In 2016, Apple introduced a new feature to iOS called Night Shift. It adjusts the colors of your phone's screen to use warmer hues (closer to red, orange, and yellow than blue, green, and purple) after sunset.
Now, most smartphones have some version of this feature. Apparently, it helps you sleep better. A group of researchers have conducted a study to challenge this idea.
"Night Shift" Functions Don't Affect the Quality of Sleep
A new study published by Brigham Young University (GYU) in Utah found that the Night Shift function found on many of today's electronic devices actually has no effect on your sleep whatsoever.
BYU psychology professor Chad Jensen and researchers from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center gathered three groups of individuals and gave each one different instructions.
The first group used their phone before bed with the Night Shift function turned on, while the second group used their phone without it. The third group retired for the night without using a phone beforehand.
The researchers then measured and compared total sleep duration, sleep quality, wakefulness after sleep onset, and the time it took to fall asleep amongst the three groups.
“In the whole sample, there were no differences across the three groups. Night Shift is not superior to using your phone without Night Shift or even using no phone at all," Jensen reveals.
Participants in the study consisted of 167 adults aged 18 to 24, all of which use their cellphones every day.
They were asked to spend at least eight hours in bed, and had their sleep activity recorded via a wrist-worn accelerometer. Smartphone activity was monitored through an app installed before the study.
Seeing that there weren't any significant differences in sleep outcomes across the three groups, the researchers tried sorting the participants by how many hours of sleep they got.
Amongst those that got at least seven hours of sleep, there was a difference in sleep quality based on phone usage. Individuals that did not use a phone before bed slept better than those that did, regardless of whether or not they used Night Shift.
Meanwhile, within the group of people that slept for six hours or less, there were no differences in sleep outcomes.
"This suggests that when you are super tired you fall asleep no matter what you did just before bed," Jensen continued. "The sleep pressure is so high there is really no effect of what happens before bedtime."
Are You Having Trouble Sleeping?
Getting enough sleep is crucial to maintaining good physical and mental health. If you have trouble getting enough hours in bed, we recommend trying these websites and apps to sleep more peacefully.
Night Shift may make elements on your screen easier on the eyes, but won't help you fall asleep sooner nor up the quality of your sleep.