Torch & SOS Signal
Turn your screen into a light, switch on your phone’s torch, or send SOS and the mountain distress signal in flashes and whistle-like beeps.
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How to use your phone as a torch or SOS signal
- Pick Light for a steady light to see by, or a signal: SOS, the mountain distress signal, a beacon, or your own message in Morse.
- Choose where it shows: the screen, your phone’s torch (on Android phones in Chrome), and a whistle-like beep.
- Tap Start. Turn your screen brightness right up. Tap anywhere to stop.
About the signals
SOS is three short, three long, three short (··· ––– ···), sent without gaps between the letters and repeated after a pause; it’s recognised worldwide. The mountain (Alpine) distress signal, used across Europe since the 1890s, is six flashes or whistle blasts spread over a minute, then a minute’s pause, repeated; rescuers answer with three a minute. The beacon is a short flash every 2 seconds, to show where you are without using much battery.
Morse timing follows the standard: a dash is three dots long, with one dot’s gap inside a letter, three between letters and seven between words. Even the fastest setting flashes no more than 2.5 times a second, below the rate most likely to trigger photosensitive seizures.
The phone’s torch is switched through the camera, which only some browsers allow: Chrome on Android usually does; iPhones and most computers don’t, so use the screen there. The camera picture is never shown, recorded or sent anywhere. The page asks your phone to keep the screen on while the light is running.
Sources
Checked on 18 October 2026.
- Alpine distress signal six signals a minute, a minute’s pause, and three a minute in reply.
- ITU-R M.1677-1: International Morse code the code and its timing (a dash is three dots; gaps of one, three and seven).
Questions about the torch and SOS signal
Can a website turn on my phone’s torch?
On Android phones using Chrome, yes: tick Phone torch and allow the camera when asked. iPhones don’t let websites use the torch, so use the screen light or the torch in Control Centre.
What is the SOS signal in Morse code?
Three short, three long, three short (··· ––– ···), sent as one signal without gaps between the letters, then a pause before it repeats.
What is the mountain distress signal?
Six whistle blasts or torch flashes spread over a minute, then a minute’s silence, repeated. If rescuers hear or see it, they reply with three signals a minute.
Why use a red light?
Red light doesn’t spoil your eyes’ adjustment to the dark as much as white light does, so you can still see when you switch it off.