CS Tech Tip: How to use Night Shift

Believe it or not, using your smartphone right before bed can affect how well you sleep. The blue light emitted from our smartphones, TVs and other handheld devices can suppress our natural melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Thankfully, most smartphones have a solution for this called Night Shift.

The Night Shift setting automatically adjusts the colors in your screen’s display according to the time of day. Once the sun rises, your display will shift to cooler colors, which emits more blue light. Then, once the sun starts to set, it will adjust your display to give off warmer, less blue light. Not only does this shift in your display help your brain settle into bedtime mode, but it will feel a little better on your eyes.

Apple devices have Night Shift built into their operating system. Android users have something called Night Light, but they can also download different apps to adjust the lighting on their devices.

How to turn on Night Light on an Android device:

1. Pull down the menu from the top of the screen.
2. Click the half moon symbol called “Night Light”.
3. This will turn your screen a yellowish, sepia color, reducing the strain on your eyes.

How to modify your display on an Android device using the Blue Light Filter app:                                                                                                                                       

1. Open the app.
2. When prompted, allow camera permissions.
3. Push the big yellow power button at the bottom of the screen.
4. Select the color temperature that looks best to you. You can choose between different settings like Candlelight, Dawn, Incandescent Lamp, and more.
5. You can also adjust the intensity of the color temperature, screen dim, and more.
6. To set an automatic timer for Night Mode, click “Set Auto Timer” and choose the time that works best for you.

How to turn on Night Shift on an iPhone or iPad:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Click on Display and Brightness.
3. Select Night Shift.
4. Enable the “Scheduled” option. It will automatically select a “From” and “To” time, but this can be adjusted to better fit your bedtime.
5. The slider along the bottom is set in the middle by default but allows you to manually adjust how warm or cool you’d like your Night Shift display to be.