Iphone 11 and IPad Mini 5 going dark

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Leo Langston

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Lately the screens on my iPhone 11 and iPad Mini 5 are getting extremely dark when flying. They are fully charged and the screen brightness is up to the max level but they are so dark as to be practically unreadable to me. It’s not a glare issue it’s just the screen is very dark and unreadable with Garmin Pilot app. Is this normal for older Apple devices to lose the brightness with age? The screen are fine at home and have plenty of brightness but in the cockpit not so much. Do the screens lower their brightness due to heat?

Thx
Leo
 
Leo Langston said:
Lately the screens on my iPhone 11 and iPad Mini 5 are getting extremely dark when flying. They are fully charged and the screen brightness is up to the max level but they are so dark as to be practically unreadable to me. It’s not a glare issue it’s just the screen is very dark and unreadable with Garmin Pilot app. Is this normal for older Apple devices to lose the brightness with age? The screen are fine at home and have plenty of brightness but in the cockpit not so much. Do the screens lower their brightness due to heat?

Thx
Leo
Click to expand...
Yes they do dim with heat. I have a static tinted vinyl sheet I put on top of mine when the sun is hitting it direct. You can’t see through it but it cools it down so when to lift the sheet you can see.
 
Definitely annoying, the EFBs take a lot of CPU power and they dim so much they become unreadable.
1. Cases are bad because they act like blankets, remove the device from the case, the back plate acts a heat sink.
2. Try to direct a air vent onto the back of the device.
3. Use car shades to block sunlight from heating it up, but make sure you still have visibility.
4. Buy newer devices that have faster and more efficient CPUs.
 
I am due for a phone update. I also have a Samsung Galaxy phone that doesn’t have the screen dimming issues. I may have to use it in the plane.
 
No experience of these but here they are.

"a line of aircraft iPad panel mounts and support systems "
"Pilot Series iPad Cooling Case"

x-naut.com

Aviation

Need the very best iPad Mini mounts for your aircraft or helicopter cockpit? Look no further! Shop X-naut, the preferred manufacturer for pilots worldwide.
x-naut.com

Plenty non-pilot ones too, I googled [ipad cooler].
 
midlifeflyer said:
Are you using an EFB that will work on Android too, or are you thinking of another use for the phone?
Click to expand...
No I have an android Samsung phone that I don’t use as a phone but I do have GP on it and it’s screen doesn’t dim like my iPhone does in the heat. Plus it’s larger than my iPhone 11. So I might try it out during a flight to see how it works.
 
Leo Langston said:
No I have an android Samsung phone that I don’t use as a phone but I do have GP on it and it’s screen doesn’t dim like my iPhone does in the heat. Plus it’s larger than my iPhone 11. So I might try it out during a flight to see how it works.
Click to expand...
That's why I asked. If you are already using Pilot on your iPad and are a relatively advanced user, you might be disappointed. It's fine lags behind the iOS version in features.
 
In flight I usually just use GP to bring up airport info, frequencies and weather (METAR) reports so I need to be able to read the screens and access the info quickly when hand flying under the hood.
 
I was wondering if the dimming was heat or sunlight related. I can just walk out of my house i to the sun light and the screen goes dark. I was trying to avoid buying a xnaut cooling mount if possible but that may be the only real solution.
 
Leo Langston said:
I was wondering if the dimming was heat or sunlight related. I can just walk out of my house i to the sun light and the screen goes dark. I was trying to avoid buying a xnaut cooling mount if possible but that may be the only real solution.
Click to expand...
It's probably just overheating. If you haven't turned it off, it does have an auto-brightness setting, but it would make it brighter outside, not dimmer.

iOS devices use an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness levels based on the light conditions around you. The sensor lowers brightness in dark locations and raises brightness in light locations. The auto-brightness feature is on by default.

When auto-brightness is on, you'll notice that the brightness slider on your device moves according to changing light conditions.

To turn auto-brightness on or off:
  1. In the Settings app, tap Accessibility.
  2. Tap Display & Text Size.
  3. Scroll to Auto-Brightness and tap to turn the feature on or off.
 
Leo Langston said:
I can just walk out of my house i to the sun light and the screen goes dark.
Click to expand...
Hmm. You sure that the screen is not staying the same and that your eyes adapting to the bright light is not making the screen appear dark to your perception. Maybe make sure auto-brightness is on or have the brightness full up.
 
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