It’s 10 p.m., and you need a good night’s sleep for a major job interview you worked so hard to prepare for the next day. But as you lie in bed, you decide to pick up youriPhoneand check your emails, scroll through your social media feeds, and play a few rounds ofCandy Crush Jelly Saga. Suddenly, it’s midnight, and you may’t sleep a wink because the blue light emanating from your phone screen kept you awake.
Difficulty
What You Need
iPhone, iPad
Blue light travels in shorter waves and produces more energy than other light waves because it sits at the end of the visible electromagnetic spectrum – light that humans can see. According tonumerous studies, because blue light has higher energy levels than other forms of light, prolonged exposure to it can cause long-term vision problems and sleep issues, especially when your phone screen is hovering mere inches above your face.
Luckily, Apple introduced a feature in 2022 called Night Shift, allowing night owl users to apply blue light filters on their iPhone and iPad screens and scroll through them without any sleep problems once their devices are put away after they’re done. Here’s how you can enable Night Shift iniOS 18and iPadOS 18.
How to use Night Shift
The Night Shift function limits the amount of blue light automatically at the time you specify in the settings. Night Shift changes the color of your iPhone screen, giving it a more pleasing amber hue.
Step 1:From the Settings app, go toDisplay & brightness.
Step 2:EnableNight shift.
Step 3:Choose eitherScheduledorManually Enable Until Tomorrow. Then, position theColor temperatureslider somewhere betweenLess warmandMore warmto suit your preference.
Step 4:Fine-tune the timing by choosingScheduled timeand thenSunset to sunrisefromAutomate schedule. Or choose the specific hours you prefer by tappingCustom schedule.
Remove blue light with the red color filter
Whereas the Night Shift function on your iPhone limits the blue light emissions to reduce eye strain, you may want to do a little more to improve your sleep. Give the red color filter a try to cut out even more blue light than Night Shift.
Step 1:From the Settings app, go toAccessibility.
Step 2:Go toDisplay & text size.
Step 3:TapColor filtersand switch it on.
Step 4:TapColor tint, and set theIntensitybar to maximum.
Create a shortcut for the red color filter
If you’re impressed with the way the red color mode filters out blue light — and if it’s had a positive effect on your sleep cycle — there’s a way to make it easier to quickly access: Create a shortcut to turn it on at will. Here’s how.
Step 1:From theSettingsapp, scroll down toAccessibility.
Step 2:ChooseAccessibility shortcut.
Step 3:TapColor filters. A triple-push of the side button can instantly turn the feature on or off.
Night Shift is easy to set up for daily use, while the red color mode will do you even better in almost completely removing blue light from your screen. Even more effective for blue light protection is using blue light computer glasses. Have a look at ourhandy listfor some suggestions.
