Phone Screen Turns Off During Video Calls? Keep It Awake

Why the screen goes black mid-call

• Auto-lock or screen timeout. The phone turns the screen off after a set time without a touch. Talking doesn't count as touching.
• Low Power Mode or battery saver. On iPhone, Low Power Mode fixes Auto-Lock at 30 seconds. Android power savers often shorten the timeout too.
• The proximity sensor. It sits near the earpiece and switches the screen off when your face is close during calls. A case, screen protector, finger or stand covering the top edge can trigger it by mistake.
• Heat or a nearly empty battery. A hot phone may dim its screen to protect itself, and a phone at the very end of its charge will shut down.

Timing gives the cause away. If the screen goes dark after the same number of seconds every time, it's auto-lock. If it only happens when you hold the phone a certain way or set it in a stand, suspect the proximity sensor. If it started when the battery got low, a power saver switched on.

iPhone: auto-lock during video calls

1. Open Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock.
2. Choose a longer time, such as 5 minutes, or Never for the length of your chat.
3. If Auto-Lock is greyed out at 30 seconds, Low Power Mode is on. Turn it off in Settings → Battery → Low Power Mode, or from Control Center if you've added the button.
4. On iPhones with Face ID, turn on Settings → Face ID & Passcode → Attention Aware Features. The phone then checks whether you're looking before it dims the screen.

These settings also apply if you added a site to your Home Screen as a web app. Random video chat on iPhone covers the rest of the iPhone setup, from camera permission to installing Omlet without an app download.

Android: screen timeout and battery saver

Menus vary by maker and Android version, but the settings live in similar places. If you can't find one, type its name into the search bar at the top of Settings.

1. Screen timeout: Settings → Display → Screen timeout (called Sleep or Auto screen off on some phones). Pick 5 or 10 minutes while you chat.
2. Stay on while you look: some phones can keep the screen on while you're looking at it, such as Screen attention on Pixel phones (under Screen timeout) or Keep screen on while viewing on Samsung phones (Advanced features → Motions and gestures).
3. Battery saver: Settings → Battery → Battery Saver (on Samsung, Battery → Power saving). Turn it off for long calls, since it can shorten the timeout and limit the browser.
4. Let the browser use battery freely: long-press the Chrome icon → App info → Battery (or App battery usage) and choose Unrestricted if your phone offers it.

Proximity sensor quirks in video calls

The proximity sensor near the earpiece exists so your cheek doesn't tap buttons during a phone call. Phones mainly use it for voice calls, but some also switch it on during calls in other apps. If your screen blanks whenever something comes near the top edge, a few things can fool it:

• A phone stand or holder whose lip covers the top of the screen. See how to prop up your phone for video calls without blocking it.
• A thick case edge, a screen protector not made for your model, or dust over the sensor area.
• Your hand resting across the top edge while you hold the phone.

Clean the top of the screen, take the case off for a quick test, and hold the phone lower. If the screen still blanks at random only during calls, restart the phone and install updates. If it keeps happening, ask the manufacturer to check the sensor.

Keeping the screen awake while chatting in the browser

Some websites ask the browser to keep the screen on during video, using a standard feature called a wake lock. Not every site does, and a browser may refuse when the battery is low, so your phone's own settings are the dependable fix.

• Tap the screen or send a message in the text chat now and then; any touch resets the timer.
• Keep the browser in front. If you switch apps, the camera stops and the chat can drop, as explained in why a video chat keeps disconnecting.
• Plug in for long chats. Video calls are power-hungry, which is exactly when savers kick in; why video calls drain your battery has more ways to stretch a charge.
• Turn on Do Not Disturb or a Focus mode so notifications don't pull you out of the browser.

If the camera stays black after you unlock, reload the page and allow the camera if the browser asks again. Still nothing in Chrome? Try these Chrome camera fixes.

Screen settings at a glance