To put your iPhone on “night mode,” there are actually three different features people mean: Dark Mode , Night Shift , and the Camera’s Night mode for low‑light photos.

Dark Mode (whole phone looks dark)

This makes menus and many apps use a dark background so the screen is easier on the eyes at night.

Turn on Dark Mode quickly:

  1. Swipe to open Control Center
    • Face ID iPhones: swipe down from the top‑right corner.
    • Home button iPhones: swipe up from the bottom.
  1. Press and hold the brightness slider.
  2. Tap the Dark Mode button to turn it on or off.

Set Dark Mode to auto (sunset to sunrise):

  1. Go to Settings → Display & Brightness.
  2. Under Appearance, choose Automatic.
  3. Tap the small options text below and pick Sunset to Sunrise or set a custom schedule.

Night Shift (warmer, yellowish screen at night)

Night Shift reduces blue light and makes the display warmer, which is easier on your eyes before bed.

Turn on Night Shift manually:

  1. Open Settings → Display & Brightness → Night Shift.
  2. Turn on Manually Enable Until Tomorrow.

Schedule Night Shift:

  1. In the same Night Shift menu, turn on Scheduled.
  2. Choose Sunset to Sunrise or set custom times (for example, 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM).

You can also toggle it from Control Center by pressing and holding the brightness slider and tapping Night Shift.

Camera Night mode (for dark photos)

If you mean the special camera mode that brightens low‑light photos, that is automatic on supported iPhones (11 and newer in most cases).

  • Open the Camera app in a dark environment.
  • When it is dark enough, a moon icon appears at the top of the screen.
  • If it is yellow, Night mode is active and the camera will take a longer‑exposure photo.
  • Tap the moon icon to adjust the exposure time or tap again to turn Night mode off (it will show a line through it).

Quick picks for “night mode”

  • Want the whole phone dark? → Use Dark Mode.
  • Want less blue light for sleep? → Use Night Shift.
  • Want brighter photos in the dark? → Use Camera Night mode (moon icon in Camera).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.