Enable This Feature and Your iPhone Will Reprimand You if Your Lens Is Dirty

If you take a lot of photos, your lens has likely been smudged or gotten dirty. A dirty lens can leave you with weird smudges or reflections in otherwise nice photos. Luckily, iOS 26 includes a feature that can warn you when your camera lens needs cleaning, that way you don’t waste a perfectly good sunset or other Instagrammable moments.

Apple released iOS 26 in September 2025, and it brought a handful of new features to your iPhone, including call screening, new ringtones and more. It also introduced an easy-to-overlook feature called Lens Cleaning Hints. When this feature is enabled, your iPhone will display a message that your camera needs to be cleaned.

This feature was automatically enabled for me after I downloaded iOS 26 but here’s where to find it in case it’s not turned on for you. It’s important to note that it’s only available on iPhone 15 and later models, so if you have an iPhone 14 Pro, you won’t see this option. 

How to enable Lens Cleaning Hints

1. Tap Settings.
2. Tap Camera.
3. Tap the Lens Cleaning Hints toggle near the bottom of the menu.

Once enabled, your iPhone will detect if its front camera lens is dirty and your device will tell you to clean it to improve your image quality. It’s a nice way to make sure you always get a good picture and it could be helpful if you let your kids play with your phone, leaving smudges all over it. 

For more on iOS, here’s what to know about iOS 27 and everything to know about iOS 26

Zachary McAuliffe

Senior writer

Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him hanging out with his wife, son and dog in their home. You can reach him at zmcaulffe@cnet.com.

See full bio