How to Troubleshoot Smartphone Camera Problems

If you’re having camera problems on your smartphone or tablet, it’s usually not as frustrating as losing some the device’s other functions. But we all rely on our phone cameras to help us capture important personal moments, document events and share information with others.

Before you seek professional repair for your device’s camera, take a few minutes to try to identify the problem. Often, you can get your device back to normal with a few simple steps.

The process for troubleshooting a smartphone camera issue varies somewhat, depending on whether you have a Samsung Galaxy, LG, HTC, Android, iPhone or another brand. The process is also somewhat different based on whether you’re having problems with your phone’s front-facing camera, rear-facing camera or both.

General Tips for Troubleshooting a Smartphone Camera Problem

If you get a black screen when you try to use your camera, start with the obvious problems (yes, check anyway). Is your phone case or something else blocking the lens? Close and reopen the camera app. Close all other apps that you have open. Do a soft reset or reboot of your device. Make sure you’re running to most current operating system and that you have updated your apps. Do a hard reboot. Clear your cache, if your device offers that option.

If you have more than one photo app, try a different one to see if it works. Try switching between your front- and rear-facing cameras, to see if the problem is isolated in one or the other.

If you do get an image but it’s blurry or out of focus, take a moment to clean the lens with a soft, microfiber cloth or specialty lens wipes.

Tips for Troubleshooting a Problem with Your Camera’s Flash

If the camera works but the flash feature does not, start by verifying that you have the flash feature turned on and that nothing is blocking the flash (like your phone case). Next, try cleaning the flash lens. Test your phone’s flashlight feature because, in most devices, the light source is the same for both.

If you have an iPhone, some users report success by setting location services to the camera app to “Never.” It can’t hurt to try, and it only takes a few seconds.

It’s also important to note that, after using the flash for a long period of time or using it in a particularly hot location, it may disable itself until it has time to cool down.

Third-party apps are a known issue with Android flash issues. Try removing them and test your flash again. You can also encounter problems if your RAM or device storage levels are low. For Samsung Galaxy users, a low battery will prevent the flash from working.

Once you’ve exhausted these options, it’s time to pay a visit to your friendly, neighborhood smartphone repair experts at FixIT Mobile | Bad Apple. With convenient locations throughout Utah, we make it easy and affordable to get your devices repaired in a hurry. Contact one of our stores for fair and transparent smartphone repair prices.

Stop by today and let our highly trained and experienced technicians help you with any smartphone camera problems.