Smartphone affecting sleep? Here are some ways to fix it
A few days back, scientists at the University of Machester shocked the world by claiming that Night Mode, found on most modern-day smartphones, can negatively affect sleep patterns. Now, if you think that your device is also messing with your sleep cycle, tweak these settings to make sure that it doesn't keep you up late. Let's take a look.
First, switch to regular blue light
According to the Manchester scientists, the yellow tint of Night Mode imitates daylight, which sends mixed signals to the human body, keeping it awake for long at night. In comparison, they said, the regular blue light has less effect, as it looks similar to what we experience when the sun goes down. So, to start, disable or reduce Night Light's intensity on your phone.
How to disable Night Mode
On most phones, the Night Mode can be disabled/adjusted by heading over to the Display section in Settings. Notably, on Android devices, the feature comes with the name of Night Light, while on iOS, you will find it as Night Shift.
Limit access to apps, notifications at night
After adjusting the light color, use your phone's built-in tools (like Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing) or download a third-party platform, like ActionDash, to cut access to apps that could hook you up for hours, say WhatsApp or Facebook, at night. Additionally, also use Do Not Disturb to silence notifications from popping up time and again and disturbing your sleep in the process.
Which setting to use on iOS and Android?
On iOS devices, schedule DownTime in Screen Time to block access to most apps and then choose a few apps that you want (like phone/messages) from the Always Allowed section. Meanwhile, on Android, use the Focus Mode to pause distracting apps from disturbing.
Switch to dark mode, reduce brightness
As studies have shown that bright white light has more impact on eyes, we would recommend using your phone's dark mode and reducing its screen's brightness to cut down the white light hitting your eyes. This will significantly reduce the level of strain (which won't happen with bright white light), making it easier for you to fall asleep while using the device.
Remove colors from the screen
Finally, make things monotonous and remove all the colors from your phone's screen by using the grayscale option in Digital Wellbeing. This will turn the screen black and white, which will ultimately bore you to keep the device down and sleep. You can use this option on iOS by heading over to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Color Filters.
