Experts have spoken, studies have been conducted, the results are in: screen time at night is bad for our sleep. The blue wavelengths of light from LED screens like those in our phones, laptops and tablets mess with our circadian rhythm by suppressing the body's release of melatonin, the hormone our body secretes as it gets dark in order to calm us and prepare us for sleep.
When we stare at these blue-lit screens at night time, our bodies don't release the needed amount of melatonin, but release cortisol -- the stress hormone -- instead, which keeps us awake. Neurologists who conducted studies on people who were exposed to blue-heavy lights before bedtime found that those people took far longer to fall asleep than those who were exposed to warmer light or light more evenly distributed across the color spectrum.
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[An] app [f.lux] for your desktop or laptop computer adjusts the color temperature of your monitor throughout the day to best mimic what type of light your eyes should be exposed to at those times. During daylight hours, the light is more blue-toned and similar to the bright daylight you would be exposed to outside, but as day turns to night, the monitor slowly goes warmer to match the indoor lights around you.
The article also mentions two other apps, Oyster and Twilight. Have any Soylentils used apps like these?
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday August 07 2015, @12:23AM
While my phone isn't keeping me awake (well, the screen anyways), the app Lux (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux) is pretty useful.
The big thing for me is it allows dimming of the screen below the lowest brightness. This is huge for GPS functionality on all night road trips, and also helps when checking the phone at night.
Unfortunately Play store only. This is one of the few apps that forces me to keep Google Play on my device. Not bitter at all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @11:30AM
There's a similar app, giraffine.dimmer [f-droid.org], in the F-droid repository.