Night Shift Beta Tidbits: Disabled in Low Power Mode, Control Center Changes

[MacRumors]

Apple has made some changes to Night Shift in iOS 9.3 betas 4 and 5. The most notable change is the disabling of the feature when in Low Power Mode. The toggle switch in both the Night Shift settings and Control Center are now grayed out in Low Power Mode.

The new change has generated some complaints since it seems that users will want to use both features in the evening hours.

Night Shift is now disabled in Low Power Mode on iOS 9.3 betas​

Meanwhile, tapping the Night Shift icon in Control Center no longer brings up a contextual menu with "Turn On For Now" and "Turn On Until Tomorrow" options. Instead, the toggle now manually activates Night Shift until the next trigger in your automatic schedule, such as sunset, sunrise, or a specific time.

Night Shift no longer has a contextual menu in Control Center (right)​

Similarly, there is a new "Manually Enable Until Tomorrow" toggle in the Night Shift settings that keeps the feature turned on until the following morning's sunrise, or another specified time. This means the toggles in Settings and Control Center, which can also disable Night Shift, are essentially the same in this beta.

Also in the settings, the color temperature slider has also been moved to the bottom of the menu. The "Cooler" and "Warmer" labels have been changed to "Less Warm" and "More Warm," while the small blue and orange circle markers have been removed. New fine print says "warmer temperatures can reduce eye strain."

Night Shift is a major new feature in iOS 9.3 that, when enabled, automatically changes the color temperature of an iOS device's display to reflect the time of day. The feature helps to limit your exposure to blue light in the morning and night, which makes the display easier on your eyes and can improve your circadian rhythm.

Apple seeded the fifth beta of iOS 9.3 to developers and public testers on Tuesday. The software update will likely be public released this month. To read about and share other changes, head over to our iOS 9.3 Beta 5 Bug Fixes, Improvements, and Changes topic in our community discussion forums.

Article Link: Night Shift Beta Tidbits: Disabled in Low Power Mode, Control Center Changes

 

[mcfly88]

Night Shift being disabled in Low Power Mode was in beta 4...

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Removing the contextual menu is the right call. I'm not running the beta, but I honestly still don't understand the difference between what the two options meant. That's not a good sign.

 

[Adithya007]

I don't care as long as I still have Nightshift mode....

 

[talkybear]

Does that mean Night Shift uses more power than normal mode?

 

[jonathanbruck]

I'd be interested to learn the reason behind disabling Night Shift in Low Power mode. Does it drain the battery excessively? Ive been running the betas, but haven't noticed my phone battery level dropping that much while night shift was running.

 

[Rychiar]

I still wish nightshift mode meant the dark mode interface i've been hoping for since iOS7 debuted

 

[longofest]

being disabled in low power mode is a real bummer. My battery is going under 20% at night, precisely when I need both options available to me.

 

[KALLT]

I experienced this change in Night Shift yesterday evening when I turned on low-power mode... I am still busy solidifying my melted eyeballs.

 

[dannys1]

New fine print says "warmer temperatures can reduce eye strain."

How fine is the fine print? Does it require eye strain to read?
[doublepost=1456935296][/doublepost]

Removing the contextual menu is the right call. I'm not running the beta, but I honestly still don't understand the difference between what the two options meant. That's not a good sign.

Agreed, silly unintuitive language.

 

[skillwill]

I know this doesn't realllly matter but it's one of those little attention to detail things - but the night shift button doesn't fit with anything else in that row of the control centre. it would be better suited at the top - but of course there isn't room. Makes me think control centre will be up for a real reorganisation in iOS 10

 

[Chazzle]

Night Shift being disabled in Low Power Mode was in beta 4...

That is incorrect. NightShift was not disabled with low power mode activated in Beta 4. It would turn off upon activating low power mode, but you could simply turn it back on and low power mode would stay on as well.

 

[ghostface147]

This was a jarring change for me. I went in to low power recently and man that blue light was just terribly blinding.

 

[Stalwart]

I'd be interested to learn the reason behind disabling Night Shift in Low Power mode. Does it drain the battery excessively? Ive been running the betas, but haven't noticed my phone battery level dropping that much while night shift was running.

It depends on how often your screen needs to be refreshed, and some UI animations are disabled in Low Power mode, but yeah, it will drain battery faster.

 

[MacGod]

Anyone know the release date of the software? Should be soon (maybe in time for next announcement next week)...

 

[Manderby]

I'd be interested to learn the reason behind disabling Night Shift in Low Power mode. Does it drain the battery excessively? Ive been running the betas, but haven't noticed my phone battery level dropping that much while night shift was running.

NightShift is probably done using ColorSync. When slowly transitioning from day to night, the whole color transformation tables need to be updated over and over again and the cocoa change notification need to be transported to all active applications during the time of the change which in turn would again change their appearance over and over again. Even if this notification will not be parsed, all application need nontheless be woken up for a short period of time. To make the change not noticeable, there would be several iterations, draining unnecessary power. As we all know, the low power mode is here for precisely hindering that. Therefore disabled. They could theoretically not fire a notification during low power mode, but therefore creating the need for cached notifications getting active as soon as an application gets active. But this - to my knowledge - does not exist in the cocoa framework. Maybe in a later version but it looks like they are not there yet. That's my guess.

 

[ClaytonK]

Is this a feature appropriate for Control Center? I'm guessing I'll turn it on and never touch it again.

 

[Quicklite]

My battery usually gets low in the evening - no shift for me?

 

[winmaciek]

You can turn night shift on in low power using Siri.

 

[Crzyrio]

Anyone know the release date of the software? Should be soon (maybe in time for next announcement next week)...

Rumours state announcement is moved the 21st and we haven't received invites yet so seems likely.

But yeah, will likely be released on announcement.

 

[earthsaver]

Have the system requirements of Night Shift changed? I read previously that it required an A7 or better. If Apple releases a new 4" iPhone, I'll be getting it, however it's still disappointing that Flux works on my iPhone 5 and Night Shift won't.

 

[odditie]

Does that mean Night Shift uses more power than normal mode?

Just guessing, but since it gradually adjusts over time it would probably have some level of background work so I guess that breaks whatever threshold they have. It also probably meets the criteria that it isn't "essential".

 

[Harmonious Zen]

I experienced this change in Night Shift yesterday evening when I turned on low-power mode... I am still busy solidifying my melted eyeballs.

Ha, I totally know what you mean. I've never used 9.3, but i've got flux on my Mac and it's like getting hit in the eyes with a lightning bolt when you switch it off at night.

 

[GreyOS]

Hmm it does seem a bit awkward that both LPM and NS are predominantly used in the evening yet you can't use both at the same time.

If it's only the transition that is power intensive then why do they immediately disable Night Shift when you turn on LPM? If NS was active then they've instantly used up some battery for no reason. But equally, if it's left on and the user doesn't charge overnight, it can never transition back. But really. Given that most people will just stick to a schedule, where transition happens only twice a day, they shouldn't mess with it.

 

[guychicago]

Just guessing, but since it gradually adjusts over time it would probably have some level of background work so I guess that breaks whatever threshold they have. It also probably meets the criteria that it isn't "essential".

Great reply and it makes sense. It also uses the location services because it adjusts turning on based on sunrise and sunset times.
[doublepost=1456937278][/doublepost]Apple should keep it turned on if we have a Custom schedule selected but I'm guessing its harder to do this.