Flashlight apps are a dying breed. Google began adding them to Android as early as Lollipop and OEMs have been including them on their OEM skins for far longer. The need for this dwindles as the market share for newer versions of Android receive higher proliferation. However, we have not forgotten about those of you out there who prefer having a third party app or have devices too old to have its own flashlight app. Below, we have a list of flashlight apps that have the bare minimum permissions that should work perfectly for you. Most of these should have as few as two (Internet access for advertising, and then the camera permission). There are a couple that have just the camera permission as well. Here are the best flashlight apps for Android!
Color Flashlight
Price: Free
Color Flashlight is one of the most popular flashlight apps. It also has a metric ton of features. It uses either your screen or the LED flash on the back of the device. The app can strobe in various patterns and also in various colors (on screen only). There is also features custom effects, emergency effects, and more. It basically does everything. The app is entirely free with no in-app purchases. There are ads, though.
Flashlight
Price: Free / $4.99
Flashlight isn’t the most unique name, but it’s a decent flashlight app. It includes a simple UI, a quick on and off button, a widget, and you can even shake the phone to turn the flashlight on and off. Plus, it has the usual no permissions, it’s free, and it has no advertising. You can get the pro version for $4.99 if you want to but it’s entirely optional. This isn’t the most unique app on the list, but it’s simple, basic, and it gets the job done.
Flashlight Classic
Price: Free
Flashlight Classic is a very simple flashlight app. It works like most. The app engages either your phone screen or the LED flash for light. It also comes with a small installation size (0.9MB), no unnecessary fluff, a timer, and more. The flashlight works with the screen off. There is some advertising. It shouldn’t get in the way of functionality, though. Otherwise, it’s completely free and has no unnecessary permissions.
Flashlight by Ruddy Rooster
Price: Free
Flashlight by Ruddy Rooster is one of the simple flashlight apps. It works with your device screen as well as the LED flash on your camera. The app strobes light in a variety of patterns (on the screen). That include stuff like Morse Code, SOS, and other stuff. Additionally, the developer explains every permission the app uses. It’s a simple, free flashlight app. There are advertisements. We would’ve liked a way to pay for it to remove those. However, it’s not a huge deal.
Flashlight HD
Price: Free / $2.99
Flashlight HD is another older flashlight app with a good pedigree. It also uses both the screen and/or the LED light on the back of the phone. The app also includes home screen widgets, multiple colors (on screen only), and a simple design. Like most, it’s a free app with some advertising. There is a $2.99 pro version without ads. The developer has a list of devices this app won’t work with for some reason in the Play Store listing. Otherwise, it’s a solid flashlight app.
Icon Torch
Price: Free
Icon Torch is one of the unique flashlight apps. It has no user interface. That means there are no settings, nothing to learn, or anything like that. The icon for the app simply turns your LED flash on or off. That’s it. It doesn’t change colors or shape when the light is on or off. It’s just a simple button that makes light happen in the back of your device. It also features no advertising, no in-app purchases, and it’s otherwise free. That’s it, really. It’s just a super basic flashlight app.
Flashlight Free
Price: Free / $1.00
Flashlight Free is one of the few truly free flashlight apps with no in-app purchases or advertising. Its feature list is a bit bare. You open it, turn on your LED flash, and that’s basically it. The interface is nothing special either. That’s okay because it’s not really supposed to. It’s a simple app that just works right. Its last update was back in 2016. We hope the developer keeps this one current. If not, it should still work for most people for a while. The free and paid version are exactly the same. The $1.00 is an optional purchase to support the developer.
Tiny Flashlight
Price: Free
Tiny Flashlight is another very popular flashlight app. It is a small app with a smaller install size than most. The app does contain extra features although many of them require extra plugins. This is to preserve the size of the original app and add a level of customization. The app also contains a persistent notification toggle (useful for newer Android lock screens) as well as support for on-screen flashlights as well as the LED flash in the back. It’s simple, it work, and it’s cheap. There are ads, but they’re not bad.
Torch
Price: Free
Torch is a surprisingly excellent and modern flashlight app. It uses both the LED on the back of your phone as well as the screen for a flashlight if you want to go that route. Additionally, the app features an AMOLED-friendly dark mode, a flashlight widget for the home screen, one permission (camera for the flashlight), no ads, no other permissions, and it’s under 1MB in size. It hits every conceivable check box for a good camera app. This is an easy recommendation to be perfectly honest.
The one already on most phones
Price: Free
Android proper and most OEMs include a flashlight function natively. Generally, the option is in the Quick Settings menu. All you need to do is swipe down, find it, and engage it. Some devices like the LG V10 and V20 let you do this without turning your screen on. In any case, we always recommend that you give the stock option a fair shake before introducing potentially unnecessary third party options to the mix. Many OEMs also include widgets for their flashlight functions as well.
If we missed any of the best flashlight apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!
Note about permissions on flashlight apps:
A lot of people may feel wary about every one of these asking for “Camera/Mic”. Unfortunately, this is Google’s fault. They have bundled the microphone and camera permissions into a single permission. A vast majority of camera apps never even try to access the mic but do require the Camera/Mic permission in order to access your device’s LED flash. This is totally unavoidable and you’ll never find a flashlight app without that permission (until you get to Android Marshmallow or higher when the app asks for these things separately).
You shouldn’t worry about microphone permissions. Even if these developers turned the microphone on, none of these apps have the permission to write to storage. Without the write to storage permission, they are unable to save any files at all to your device. That means the application is incapable of recording you.
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