One of the best things about smartphones in 2026 is automation. Rather than a bunch of tools you have to turn on and off every time you use them, devices like the Google Pixel 10 Pro are equipped with features that streamline the process for you.
This has been true for brightness settings on smartphones for a while now. Since 2018 with Android 9, adaptive brightness has made the brightness slider obsolete, using simple light sensors to set the brightness of your display for you.
With Android 16, though, users have been privileged with a bevy of new features aimed at making your display the perfect brightness and color for any particular moment, without ever requiring a single manual task.
I tweaked the Android 16 color settings, and my ‘screen headaches’ finally stopped
Android 16’s accessibility tools can reduce eye strain and headaches by adjusting color temperature and contrast
Even dimmer for the win
Adaptive brightness just got even more adaptive
There are few things worse than a bright screen in a dark room. In addition to awkwardly announcing to the room that you’re using your phone, all that light is brutal on the eyes, especially if you are getting ready for bed.
Google solved this problem a few Androids ago, adding the Extra Dim accessibility setting, which allowed your device to get dimmer than previously thought, so that low-light situations are not that unpleasant when you need to do some scrolling.
However, Android 16 has improved this substantially. Rather than a toggle-able setting that has to be turned on, the Even Dimmer feature is now a native display setting that automatically works without having to turn anything on.
As a result, all you have to do is head to the Display & touch menu in Setting and turn on Adaptive Brightness, and the Even Dimmer feature will take care of the rest whenever you are in a particularly low-light setting.
Expanded Dark theme to keep it dark
Those holdout apps can be quite a shock
I reach for the brightness slider the most whenever I use TikTok. Not because the videos are any brighter than other apps, but because, even when your device is in Dark theme, there are still a few bright white interfaces that can really shock the system if you are not ready for them.
TikTok is not the only app that is holding out, with a few pages that are not Dark theme-friendly. The FitBit app and the Foxtrot app both have this problem, and those are just the ones I use on a regular basis.
To combat this, Android 16 has rolled out an Expanded Dark theme, which automatically applies dark mode to apps that are not necessarily compatible.
To turn it on, you just have to head to Display & touch and click Dark theme. You will then see the Standard and Expanded options, just click the Expanded one and you will be all set.
Fair warning, though, the Expanded Dark theme is a bit of a mess sometimes. On very few occasions, I experience some awkward glitches and interface issues that were an aesthetic issue, but did not impact my current usage.
Schedule Night Light for better sleep
Your brightness goes down with the sun
Arguably the biggest change in your smartphone brightness is around bedtime. With the sun going down, all that natural light goes away, which means your left with your bright smartphone display right in your face.
Even if you set the brightness slider to the lowest setting, the blue light of your phone can impact your sleep and feel a bit too abrasive to be comfortable when the sun is down.
When you schedule Night Light to turn on when the sun sets, though, you will be able to enjoy the substantially toned down brightness without ever touching your slider.
Just head to Display & touch again and scroll down until you see Night Light. Instead of turning it on, click the menu, and you will be able to schedule it for a certain time, either when the sun goes down or a custom time of your choosing.
The smartphone brightness problem
And the bevy of solutions at your behest
The light of your smartphone could be having more of a negative impact on your life than you realize. The blue light effects on your sleep alone are enough to ruin someone’s day, and the general strain on your eyes is no picnic either.
Android 16 has been all about trying to solve these small problems with automation, providing simple toggles that will greatly improve your overall experience for everything from excessive brightness to aggressive haptic feedback.
Simply put, in 2026, companies like Google are trying to make phones that solve your problems rather than making them worse. All you have to do is investigate some of the new settings available with recent updates, and you could be living an entirely different life.
