Do you work on your laptop or phone until late at night? I’m someone who regularly uses the laptop till about 1 am. Sometimes, the phone serves the purpose, but whatever it is, I stay awake with my eyes glued to the screen. I’ve read quite a lot of articles on the web and found that people working in front of the screens late night face problems in falling asleep and may also experience irregular sleeping patterns and its adverse affects. This is because the screens of our devices emit blue light to imitate the colour temperature of the day, which has a cool, blue temperature because of the sunlight.
I recently got hold of two apps that reduce the glare of the blue light emitted by the screens of laptops, tabs and mobiles. These apps are very useful and easy to use. Use them for a while and you will notice the difference between how you’ll feel then and how you felt before. Here are the apps –
For Laptops:
F.lux
F.lux works for Windows, Mac and Linux. It can also be used in ipads and iphones. Flux is very comfortable to use, especially in laptops. Initially, you may dislike the light orange tone it sets for the screen and you may also require time to adapt to the colour, but few nights into it and you’ll get along the flow. F.lux is very flexible and has a lot of options which you’ll get to know once you start using it.
Use it for a week and then disable it one night to notice the difference. That blue light you’ll see on the screen would be what your eyes were tolerating every night before you used F.lux!
For Phones: (Android and Blackberry 10 only)
Bluelight Filter and Twilight
Bluelight Filter is an app which reduces the glare of your phone’s screen at night. It’s a very good app which is available in Google Play Store for Android phones. It also runs on Blackberry 10 devices. You can set the filter strength as per your required level of comfort.
Twilight is another app for reducing the blue glare. It is also available in Play Store for Android phones. I don’t know about its compatibility with Blackberry 10. Personally, I’d recommend you to use Bluelight Filter rather than Twilight.
The Science Behind These Apps
The bright sunlight of the day has a cool, blue colour temperature. This colour keeps you awake and active. At night, the bright sunlight is gone and artificial lighting is used, which is generally dimmer and warmer. Your brain secretes melatonin during these darker times when you’re not exposed to sunlight, causing you to get sleepier.
When you use phones and laptops at night, the blue light emitted from their screens strain your eyes and inhibits melatonin production. Some computers have brightness sensors which adjust the screen brightness depending on how bright it is around you, but the color temperature doesn’t change.
Apps like F.lux, Bluelight Filter and Twilight use warmer colors at night than during the day, making white colors appear a bit more reddish. Looking at a warmer display at night will help reduce eye strain, and save you from staring at a bright, sunlight-like screen. This will help your brain secrete more melatonin and help you feel sleepy earlier and sleep better.
So what are you waiting for? Download these apps and get back to work! Here are links to download these apps:
And here is a video to help you get started with F.lux:
© Barnadhya Rwitam Sharma
Barnadhya Rwitam 