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BYU Study Suggests Night Shift Mode Doesn't Help iPhone Users Sleep

I7guy said:
Or, the next study could show how how the iOS 7 flat design was pure genius and the best thing since sliced bread.
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Inquiring minds would LOVE to know some objective results!

Subjective preferences will always differ. It’s nice when the option exists to accommodate subjective preferences, like the optional Night Shift. If only Apple permitted more reduction of flat design and reduction of minimalism (oh the irony there) in the paltry Accommodations options.
 
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They can say whatever they want, but warmer light strain my eyes way less than colder light.
 
I know I’m in the minority, but I’ve always found it to be more of a strain on my eyes. But I also still prefer the look of their LCD panels from the 11/Xr over the warmer OLED panels since then. I don’t dislike OLED, and do prefer the sharpness / higher resolution in the recent OLED panels. But every time I go from OLED to a quality LCD, my eyes and brain just breathe a little sigh of relief. Not sure why that is… but it’s always been that way for me.
 
8281 said:
Shocking new! Endlessly scrolling through your phone in bed is bad for sleep habits!
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What's new is the researchers tested whether or not bluer LED lights really disrupt sleep. This has been a major discussion point for sleep experts for years (examples below). Now there's evidence, at least in a young, healthy group of people, that it might not really be disrupting sleep. So, this really is big news. More research is needed but this study shows the evidence supporting blue lights disrupting sleep is far from settled.

Examples

The Color of the Light Affects the Circadian Rhythms | NIOSH | CDC

Blue light has the strongest impact. Exposure to blue light (and white light, which contains blue light) during the sensitive period can make it difficult for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.
www.cdc.gov www.cdc.gov
www.health.harvard.edu

Blue light has a dark side - Harvard Health

Light at night is bad for your health, and exposure to blue light emitted by electronics and energy-efficient lightbulbs may be especially so....
www.health.harvard.edu www.health.harvard.edu
www.sleepfoundation.org

Blue Light: What It Is and How It Affects Sleep

Many people use electronics before bedtime, but this may have a negative effect on sleep. Learn how blue light disrupts sleep and how to reduce its effects.
www.sleepfoundation.org www.sleepfoundation.org
www.webmd.com

Sleep and Blue Light

Blue light has a powerful effect on your body clock, called your circadian rhythm. Learn how it can prevent your body from falling asleep and what you can do about it.
www.webmd.com www.webmd.com
 
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It might not help my sleep. But it sure helps my eyes when laying in bed or using my phone in dark rooms in general. Even the lowest brightness level without having night shift running at maximum settings feels really rough on my eyes.
 
I don’t have strong opinions on Night Shift but this was a study limited to college students and not randomized. Additionally I don’t know how good a surrogate an accelerometer is for sleep. I think most sleep studies use different equipment and try to measure deep sleep states. So this is not the final word but preliminary.
 
Hexley said:
This applies to most people and not all people.

If you want better quality of sleep then turn off your devices that emit sound, light and vibrations an hour or two before sleeping.

Be in a room that has no outside light entering the windows or doors. The room should be whisper quiet at a temperature that is comfortable to sleep in

You should also be ideally physically active throughout the day.

Avoid any sort of stimulants after 12 noon.

If you wake before sunrise go back to sleep unless you need be up that early.

Sleep before midnight ideally around 8.

Sleep for 8 hours or longer.

Eat clean... predomiantly whole food plant-based diet.
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RIP anyone far from the equator half the year.
 
Hmm never used nightshift to help sleep at night. I’ve got nightshift on 24/7 to ease eye strain. I do always keep it at the lowest possible brightness as well to help with eye strain/health. My goal is to have any computer screen (work, iPad, iPhone, etc) to mimick eink as close as possible.

Being around screens all day, keeping the brightness low and color warm seem to help with eye strain for me.
 
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I honestly never thought it was suppose to help me sleep. I just know it's easier on my eyes when I turn on the screen in a darkened room. I've had something like this on my computers all the way back to Redshift on Linux.
 
Read the Apple stuff again. It has nothing to do with sleep patterns. It only talks about helping with falling asleep. The sleep study is interesting information, but doesn't refute the claims. It is only showing if it affects sleep during the night.
 
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You know what helps people sleep? Closing their damn eyes.
 
I read every night before I sleep on an old iPad with no Night Shift. I sleep like a baby! I have it switched off on my new iPhone. Hate the colour change it does. Being a designer I want my screen well calibrated. I don't understand a feature which alters that.
 
Strange. I noticed an immediate improvement in sleep quality when I use it on my computer.
 
The test group was comprised of kids 18-24 years of age. Flawed right there. I’m many decades older than that and know that many things affect sleep, particularly as we age. I’d like to see how blue light affects all age groups, because I believe it does.
 
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the premises are that Night Shift helps fall asleep, not sleep better. And I think that night shift (and other similar technologies) make a huge difference in terms of falling asleep.
 
I've always thought that Night Shift worked like this.

Brain: Ugh. Blue light making me wired.
iPhone: Imma fix it (switches on Night Shift)
Brain: Ugh. This screen looks like crap. HAND!! Hey HAND!! Put the phone down; it's driving me insane.
Hand: Puts the phone down.
Brain: Ugh. I'm bored. EYES! Hey EYES! Close it up; I'm bored.
Eyes: Okay.
Brain: Nothing left to do...maybe I'll just rest...zzzzzzzzzzz 😴
 
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