Phial

Phial turns your phone's screen into a bright, steady light whenever you need one. It opens straight from your lock screen and lights up right away, so you never have to unlock or fumble in the dark first.

Simple, fast, and completely private.

WHAT PHIAL DOES
Tap Phial and your screen becomes a light. That's the whole idea. No sign-up, no setup, no clutter. Just light when you need it, gone when you don't.

OPENS FROM THE LOCK SCREEN
Phial wakes your phone and shines over the lock screen without asking you to unlock. Perfect for finding your keys, reading a menu, or checking on a sleeping child in the middle of the night.

FLICK FOR LIGHT
Don't even want to tap? Flick your phone twice and Phial lights up - from the lock screen, from any app, even with the screen off. You choose whether a flick opens the screen light or the camera flash, arm and disarm the watcher from a Quick Settings tile, and pause it any time from its notification. A built-in battery saver stands the watcher down while the phone lies still and wakes it the moment you pick it up.

TUNED TO YOUR HAND
A live calibration meter shows every movement as you make it, so you can set exactly how firm a flick or shake should count. Sensitivity, the number of movements, and the time between them are all adjustable, separately for each gesture.

BRIGHTNESS YOUR WAY
Slide to set exactly how bright you want it, in real time. Prefer buttons? Your volume keys adjust the brightness too. The light fades in gently when you open it, so it never blinds you.

COLOURS FOR EVERY MOMENT
Choose White for maximum brightness, Warm or Amber for a softer glow that's easy on the eyes, or Red to protect your night vision. Want something specific? The custom colour picker lets you dial in any colour you like.

SWITCH TO THE REAL FLASHLIGHT
Need more power? Give your phone a shake, or tap the mode button, and Phial switches to your camera's LED flashlight, with brightness control on supported devices. Shake or tap again to go back to the screen light.

TURNS ITSELF OFF
Set an auto-off timer for 1, 2, 5, or 10 minutes and Phial will switch off on its own, so you never drain your battery by accident.

LEAVES NO TRACE
When you close Phial, it disappears from your recent apps list. Clean and tidy, every time.

FITS YOUR PHONE
The settings screen follows your system's light or dark theme automatically, so it always feels right at home.

BUILT FOR PRIVACY
Phial does everything right on your device. Nothing you do is ever sent anywhere.

- No internet access at all
- No ads
- No tracking or analytics
- No accounts, no personal data collected

Phial asks for only what it truly needs to work: the camera (only to control the LED flashlight), permission to keep the screen awake, and permission to show over your lock screen. If you turn on Flick for light, it also asks to appear over other apps - that is what lets a flick open the light from anywhere - and shows a small ongoing notification while it listens. Nothing more.

LIGHTWEIGHT AND OPEN
Phial is small, fast, and free. It runs on Android 6.0 and up, and it's open source, so anyone can see exactly how it works.

Light when you need it. Private, always.