This new iPhone feature is going to do WONDERS for your sleep health

Mar 22, 2016

Our phones, TV and laptop in general should be avoided for at least an hour before we head to bed, but hey, we're all humans. And sometimes humans need to obsessively scroll through their ex's cousin's BFF's wedding photos for two hours, y'know?

Enter Apple's newest feature – iPhone Night Shift mode. Exposure to bright lights late at night – especially the blue LED light emitted by our smartphones and tablets – is supposedly one major no-no when it comes to getting a good night's sleep, and Night Shift mode aims to solve that problem.

Scheduling Night Shift Mode on your iPhone will cause the phone's lighting settings to re-adjust at your chosen time of the evening. You'll still be able to use the phone as normal, but with a yellow-toned backlight instead of a blue one.

A similar feature is available for most laptops using software programmes like F:lux, but it's never been offered as standard on an Apple product until now.

The issue with blue LED light is that its brightness is so similar to afternoon sunlight that our brains tend to become over-stimulated, which of course is a big alarm bell when you're hoping to drift off easily before that big interview tomorrow.

And while Apple certainly aren't going so far as to tell us to put our phones away completely (Steve Jobs would be rolling in his grave), they are at least attempting to make the consequences of phone usage late at night less severe.

If you're wondering when you can test out Night Shift for yourself, here are the phone/iPad models on which it's available. Simply go to Settings > Display and Brightness > Enable Night Shift Mode.