The contrast and colors used in night mode reduce glare and help our eyes adjust more easily to surrounding light, leading to less eye strain and easier, comfortable reading.
Night Shift automatically adjusts the colors of your display to the warmer end of the spectrum — making the display easier on your eyes.
While dark mode has a lot of benefits, it may not be better for your eyes. Using dark mode is helpful in that it's easier on the eyes than a stark, bright white screen. However, using a dark screen requires your pupils to dilate which can make it harder to focus on the screen.
Particularly, when using the display for work, you'll often be comparing paper documents with documents on the screen, so by adjusting the brightness of the screen to the brightness of the paper under the lighting, you'll reduce the strain on your eyes, making this an effective measure against eye fatigue.
Dark mode is used to reduce blue light exposure. This helps with digital eye strain (computer vision syndrome) that may result from prolonged screen time. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), digital eye strain is related to how we use our devices.
If you think using your smartphone in a Night Mode is good for your eyes, then you may want to think again. A new research conducted by scientists at University of Manchester has found that the Blue light filter used in the Night Mode is worse for your sleep as compared to the standard mode.
Using Night Mode on Your Device
With reduced white colors and minimal contrast, the Night Shift can, in turn, reduce the blue light emission. Most phones' night mode will automatically adjust when the battery is low or it detects a low-light environment.
Curved monitors provide less distortion, a wider field of view, and better viewing angles to prevent you from tiring out your eyes. Bottom Line: If your eyes hurt from staring at computers all day, consider getting a curved monitor that lets you take in the whole picture at once without straining your eyes.
To help you get to sleep, turn on the night light and your display will show warmer colors at night that are easier on your eyes. Night light isn't available if your device uses certain drivers (DisplayLink or Basic Display).
Android phones soon followed with a similar option, and now most smartphones have some sort of night mode function that claims to help users sleep better. Research from BYU psychology professor Chad Jensen found that using a cell phone in 'Night Shift' will not help a user fall or stay asleep.
Night Shift on iPhone or iPad
Tap the Night Shift setting, which alters your screen to display colors of a warmer color temperature, filtering out blue light.
It could strain eyesight in brighter conditions
There's no evidence that dark mode reduces eye strain in brightly-lit conditions. In fact, it could strain eyesight because it causes your pupils to dilate. According to rxoptical.com, dark mode makes the eyes work harder since they need to absorb more light.
It is friendly to human eyes as reduces eye strain and dry eyes in low-light conditions. It's better for low-light environments — so you can use it in the cinema without disturbing other people.
What percentage of people prefer to use dark mode on their devices? According to a 2020 survey by UX Design, approximately 88.6% of people prefer using dark mode on their devices. How does dark mode usage affect battery life on devices such as smartphones?
Night shift should not affect the battery life at all.
Constant exposure to blue light over time could damage retinal cells and cause vision problems such as age-related macular degeneration. It can also contribute to cataracts, eye cancer and growths on the clear covering over the white part of the eye.
Within the six-hour group, which had the least amount of sleep, there were no differences in sleep outcomes based on whether the participants used Night Shift or not. “This suggests that when you are super tired you fall asleep no matter what you did just before bed,” explained Jensen.
Red light is by far the superior choice when choosing a nightlight that won't disrupt your circadian rhythm. Naturally, waking up in the middle of the night isn't ideal regardless, however, exposing your eyes to red light will be better than blue or green.
Eye comfort mode can effectively reduce blue light and adjust the screen to show warmer colors, relieving eye fatigue and protecting your eyesight. After every half hour of screen time, rest your eyes for at least 10 minutes.
Dark mode has been touted as a way to reduce exposure to blue light while using electronic devices, and in turn, potentially promote better sleep and minimize eye strain. "With Apple phones, for example, there's a 'night shift mode' that shifts the display to warmer colors at night," Dr. Eubanks says.
This is due to a condition known as Digital Eye Strain (DES), a group of eye and vision-related issues that are the result of too much screen time. The good news is DES is not permanent and there are many things you can do to help prevent it.