I tried it. Screen stayed bright, as expected, and Standby didn't start. I did get it going by pressing the side button, and it worked fine with that. I went back to 1 minute, and after that time, screen darkened, moved to Lock Screen and then a bit later the Standby kicked in. You may be on to something!

I tried it too and got the same results. I went back to 2 minutes for auto-lock. When auto-lock is engaged and I put the phone on its side, the screen dims at about 1:45 seconds and then goes to black at the two minute mark. Within seconds it shows the clock. I did notice it continued to show the clock all night (I am a member of the have to hit the bathroom club every 3 hours.) but when the sun came up and the room lightened it went to a black screen. I assumed it would just cancel the red mode but that didn't happen.

Lisa

 

[MacInWin]

Hmm, that's strange that it went dark when it got brighter. Mine dumped the red color and when all white, which is its daytime motif.