Apple's new Screen Distance feature, which comes with iPhones running iOS 17, alerts you when you might be using your device too close to your face, helping to reduce eye stress. Here's how it works.

iOS 17 Offers Relief for Eye Strain While Using iPhones

When iOS 17 was released last month, most users who upgraded focused on features like NameDrop, StandBy and the new FaceTime updates, which are really useful. However, there is a very useful feature in iOS settings that most people don’t know about – screen distance.

For the uninitiated, Apple developed this feature to reduce eye strain while using smartphones by making one simple thing easier – warning users that their face might be too close to the phone.

When you enable this feature, iPhone will periodically detect when users are holding their phone at arm’s length and too close to the screen, and then warn users that their iPhone may be too close. The warning also says that having your iPhone at arm’s length can block your vision.

Now the warning disappears as soon as you create at least an arm’s length distance between your iPhone’s screen and your eyes. Once you’ve done that, your iPhone will say that your device is now within the recommended distance.

In particular, using this feature requires an iPhone with a TrueDepth front-facing camera system to detect how far the user is from the screen. In our testing, the Screen Distance feature was activated several times – especially during late-night browsing when someone unknowingly held their phone quite close to their face – increasing the risk of myopia and other vision-related problems in the long term. It serves as a good reminder to practice good screen hygiene.

Enabling the Screen Distance feature

To enable the Screen Distance feature, you must first download iOS 17 on your iPhone with the TrueDepth camera system (notch or Dynamic Island models).
If you already have iOS 17/iPadOS 17 installed, open Settings and go to Screen Time. Next, look for the Screen distance feature. Tap on it and enable Display distance.

Apple notes that this feature reduces eye strain and reduces the risk of myopia in children. Additionally, this feature also works with supported iPads with Face ID biometric authentication system.