Smartphone night mode doesn't help you fall asleep
Miscellaneous / / April 29, 2021
It's better to go to bed early than rely on the orange screen.
With release iOS 9.3 Apple adds Night Shift, a mode that automatically warms screen colors in the evening, because the bright blue light knocks down the biological rhythms of the body, which makes it possible to fall asleep more difficult.
This feature is already more than five years old, and similar solutions have appeared in many smartphones from other manufacturers. However, a new studyDoes iPhone night shift mitigate negative effects of smartphone use on sleep outcomes in emerging adults? scientists from the American Brigham Young University have shown that the use of Night Shift does not contribute to faster falling asleep.
The study was conducted with the participation of 167 volunteers aged 18 to 24, of which 119 were girls. They were divided into three groups:
- Used a smartphone at night with Night Shift turned on.
- Used a smartphone at night without Night Shift.
- Didn't use a smartphone before bed.
All participants spent at least 8 hours in bed each night and wore accelerometers so scientists could get data on sleep duration, quality, and time required to fall asleep. The results among the three groups did not show significant differences.
Next, the scientists divided the participants in each group into two more categories. The first were asked to sleep 7 hours a night, the second - 6 hours. Those who slept for 7 hours and did not use their smartphone before bed showed better sleep quality than those who used the iPhone - it does not matter, with or without Night Shift. Participants who slept for 6 hours showed no difference depending on the group.
This indicates that when you are very tired, you fall asleep no matter what you did before bed. While there is ample evidence that blue light increases alertness and makes it difficult to fall asleep, it is important to remember that light stimulation is just one of the types of influence on a par with other cognitive and psychological stimulation.
Chad Jensen, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University
Since solutions from other manufacturers are mechanically similar to Night Shift, it can be argued that that all night modes with an orange filter are equally ineffective when it comes to speed falling asleep.
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