Why Using Night Mode on Your Phone Isn’t a Bright Idea
The tech supposed to help you sleep is keeping you awake
Night mode is like an organic cheesecake. It sounds healthy except it’s not. Before we get into the hows and whys, however, we need to clear out some fog. We’re not talking about Dark Mode that comes with fancy white text on a black background. We’re talking about its ancestor.
You know when it’s 7 p.m., and your phone screen suddenly decides to turn yellowish? That’s the one. Since 2016, Night Mode has been riding a hype train fueled with sexy scientific evidence. Evidence that recent research suggests it’s rubbish.
The (wrong) idea that gave birth to Night Mode
The science of Night Mode goes back to 1998 when a team of researchers discovered a light-sensitive protein dancing in your eye. They called it Melanopsin. We’ll call her Melany, because hey, why not?
While getting to know Melany, scientists noticed two things. One: she helps regulate your biological clock by detecting light. Two: Melany is particularly sensitive to blue light, which is abundant in sunlight.
When Melany sees blue light, she yells: “Wake up and stay up body!” And when she doesn’t, she sings sleepy-sleepy lullabies. From an…
