I installed iOS 16 today in hope of getting more comfortable eyes than iOS 15. Turns out it is worse. Will be checking for a few days. If you haven’t updated to iOS 16 then wait and see. Any of you have the same issue?

[deleted] which iPhone do you use? I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and it seemed to be a bit better. If people want to upgrade and try, it might be better to do it now. In the foreseeable future Apple will revoke the signing keys for iOS 15, so downgrade would not be possible anymore. Better to try it now as long as it is easy to go back.

I’m using iphone se 2020. iOS 14 and earlier are all fine for me. iOS 15 made it a bit worse, but iOS 16 brought me some headache. I will rollback soon as I’m not able to use it for long now.

I can confirm the same for me with my iPhone SE 2020. But Apple must’ve changed something in iOS 16.4 because it’s better. Still not as comfortable as iOS 15 but it’s definitely easier on the eyes.

Recently upgraded to IOS 16.5 from IOS 15 and left without phone. I was using Iphone X, it do not gave me any serious issues(all other OLED Iphones not usable for me) until IOS 16.5, after upgrade I have same issue as from other higher Iphone OLED models. And most interesting thing here, that it not possible to downgrade.

artdyl I saw a post on Reddit that said the 16.5 update made someone's iPhone SE 3 unusable as well. I can only use the SE iPhones so I really hope this is something they fix with future updates (I'm going to avoid upgrading as I'm on 16.1.1). I can't use any of the OLED phones including the iPhone X.

I suspect the temporal dithering technology was introduced since ios 15 and was much worse since ios 16. My ipad air 2 was made useless since the upgrade to ios 15, while my iphone se 2020 got a little more uncomfortable to look at on ios 15. And ios 16 was the final nail to the coffin that made my iphone become useless (my ipad air 2 does not get to have ios 16 update, but it is already useless anyway). My devices are all LCD display ones so PWM will not be the reason of eye strain here, and I could use them comfortably before ios 15-16. This is not the first time I’ve seen people talking about the same idea. Many devices suddenly became useless after ios 16 upgrade, according to multiple posts online. My iphone right now is on an ios 17 beta version and I can confirm that the eye strain still persists, so anyone on any ios version of 14 or earlier should NOT try to take the risk of upgrading your ios to any newer version. Stay on ios 14 or earlier versions to be safe. Also if you want to purchase a legacy iphone or ipad, you should check which ios version it will run on. If you buy a device which has ios 16 out of the box, it is very likely to be a wrong purchase. I can’t believe why Apple is allowed to make such a radical change to the display rendering and not make any statement about it anywhere.

[deleted] would you say iOS 17 is more comfortable than iOS 16? I’m thinking of updating my phone (on iOS 15.2) 😅 but like you, i also discovered that iOS 16 felt worse than iOS 15 on my iPad, hence why I didn’t update my phone

earlgreymilktea09 iOS 17 and iOS 16 look the same to me now, the headache is still there. I'd strongly recommend that you keep your phone on iOS 15 and wait. Or better, you can borrow an iphone with iOS 16 and see for yourself. But based on the case of your iPad, I don't think you will be happy with iOS 16 on your iPhone either.

I hate that many apps don't support me anymore. I'm on 14.8 until the screen falls off.

Clokwork Same situation. Let's see if i will be able to use the iphone 15 with ios17..

Eye strain with iOS 16 and iOS 17 - do NOT update iOS

Clokwork

I don't believe any IOS moving forward is going to work well. Until they change screen technology to something more eye friendly, I don't think we really have a chance unfortunately.

Cozzyb

Can anyone with an iPhone SE 2020 confirm the gray-scale trick above has made the phone usable again?

[deleted]

Cozzyb The popular tricks that people use - greyscale and reduce white point - help to ease the discomfort a bit. Essentially what these tricks do are reducing the amplitude of light modulation (dithering of all phones, and PWM of those with OLED screens) so that we perceive less flickering.

Unfortunately it is not enough to make the problem go away because the dithering and PWM are still there. So if you are on iOS 15 backwards, just hold on to it. Don’t update.

m1ngw

I tried reducing the colour saturation using the greyscale option and it seems to help. unfortunately I need give the 13 mini back so I can't use it for much longer. I've never had a problem with the SE 2020 or SE 2022 phones though I still prefer the screen of the original SE. will see if I can get another mini

m1ngw

My 15 pro arrived yesterday. Desaturated the colours - no luck. Eyes felt like they were burning. Sorry Apple it’s going back. I will stick with the SE2022. Maybe I will try a 13 mini again with the return policy.

Cozzyb

m1ngw I don’t think anyone suggested this fix would work on OLED devices like 15 pro. It might help with LCD devices who those of us with dithering sensitivity

[deleted]

I’m on the ios 17.0.3 with iphone SE now. With ios 17, Apple seem to have already lost their mind in chasing billions of colors that they cranked up the color saturation all the way up and fked the color accuracy. The whole display and interface looks like cheap mobile phones for the poor people with no taste now.

And of couse it is still dithering like hell.

sakraycore

Anyone on iOS 16.2? I feel like that's at least useable for me on the iPhone XR. I don't really get eye discomfort using it. My iPhone 8 is still on iOS 14 though, and I feel like it's superior in terms of eye comfort. Just a shame a lot of apps don't even work on iOS 14 anymore.

ocean10

I'm on 16.1.1 on my SE 2022

Take a look at my post here:

https://ledstrain.org/d/2683-severe-symptoms-updating-old-iphone-started-a-summary-of-goodbad-versions/4

Based on testing quite a few devices it seems that something changed between iOS 16.1.1 and iOS 16.3.1. (but to be fair I didn't test an XR)

sakraycore

ocean10

Right from what you wrote, seems like something took a wrong turn between 16.1.1 and 16.3.1, but the problem update could've been 16.3 and not 16.2

Is it temporal dithering that's added?

Well, for better or worse, I can use my iPhone XR with 16.2 indefinitely. But I don't know if I have really bad eyestrain compared to everyone here. I mainly suffer from PWM; I might be able to tolerate dithering to some extent.

I think my wife's laptop is on the latest version of windows 11 (I guess since it automatically updates) and I can use it without issues. I heard that dithering was added at some point.

twomee

sakraycore the temporal dithering was added in iOS 17.1.2(i have some proof IMO)
it seems its another effect which cause your eye strain.

ocean10

sakraycore

Yep. I suppose it could have changed at different points for different phones as well. I haven't tried an XR in a long time but weirdly I seem to remember that when it came out I tried it and I was not comfortable with the screen. It wasn't the severe symptoms I got when I tried the first OLED iPhone X but it wasn't comfortable either. Back then I kept my iPhone 7 and then eventually upgraded to the SE 2020 which was perfect for my eyes.

This is all super confusing.

sakraycore

twomee

I don't have eyestrain with 16.2 and iPhone XR.

Edit: Can I please see the proof that temporal dithering was added in iOS 17.1.2 though?

twomee

twomee here is a link to a video I made. A microscope with slow motion video into Apple device with iOS 17.4

https://files.fm/f/mb7ex5amsb

if it doesn’t work, try that:

https://streamable.com/r9esbi

jordan

sakraycore flickersense.org has testing data with a iPhone SE with dithering esp with using dark mode, night shift or reduce white point. I'm sure it's the same on every other device. Apple uses dcip3 and I'm sure these panels are cheap ones

sakraycore

ocean10

It feels like the colors are more vibrant. Maybe that's why.

To be fair, I mostly use my iPhone XR just to play Genshin Impact and watch anime though. And for those purposes it's okay.

I do remember my iPhone XR being slightly more comfortable while on iOS 15 though. Made the mistake of upgrading to iOS 16 one day. And while it's still fine, there is some difference. It's the sort of thing I can adapt to and doesn't make me feel bad at the end though.

sakraycore

twomee

Sorry, what am I looking at here? It seems to be a static image, but it's somehow making me uncomfortable.

TemporalDithering

well, iOS 18 is here... anyone tried it? your impression?

twomee it would be really great if you could repeat the test with the iOS 18.

twomee

sakraycore you should see the red ones are blinking, this is the temporal dithering IMO

jordan

twomee whenever I use iPhones which I cannot at all anymore.. they would make me super sensitive to red lights specifically. Maybe it's the red pixel flickering that caused that. Interesting

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