How To Stop Blue Light From Disturbing Your Sleep

Here’s the problem: Device screens normally emit blue light that’s fine for daytime use but can disrupt your sleep at night. That’s because blue light stimulates your brain and fools it into thinking it’s daytime, potentially keeping you awake when you use your device before bedtime.

- Lance Whitney

But you can get around the blue light problem, whether you’re using an iOS, Android, or Windows 10 device. On an iPhone or iPad, you can use a feature called Night Shift to change the color temperature of your screen to one that is less stimulating. Some Android devices offer a built-in Blue Light feature; otherwise, you can turn to a variety of apps. And with Windows 10, you can tap into a Night Shift feature to shift the color temperature. Let’s see how this works on all three platforms.

IPHONE OR IPAD

On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Display & Brightness. At the Display & Brightness screen, tap the Night Shift setting. This feature alters the screen temperature of your device to a warmer color, filtering out the blue light.

The Night Shift screen offers a few options that can help you control when the screen changes colors and what colors should be used. Tap the Scheduled button. Then tap the field displaying the From and To times. Here, you can set a start time and an end time for Night Shift. For example, you can set it to turn on an hour or so before you typically go to sleep and turn it off at the time you usually wake up.

You can also set Night Shift to go into action specifically from sunset to sunrise. If you don’t see this option, return to the main Settings screen. Tap Privacy > Location Services. Scroll to the bottom of the Location Services screen and tap System Services. Turn on the option for Setting Time Zone. Return to the Night Shift settings screen and tap the scheduled times. You’ll now see the option for Sunset to Sunrise.