How to reduce the amount of blue light emitted from your tech devices

Unless you’ve been living under a rock all this time, I’m sure you’ve seen or at least heard of by now the recent study conducted by researches at the University of Toledo in which everyone is freaking out about. Apparently, the blue light people encounter—from laptops, televisions, phones, and even the sun itself—prompts a chemical reaction that kills photoreceptor cells thus damaging your eyesight and slowly making you blind when you reach your 50s or 60s. Fortunately, all is not lost, and there are several things that you can do to reduce the blue light emitted from your tech devices. Biohackers Lab has created a useful guide for techies who want to test blue light filter levels.

All companies seem to call the “Night Mode” feature something different. Just know that they all do pretty much the same thing: reduce the amount of blue light emitted from your device by adjusting the colors of your display to the warmer end of the spectrum, thus making the display easier on your eyes.

Android

Night Light

Although some OEMs already had it before, Night Light was first introduced to stock Android with Android 7.1.1 Nougat, and Android 8.0 Oreo gave users more control over the intensity of the Night Light effect. To enable Night Light on your Android phone, simply do the following:

  1. Open your device’s Settings app.
  2. Tap Display > Night Light.
  3. From here, you can schedule a time for Night Light to turn on automatically or adjust the intensity.

In addition, Night Light is available as a Quick Setting toggle. Here’s how to set it up if it’s not already there:

  1. Swipe down twice from the top of your screen.
  2. At the bottom right, tap the Edit icon.
  3. Drag the Night Light tile up from “Hold and drag to add tiles” to where you want it.

Device Themes

Some Android phones, such as OnePlus, have an option for a “Dark Mode,” but the steps to enable this vary from device to device.

On Pixel phones, you can use a darker color scheme on some screens, like Quick Settings or your volume slider. By default, your phone’s theme is set to “Automatic,” which is based on your current wallpaper, but to switch to a dark theme manually, do the following:

  1. Open your device’s Settings app.
  2. Tap Display > Advanced > Device theme.
  3. Tap Dark.

Wind Down

Note: At the time of this writing, Digital Wellbeing is still in beta.

With the recent release of Android 9 Pie comes the addition of “Digital Wellbeing.” Digital Wellbeing also brings “Wind Down” mode, which automatically sets your device in a Grayscale mode and enables Do Not Disturb. Here’s how to enable Wind Down on Android Pie:

  1. Open your device’s Settings app.
  2. Tap Digital Wellbeing > Wind Down.
  3. From here, you can schedule a time for Wind Down to turn on automatically.

iOS

Night Shift

Night Shift was first introduced to iOS with iOS 9.3. There are two ways to turn it on:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Display & Brightness > Night Shift.
  3. From here, you can schedule a time for Night Shift to turn on automatically or adjust the intensity.

You can also access Night Shift from the Control Center:

  1. Open Control Center.
  2. Firmly press the Brightness control icon.
  3. Tap the Night Shift icon to turn it on or off.

True Tone

True Tone is a feature that automatically adapts your display to make colors appear consistent in different ambient lighting conditions. True Tone is available for the following devices:

  • iPhone X
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 8 Plus
  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation)
  • iPad Pro 10.5-inch
  • iPad Pro (9.7-inch)

Here’s how to enable it:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Display & Brightness > True Tone.

Windows

Night light

Unbeknown to many, Windows 10 actually features a built-in night mode.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Navigate to System > Display > Night light settings.
  3. From here, you can schedule a time for Night light to turn on automatically or adjust the intensity.

In addition, Night light is available as a quick action toggle within action center:

  1. Open action center by tapping the thought bubble icon in the bottom right corner of your taskbar.
  2. Select Night light.

Note: Microsoft states that devices with DisplayLink or Basic Display Driver graphics drivers, or devices using HDR, do not support the Night light feature. If your Night light toggle is grayed out, you may need to update your display driver.

Dark Mode

Windows 10 also features a built-in dark mode that makes certain system apps use a dark color scheme:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Navigate to Personalization > Colors > Choose your default app mode.
  3. Select Dark.

macOS

Night Shift

Night Shift was first introduced to the Mac with macOS Sierra 10.12.4. To enable it, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Apple menu.
  2. Navigate to System Preferences > Displays > Night Shift.
  3. From here, you can schedule a time for Night Shift to turn on automatically or adjust the intensity.

You can also access Night Shift from the Notification Center:

  1. Click the Notification Center icon in the top right corner of your menu bar.
  2. Swipe left with two fingers from the right side of your trackpad.
  3. Scroll up to reveal the Night Shift setting.

True Tone

True Tone is a feature that makes the images on your Mac’s display and Touch Bar appear more natural. It’s only available, however, on the 2018 MacBook Pro.

  1. Open the Apple menu.
  2. Navigate to System Preferences > Displays > Display.
  3. Select the True Tone checkbox.

Dark Mode

macOS Mojave features a built-in dark mode that makes certain system apps use a dark color scheme:

  1. Open the Apple menu.
  2. Navigate to System Preferences > General > Appearance.
  3. Select Dark.

Dynamic Desktop

macOS Mojave brings a sweet new feature called “Dynamic Desktop.” Simply put, these are special wallpapers that shift with the time of day, changing the lighting and look of the wallpaper with the progress of the sun across the sky. So in the morning and afternoon, you’ll have a light-colored wallpaper, but in the evening and night, you’ll get a dark-colored wallpaper. Here’s how to enable it:

  1. Open the Apple menu.
  2. Navigate to System Preferences > Desktop & Screensaver > Desktop.
  3. Select one of the options from the “Dynamic Desktop” section.
  4. Using the drop-down menu underneath the wallpaper’s name, make sure Dynamic is enabled.

Chrome OS

Night Light

Chrome OS gained native night mode support with the release of Chrome OS 69.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Navigate to Displays > Night Light.
  3. From here, you can schedule a time for Night Light to turn on automatically or adjust the intensity.

There’s also a Night Light toggle available in the quick settings menu. Here’s how to toggle it:

  1. Click on your account photo in the lower right corner of the screen.
  2. Click on the moon icon to turn Night Light on.

Conclusion

Photo: AndroidPIT

If you want to further reduce blue light from your device, try checking if the apps that you use regularly support some kind of night or dark mode. In addition, maybe stick to a darker wallpaper or even a pure black one if you have an AMOLED screen.

Featured-Image: CNET