There have been studies conducted in the past that suggests that the light emitted by our mobile devices, also known as blue light, has a detrimental effect on our sleeping patterns. This is why it is usually advised to not play with your phone before you go to bed, lest you end up having your sleep cycle thrown off.
That being said Professor Paul Gringras, a doctor from the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London has recently published a study in which he believes that smartphone manufacturers need to be more responsible and that maybe a “bedtime” mode for smartphones is in order. In the study, it was discovered that with the release of each new device with displays larger and brighter than before, so is the intensity of blue light.
According to Gringras, “That (brighter and slightly more bluish displays) is great for use in the day, but awful for use at night. There is converging data to say if you are in front of one of these devices at night-time it could prevent you falling asleep by an extra hour.” As it stands there are currently apps for Android that helps reduce the color temperature of your phone’s screen.
However this isn’t something that all users are aware of, especially with iOS devices in which such apps do not exist. For a brief period the screen dimming app F.lux managed to make it onto iOS devices, only to be shut down by Apple the next day. OEMs are seemingly aware of such problems, like Philips who recently announced a smartphone with an anti-blue display.
We suppose until OEMs actually become more proactive about this, perhaps users can turn to the DND feature of your phones that will block incoming notifications, which at the very should reduce temptation for you to check your device at night before bed.
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