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 your iPhone and check your emails, scroll through your social media feeds, and play a few rounds of Candy Crush Jelly Saga. Suddenly, it's midnight, and you can't sleep a wink because the blue light emanating from your phone screen kept you awake.
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 to numerous 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 in iOS 18 and 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 to Display & brightness.
Step 2: Enable Night shift.
Step 3: Choose either Scheduled or Manually Enable Until Tomorrow. Then, position the Color temperature slider somewhere between Less warm and More warm to suit your preference.
Step 4: Fine-tune the timing by choosing Scheduled time and then Sunset to sunrise from Automate schedule. Or choose the specific hours you prefer by tapping Custom 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 to Accessibility.
Step 2: Go to Display & text size.
Step 3: Tap Color filters and switch it on.
Step 4: Tap Color tint, and set the Intensity bar 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 the Settings app, scroll down to Accessibility.
Step 2: Choose Accessibility shortcut.
Step 3: Tap Color 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 our handy list for some suggestions.
