Most of us with portable electronic devices like smartphones and tablets use them at night before bed….either for checking email on the couch one last time while watching a little tv, or bringing them to bed with us for a quick candy crush game before bed. There have been several studies done over the last few years that increased screen time before bed can mess with your circadian rhythm, and make it harder for you to actually fall asleep (you can read more about it here: http://lifehacker.com/will-night-modes-on-my-smartphone-or-tablet-actually-1766261703). Several apps and programs have been developed over the years to automatically dim or optimize the light on electronic devices to help with this, but Apple’s newest iOS update released this week brings this feature built in to iPhones.
Apple’s new ‘Night Shift’ can be configured to automatically make your screen dimmer and more yellow at night, thus reducing the blue light and brightness that have been shown to affect sleep. A detailed article with instructions and a video were posted on 9to5mac.com earlier this week showing how to enable this new feature. It’s a great read, and something all nighttime phone users should consider at least trying out: http://9to5mac.com/2016/03/23/how-to-set-up-use-night-shift-mode-iphone-ipad-video/
Android users…..fear not! Google has announced the feature will be available as a built in feature in some of their upcoming software, but until then, there are some free apps that do this on the app store that are worth considering: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.ne.hardyinfinity.bluelightfilter.nightmode&hl=en, and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pt.bbarao.nightmode&hl=en, and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.geekslab.eyeprotection&hl=en to name but a few!
