Apple has introduced a few new features to its iOS 9.3 beta including a “Night Shift” mode that automatically adjusts the colours of iPhone and iPad screens based on what time of the day it is. Sounds familiar? It’s basically the same thing as what f.lux has been offering on Macs and jailbroken iOS devices for years.
Blue light emitted from computer and phone displays can disrupt people’s sleep cycles and f.lux was originally released as a tool to combat this issue by making the colour of displays adapt to the time of day. The backlight becomes warmer at night to make it more comfortable on the eyes. For iOS devices, f.lux has been available in the jailbroken app store Cydia since 2011.
F.lux developers did try to release the app legitimately in Apple’s App Store late last year but it was pulled after Apple said it violated the Developer Program Agreement because it required users to sideload it onto devices. Now Apple has developed its own version of the app as a built-in feature called Night Shift mode in the iOS 9.3 beta.
Developers now have access to Night Shift mode, along with other new features, by downloading the iOS 9.3 beta from the Apple Developer Center
[Via Apple Developer Center]
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2 responses to “Apple Copies f.lux With ‘Night Shift’ Function In iOS 9.3 Beta”
f.lux never tried to release the app legitimately on the app store. They made the X-Code project public so that people with a free developer account could side-load the app onto their phone. It was techincally not against the Developer Agreement, but Apple didn’t like that they published the method for side loading the app publicly.
I was able to install f.lux before it was pulled and it works quite well, but I think it can sometimes make the phone warm and the battery drain sometimes – something they could have easily fixed if they were allowed to.
Somehow i doubt the request i sent to apple requesting this was ever seen, but in theory finally a feature i asked for is implemented, hopefully this will also allow a dimmer screen instead of having to use the dodgy but brilliant full screen zoom trick.