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Apple is Bringing Night Shift Mode To Its Desktop OS (macrumors.com)

Posted by msmash on from the upcoming-features dept.

Apple is bringing Night Shift, a feature aimed at changing the tone of the display to better suit the eyes at different time of the day, to its desktop operating system. From a report: macOS Sierra 10.12.4, seeded to developers this morning, introduces a major new feature: Night Shift for the Mac. Night Shift can be toggled on and off using the new Night Shift switch located in the Today section of the Notification Center.

45 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. fl.ux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Bye bye, fl.ux.

  2. Courage! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I suppose a good bit about this is that even the new MacBooks should have the horsepower to change the display color. Even if it has to calculate the time.

    Leading edge here. The future's so bright that you gotta wear shades.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    1. Re: Courage! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      when they eliminate the screen, this feature will be useless

  3. This made the front page? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Wow, a single trivial feature that is already implemented in countless utilities being added to an OS deserves a whole story? Must be a slow news day.

    1. Re:This made the front page? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Because Apple just invented it.

      It's interesting that the negative effects of blue light seem to be accepted widely now. I've had glasses that cut blue light for years, but always assumed it was just a gimmick as few places outside of Japan were offering it and the research seemed to mostly be from the companies making the coatings.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:This made the front page? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh shut up. F.lux has been out since 2009. Apple barred it from the app store so they could act like they are inventing the next big thing JUST LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO.

      http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2498026,00.asp

    3. Re:This made the front page? by richrz · · Score: 1

      WHOOSH!

    4. Re:This made the front page? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      Apple did not invent it. They simply made it better and that takes courage.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    5. Re:This made the front page? by David_Hart · · Score: 1

      Wow, a single trivial feature that is already implemented in countless utilities being added to an OS deserves a whole story? Must be a slow news day.

      And here I thought that Bias lighting was the better way to go....

      http://www.howtogeek.com/21346...

    6. Re: This made the front page? by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Dan Rather would be proud. Make sure he gets the memo.

  4. Quit dinking around by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Funny

    >> major new feature: Night Shift for the Mac

    Quit dinking around, Apple. You're on the path to become the next Blackberry at the moment.

  5. Welcome to 2010, Apple by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now implement this in hardware with a light sensor instead of a switch the user has to push manually and you're almost as good as the notebook I just went and replaced with a newer model.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Welcome to 2010, Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      A light sensor doesn't do... which btw Apple had in their computers to adjust display brightness since like forever.

      Nightshift is time dependent as it's only purpose is to elminate blue light at hours you should sleep.

    2. Re:Welcome to 2010, Apple by Bender+Unit+22 · · Score: 1

      Welcome to 2006 ( possibly earlier )
      The Macbook pro I bought in 2006 had a light sensor for the screen and the backlight for the keyboard as well.

    3. Re:Welcome to 2010, Apple by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Definitely earlier - they started doing this in the PowerBook G4 days when they first introduced the backlit keyboard. They had a light sensor under the speaker grilles.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  6. So much for color calibration by havardi · · Score: 2

    I wonder how "creative" apps will handle this-- will they get an exemption from the red-shift policy, or a warning? What about clients? Should certain content be flagged as "color sensitive" and be displayed at a standard color profile despite the rest of the screen being red-shifted? I just spent a lot of time calibrating my displays with DisplayCal, dammit!

    1. Re: So much for color calibration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Turn the feature off. Problem solved...

    2. Re:So much for color calibration by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      A lot of "creative" have moved to windows as apple does not have pro hardware anymore.

    3. Re: So much for color calibration by havardi · · Score: 1

      If you notice. The point of red-shift policy is that it is a gradual change so you aren't supposed to notice it or worry about turning it on or off. Yes you can turn it off for your computer, but you can't turn it off for other people's computers who might be viewing your content.

      Yes, clients should be able to red-shift their stuff and I don't want Big Brother taking control and enforcing color profiles. At the same time some clients might want artwork to be displayed correctly, while normal/typical content is red-shifted.

      If this becomes really common, what are the chances that web sites will Blue-shift their content (ads) so that it appears more vibrant on these displays? They could even serve different for each user based on location tracking/time of day. We'll need blue-shift blocking add-ons in addition to ad-blocking. .. .

    4. Re:So much for color calibration by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and while you are being so aggressive about your opinions, maybe you should realize that there are other people out there that work with all three too, including the person you replied to (me)... who wrote that post on a fucking MacBook Pro running macOS.

      OS X has not advanced very much in the latest releases, and in fact has done some pretty shitty things like intentionally disabling the enumeration of GPUs via Thunderbolt for reasons that have never been explained, since it works just fine if you patch the kernel extension to allow it to work. Apple's hardware fucking sucks right now in comparison to the competition. If they are hell bent on letting the other operating systems catch up while letting all the other hardware vendors surpass them again, then I guess we're headed back to the mid-90s where we saw Apple desperate to sell computers that featured an old band-aid covered OS being driven by a lack-luster CPU that couldn't keep up.

      You want that again? I don't. And the only way it doesn't happen is if people stop fawning at the glass and 'space grey' aluminum alter with a giant Apple logo on it, and force them to see that they are fucking the dog right now. A fucking gamer company makes a better notebook than them right now, for way cheaper. Apple should be embarrassed on that score alone.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  7. A me-too company by charliemerritt03 · · Score: 2

    Poor Apple. Once a leader, now a me-too.

    1. Re:A me-too company by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They don't R&D real hardware, they buy off the shelf components from Samsung, LG, et al, and then their engineers put them together.

      Really? Where in the Samsung, LG et al Catalogs can I find an A11x SoC, for example?

      Where is the TouchBar Display and Controller? Show me the Catalog page!

      And the SSD Controller in the 2016 MacBook Pros, where can I buy that?

      I could go on and on, and if I want to look back, there is Apple-Designed custom silicon clear back to the Apple ][ days...

      You talk a lot of shit there, buddy.

    2. Re:A me-too company by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      They've always copied. The iPhone is a Sony design for example.

      Delirious Samsung PR bot detected.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  8. Re:Is msmash a bot? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    Serious question - no submitter is attributed in stories posted by msmash.

    I have been personally bitten by this.

  9. I'm surprised by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    ...how hard it is to find a (free) red-wash theme that I could install for my (android) phone for use after dark.

    The bright android screen (and even when dimmed, tends toward the blue-white color temp) is TERRIBLE for night vision.

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:I'm surprised by Trogre · · Score: 1

      The Night Filter app from Google Play works well for that. The Widget toggles every time you hit it.

      If you want a FOSS solution, Red Moon from the F-Droid repository works fairly well too.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    2. Re:I'm surprised by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Thank you - I've found Twilight does it now.

      Night Filter - like so many others - seems to only want to filter out the blue, leaving everything a yellow-tint which is fine but still negatively impacts night vision.

      Thanks!

      --
      -Styopa
    3. Re:I'm surprised by Trogre · · Score: 1

      You can set the RGB colour and brightness in Night Filter by tapping the name in the pull-down menu. I agree about the default colour being too yellow, so I fixed it myself.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  10. What would be even better would be... by tlambert · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What would be even better would be... links to medline/NIH/NEJM/Lancet papers indicating that the changing of colors is anything other than snake oil being manufactured by the people who brought you "Blue Blockers" sunglasses.

    "Blue Blockers: For when you turn 50, take up golf, and wear white polyester pants pulled up to your armpits".

    I found 15 medline articles on the idea -- all concluding that thecolor changes don't do dick. The one really reliable study -- the one on Navy pilots -- concluded that the color change *increased* alertness. Good luck getting to sleep more easily with *increased alertness*. Luckily, the same study also indicated that the effect was very short term.

    1. Re:What would be even better would be... by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Here's a Scientific America article with neuroscientists who researched it. I don't have any decent journal access, but those names might be a good starting point.

      Even if it didn't have medical effects, I still like the visual effect. When I wake up in the middle of the night and pick up my phone to check the time, the normal daytime colors sear my retinas while the orange hues don't. Any potential health benefit is just a bonus.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    2. Re:What would be even better would be... by MatthiasF · · Score: 1

      Listen, if you're going to lie at least make up a believable number. Studies have shown people believe made up numbers ending in 1 and 7 more than the other eight numbers.

      So, if you had said you found 17 medline articles, I might have believed you.

      Link to study for confirmation:

      http://dilbert.com/strip/2008-...

    3. Re:What would be even better would be... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I found 15 medline articles on the idea -- all concluding that thecolor changes don't do dick.

      We all expect 15 links now. After all, why would we take your word for it? You're just a name on the internet.

      Personally I switch my colour scheme because it's nice not having a skylight screen in an incandescent room. That colour change you are talking about affecting pilots? Well you're going to get that as a result of NOT changing the screen to match your environment, not as a result of changing it. If you're setting your screen to change colour 5 minutes before bed and expecting something positive, you're doing it wrong.

      There's a reason most of the apps which do this time it for sunset.

    4. Re:What would be even better would be... by tlambert · · Score: 1

      Here's 3; the rest are, IMO, not citable, since they use weasel words, such as "may", "might", "could", "should be studied more thoroughly" -- although they do stop just short of "hey, give us a grant, our graduate students are starving, and can't think up anything original".

      "In the early phase of the sleep period, the amount of stage-4 sleep (S4-sleep) was significantly attenuated under the higher color temperature of 6700 K compared with the lower color temperature of 3000 K."

      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...

      == color shift by fl.ux and others: bad for sleep

      "Melatonin concentrations after exposure to the blue-light goggle experimental condition were significantly reduced compared to the dark control and to the computer monitor only conditions. Although not statistically significant, the mean melatonin concentration after exposure to the computer monitor only was reduced slightly relative to the dark control condition."

      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...

      == color shift by fl.ux and others: bad for sleep

      "After exposure to bright light of 3000 K but not at other color temperatures, the EEG alpha1 band ratio and the beta band ratio at 02:00 h were higher and lower, respectively, than that at 01:00 h. These findings indicated that lower color temperature bright light exposure during a night rest break led to a reduction of subjects' arousal level during the subsequent work."

      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...

      == color shift by fl.ux and others: bad for sleep ...many of the other articles were self-published by companies and associates selling products like fl.ux and "Blue Blockers". I'm not going to link to them, because IMO, they are snake oil.

      Your turn.

    5. Re:What would be even better would be... by Trogre · · Score: 1

      I won't cite any studies about sleep, but when I briefly turn off Redshift at night, my eyes hurt. Turn it back on, they stop hurting and I can read the screen much more easily..

      Conclusion: It does some good.

      YMMV

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    6. Re:What would be even better would be... by wildsurf · · Score: 1

      In the early phase of the sleep period, the amount of stage-4 sleep (S4-sleep) was significantly attenuated under the higher color temperature of 6700 K compared with the lower color temperature of 3000 K."
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
      == color shift by fl.ux and others: bad for sleep

      No, this means f.lux is good for sleep. "Attenuated" means reduced. High color temperatures (i.e. not f.lux) reduced good sleep, compared to lower color temperatures (e.g. f.lux).

      "Melatonin concentrations after exposure to the blue-light goggle experimental condition were significantly reduced compared to the dark control and to the computer monitor only conditions. Although not statistically significant, the mean melatonin concentration after exposure to the computer monitor only was reduced slightly relative to the dark control condition."
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
      == color shift by fl.ux and others: bad for sleep

      No, this means f.lux is good for sleep. The "dark control condition" was the orange-tinted glasses, creating f.lux-like conditions. The "blue-light goggle" condition was a goggle that _added_ blue light, the opposite of f.lux. Read the abstract again.

      "After exposure to bright light of 3000 K but not at other color temperatures, the EEG alpha1 band ratio and the beta band ratio at 02:00 h were higher and lower, respectively, than that at 01:00 h. These findings indicated that lower color temperature bright light exposure during a night rest break led to a reduction of subjects' arousal level during the subsequent work."
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
      == color shift by fl.ux and others: bad for sleep

      No, this means f.lux is good for sleep. Lower color temperature (e.g. f.lux) made people more sleepy.

      ...many of the other articles were self-published by companies and associates selling products like fl.ux and "Blue Blockers".

      No one sells f.lux. f.lux is free software. I am happy to link to it here: www.justgetflux.com

      --
      Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
    7. Re:What would be even better would be... by tlambert · · Score: 1

      I think you are failing to understand:

      "Attenuated S4" means you get less S4 sleep (the kind you need).

      "not statistically significant" -- removing the blue did nothing useful -- "exposure to the computer monitor only was reduced slightly relative to the dark control condition" -- the computer monitor putting out the blue light was the same as not having the thing on at all: blocking the blue did nothing useful.

      " lower color temperature bright light exposure during a night rest break led to a reduction of subjects' arousal level during the subsequent work." -- you have to intentionally get up in the *middle* of a sleep cycle for there to be any effect; prior to a sleep cycle, there was no effect. This is basically "If you wake up in the middle of the night, you are less alert the next day". That's a big "duh".

    8. Re:What would be even better would be... by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

      I don't think it's that simple. You're right about screens being astoundingly bright, and also about the oranged screens being darker. In my experience, though, being dark-adjusted and looking at a reddish light is fine. Being adjusted and looking at a blue/white light - even a darkish one - feels like staring into the depths of the sun.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    9. Re:What would be even better would be... by wildsurf · · Score: 1

      I think you are failing to understand:

      "Attenuated S4" means you get less S4 sleep (the kind you need).

      Please read it again. It was the high 6700K color temperature (i.e. not f.lux) that reduced good sleep, while the 3000K color temperature (e.g. f.lux) increased good sleep. This means f.lux is good for sleep.

      "not statistically significant" -- removing the blue did nothing useful -- "exposure to the computer monitor only was reduced slightly relative to the dark control condition" -- the computer monitor putting out the blue light was the same as not having the thing on at all: blocking the blue did nothing useful.

      Granted that it wasn't statistically significant, perhaps due to a small sample size, but the measured effect was in the direction of f.lux (blocking blue light) being good for sleep. They emphatically did not find that f.lux was bad for sleep.

      " lower color temperature bright light exposure during a night rest break led to a reduction of subjects' arousal level during the subsequent work." -- you have to intentionally get up in the *middle* of a sleep cycle for there to be any effect; prior to a sleep cycle, there was no effect. This is basically "If you wake up in the middle of the night, you are less alert the next day". That's a big "duh".

      You are misunderstanding the experiment. The subjects worked from 11pm to midnight, then took a break from midnight to 1am, then worked again from 1am to 2am. Being exposed to f.lux-like light during the hour break made them sleepier. So yes, obviously, f.lux is bad for staying awake if you're trying to stay awake. But the direct implication is that f.lux is good for going to sleep if you're trying to go to sleep. So again, f.lux is good (for its intended purpose, which is to use it before sleep).

      --
      Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
  11. How do the designers feel about this? by bob4u2c · · Score: 1

    I mean really a feature named after a 1982 movie where a couple of morgue workers turn the place into a brothel.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084412/

  12. Manual? How old-school by JustNiz · · Score: 1, Interesting

    >> Night Shift can be toggled on and off using the new Night Shift switch located in the Today section of the Notification Center.

    Rather than have to manually turn it on/off, it seems like the much better approach would be to use a light sensor, or at least link it to the clock so it knows when its day/night. I agree that it should be manually overrideable though.

    1. Re:Manual? How old-school by R.Mo_Robert · · Score: 2

      >> Night Shift can be toggled on and off using the new Night Shift switch located in the Today section of the Notification Center.

      Rather than have to manually turn it on/off, it seems like the much better approach would be to use a light sensor, or at least link it to the clock so it knows when its day/night. I agree that it should be manually overrideable though.

      Look, I know it's not cool to read the article, but...from TFA: "In [the preferences pane], users can schedule Night Shift to come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise or set a custom Night Shift schedule." The manual toggle is just one way you can activate it.

      --
      R.Mo
  13. I'm so excited... by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    ...and I just can't hide it.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  14. f.lux/night shift have been beneficial for me by beckett · · Score: 1

    I've been using f.lux on my desktops and also the apple nightshift feature on IOS. it acts as a reminder that i should start winding down for bed, rather than forgetting and just working through the night by mistake. While i can disable the function any time (e.g. working on colour photos), i have anecdotally been sleeping far better with orange-shifted, slightly dimmed screens, because i do know when it's time to sleep, and the colour shift happens over the period of a couple hours so i naturally taper off shitposting, rather than just passing out at 5am after glimpsing the sunrise again. over the past couple years using f.lux I have greatly reduced insomnia, and have noticed i do go to sleep faster, and return to sleep faster if i happen to view a screen in the middle of the night.

    I am glad this is being included on OSX becuase more people will benefit from this feature.

  15. Redshift by Trogre · · Score: 1

    For you Linux desktop and laptop users out there, you probably already know about Redshift. Automatically and gradually changes your screen brightness and hue based on lat / long and time of day.

    Have been using it for over five years now and it's amazing how much more relaxed I feel at night. Or, more succinctly, how much less my eyes bleed.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  16. So, by BitztreamNotARealNam · · Score: 1

    How's life in the hypocrite lane?