Smart Invert – Tech Savvy Life

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
November 28, 2023

This is for the iPhone running iOS 17+. Screenshots are from iPhone 14 Pro.

Are you considering inverting the colors on your iPhone? It can be a useful feature; especially for those with color blindness or for those who find phone screens difficult to read. The process of inverting your iPhone’s display colors is simple and can be done in no time. Let’s explore using the side button to toggle inverted colors on or off.

But first, what if you take a photo like the one below?

Next, you take a screenshot of your photo and it turns out ghostly blue as displayed below.

Yikes! How did this happen? We spent hours searching on Google how to fix this to no avail. Then we chatted with two Apple Support specialists before we got an answer on how to resolve this. This issue goes back to iOS 11.

How to Fix the Ghostly Blue Screenshot

To fix this problem:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Accessibility.
Select Display and Text Size.
Scroll down to Smart Invert and Classic Invert.
- Smart Invert will only invert the colors within the app you are currently using.
- Classic Invert will invert all the colors on your iPhone, including photos and videos.
Turn both options to the OFF position.

This will make the screenshot resemble your photo. Refer to the below image:

Note! When you update your iOS, the Smart Invert option is reset to the ON position. If your iPhone is still displaying ghostly images from your Camera Roll or the Photos app while using Dark Mode, turn the Smart Invert and Classic Invert to the OFF position.

In Settings > Display & Brightness resetting the Options, True Tone and Night Shift options has no effect in eliminating the ghostly images as noted in various help articles..Only the steps described in this blog post fixes the problem.

Setup Shortcut to Invert Colors

To quickly turn the inverted colors on or off on your iPhone, you can set up an Accessibility Shortcut. To do this, go to the Accessibility section of the Settings app then scroll down to select Accessibility Shortcut. Now, click either Smart Invert or Classic Invert. Once done, triple-click the power button on the side of your iPhone to toggle the inverted colors. To disable the shortcut, triple-click the power button again.

Why Would You Want to Invert Colors

Inverting the display colors on your iPhone can be a helpful tool for those who struggle with bright screens or color blindness, as it creates more contrast and, for some, an easier-to-read display. It’s important to note that while inverted colors can be a useful feature, they are not for everyone, and it may take some time to get used to inverted colors. However, if you find inverted colors to be helpful or think they do improve your overall viewing experience on an iPhone, it’s definitely worth enabling.

Disclaimer

Technology is always changing and rarely is there static tech for smartphones and desktops. Thus, the contents of this post are only valid at the time of writing. Blog posts older than six months may have directions incompatible with your device or OS. Hopefully, older post content will continue to work as advertised. Thank you for reading TechSavvy.Life for Technology at Work For You.

Quote For the Day

The best vision is insight.
Malcolm Forbes

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Author’s E-Book

You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.

The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath

If you love Dark Mode but your favorite iPhone or iPad app or website does not support it, you can force a simulated Dark Mode everywhere using Apple’s built-in Smart Invert accessibility feature.

This is for the iPhone

Dilbert and Error — *Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS*

Defining Smart Invert

Smart Invert is an Apple accessibility feature that inverts the colors on your screen (like a negative image), but with a twist. It’s “smart” because it usually prevents images, videos, and some apps that are already dark-colored from getting inverted. It was designed for people with vision loss, low vision, or other vision issues that might benefit from an inverted screen but might not want to see inverted images.

How About Dark Mode

Apple’s system wide Dark Mode (first introduced in iOS 13) generally works well and is supported by a large number of iPhone and iPad apps, but some apps with largely white interfaces still do not support it. Also, if you want to browse the web at night without waking a sleeping buddy, Smart Invert keeps the light low.

Enabling Smart Invert

First, launch Settings (the gear icon). Refer to below image:

Now, navigate to the Accessibility option. See below image:

Next, tap the Display & Text Size option. See following image:

In its settings, scroll down until you see Smart Invert toggle. Tap it to turn it on. Your screen will immediately be inverted (a black screen). Refer to below image: (Note! This iPhone will not capture the inverted screen).

Now, exit Settings and use your apps as usual.

Disable Smart Invert

If you want to to turn it off, revisit

Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Smart Invert

and toggle off the switch. Or you can use a shortcut. Let’s see how to setup a shortcut.

Use a Shortcut

Using a built-in feature called Accessibility Shortcut on your iPhone, you can triple-click your Home button (on older iPhones or your Side button on newer models) to quickly launch an accessibility function such as Smart Invert.

To set it up, launch Settings and navigate to Accessibility. Next, scroll down and tap Accessibility Shortcut. See below image:

Now, you will see a list of Accessibility functions you can toggle with the shortcut. Tap Smart Invert then tap the Back button. See following image:

Invert 6 — Enabling Smart Invert shortcut

Now, whenever you triple-click your Home or Side button (depending on which iPhone model you have), you will launch Smart Invert. If you triple-click it again, Smart Invert will turn off.

Use a Back Tap

Starting with iOS 14 and higher, if you have an iPhone 8 or above, you can use the Back Tap feature to toggle Smart Invert. To do so, go to

Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap

Now, select whether you want to trigger Smart Invert using a double-tap or triple-tap on the back of your iPhone. In the list of actions that appears, select Smart Invert. Refer to below image where we selected the triple-tap action:

Invert 7 — Assigning Smart Invert option to Back Tap

Now, go back one screen and exit Settings. With Back Tap enabled, you can tap on the back of your iPhone two or three times to quickly turn Smart Invert on or off. That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter, as mentioned below.

I hope you have found this post helpful. If so, click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.

Check out TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
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I Would Like to Hear From You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong: Events and Aftermath

Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath

Click here to preview or order. Although this is not technical, I thought I would give a plug for my e-book published in December 2018. You can access the e-book from a Kindle device or the free Kindle app for desktops and smartphones.

In 1970, I was an Army Fire Direction Control (FDC) specialist. I was stationed at Landing Zone (LZ) Cindy in Tra Bong, Vietnam. We had an Observation Post (OP) and a Searchlight (SLT) unit. Next to the firebase was an Armed Forces Vietnam (ARVN) unit of 100 men. Besides the helicopter landing zone, we had the shortest airstrip in Vietnam operated by Military AssistanceCommand Vietnam (MACV). Approximately 100 men were stationed at LZ Cindy.

The firebase had tremendous firepower with automatic weapons, 50-caliber, and 60-caliber machine guns including a Quad 50, Dusters, 8-inch and 175 howitzers, mortars, grenades, claymores, flares, etc.

We had a major battle in September 1970. That battle and how it impacted me and my FDC team is the emphasis of the e-book. The ebook is in the Kindle format and available from Amazon. Click here to preview or order.