Citing studies that indicate blue light has a negative impact on sleep cycles, Apple on Monday aimed to give user health a hand with the release of its new Night Shift feature.
Packaged as part of Apple’s new iOS 9.3 update, Night Shift alters a user’s display to employ warmer colors during the evening hours and returns to regular display settings in the morning.
Apple said the feature uses a device’s iOS clock and geolocation to determine sunset time so the feature can make the color change automatically.
A similar feature is currently available on Android devices through apps like Flux and Twilight.
While ostensibly launched to help ease the havoc blue light wrecks on sleep cycles, Forbes contributor Curtis Silver on Monday expressed his skepticism and liked the feature to “giving a heroin addict methadone.”
“The solution is not relying on your phone to dull that harsh light at night so you can keep injecting social media and apps between your toes,” Silver wrote. “The solution is turning off your goddamn phone before bed.”
For those who want to give it a try, Night Shift is available on the iPhone 5S or later, iPad Pro, iPad Air or later, iPad mini 2 or later and sixth generation iPod touch.
iOS 9.3, which also includes a new lock feature in the Notes app, top story suggestions and Editor’s picks in the News app and other tweaks to the CarPlay, Health and Education apps, is available as a free update starting today.
