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How to turn off blue light on your iPhone with Night Shift, and make it easier to fall asleep at night

phone iphone insomnia sleep bed night
You should turn off the blue light on your iPhone before you go to sleep. iStock

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We all know that our iPhones can keep us awake at night — that "one last YouTube video" can turn into an hour-long marathon that gets us into bed way too late. But that's not all that's keeping us up. 

Research has shown that blue light, which your iPhone's screen gives off nearly constantly, can have adverse effects on our bodies. Blue light disrupts your body's melatonin production, which is the chemical in your brain that helps you feel sleepy.

While some would advocate for cutting out screen time at night altogether, an alternative to that is to make it so that your iPhone display doesn't give off as much blue light.

Here's how to turn off blue light on your iPhone, either on a day and night timer, or all the time.

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How to turn off the blue light on an iPhone with Night Shift

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Scroll down and tap "Display and Brightness," the third item on the third list of options.

How to turn off blue light on your iPhone   1
Open the "Display & Brightness" menu. Melanie Weir/Business Insider

3. Scroll down and tap "Night Shift."

How to turn off blue light on your iPhone   2
Tap to open the "Night Shift" menu. Melanie Weir/Business Insider

4. From here, you have two options.

  • Tap "Manually Enable Until Tomorrow" to toggle the blue light filter to on until sunrise tomorrow morning.
  • Option two: Tap the toggle switch next to "Scheduled" to turn it on. If you like the schedule that's set automatically, which is from sunset to sunrise, leave it be. If not, tap it again and proceed to Step 5.
How to turn off blue light on your iPhone   3.PNG
Select either "Manually Enable Until Tomorrow" or "Schedule." Melanie Weir/Business Insider

5. Tap the "From/To" tab to take yourself to the scheduling screen. If you want your phone to turn Night Shift on and off at the same times every day, set those parameters here.

How to turn off blue light on your iPhone   4.PNG
Adjust your phone's blue light schedule to fit your own. Melanie Weir/Business Insider

6. Finally, if you'd like, return to the Night Shift menu and adjust your Night Shift coloring to your liking, from "Less Warm" to "More Warm." The warmer your screen, the less blue light it gives off.

 

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