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How to activate the blue light filter on Android

What is a blue light filter? Also known as night mode, this handy function is available on many Android smartphones. It allows you to apply a filter to the screen, minimizing eye strain and reducing the blue light emitted by your smartphone screen. In this article, we’ll tell you how you can activate this function in your settings, and recommend a blue light filter app in case you can't.

Why do you need a blue light filter?

More and more users are having problems with eye strain due to the amount of time they spend in front of screens. It’s not surprising when you consider our modern lifestyles (staring at the TV, computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.). Eye protection mode, as Huawei calls it, is an effective way to reduce blue light. It has a negative impact on sleep as it disturbs the production of melatonin, an essential sleep hormone. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your exposure to blue light, either in your smartphone’s default settings, or via a blue light filter app.

How to activate night mode as a default setting

Recognizing the importance of this mode, Google decided to integrate it into older versions of Android such as Android Oreo. The latest, Android 10, also has the night mode function. So long as your phone has reasonably up-to-date software, you can enable night mode like so.

To activate it, just go to Settings > Display > Night Light

You can also configure it so that Night Light will turn off automatically at certain times

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Night Light on the Pixel 3a. It can also be configured in the brightness settings. / © NextPit

On phones from other manufacturers

Other manufacturers aren’t waiting around for the next Android update to introduce a Night Mode or Blue Light Filter on some of their phones. This is the case for Honor, Huawei, Asus, OnePlus, Samsung… generally, all you need to do is just go to Settings (then usually Display) or the shortcuts to activate it. 

Most of these night modes can be scheduled, usually with an automatic setting designed to activate at sunset and switch to ‘normal’ light at sunrise, but you can customize it to your preferences.

Get a blue light filter app from the Play Store

So, you’ve looked through your current phone’s settings and it doesn’t appear to have a night mode. This can happen, especially if you’re on Android One or stock Android, without any extras added by Google or the manufacturer’s UI. You shouldn’t worry though.

At the moment there are a number of apps available on Google Play that allow you to achieve the same result. One of the most popular ones around at the moment is Bluelight Filter. It has the same functionalities as those you find on Android, with even more options – selecting the filter color from seven available shades, shortcuts on the home screen, a notification widget and an activation time schedule.

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Bluelight Filter is perfect for getting access to the Android Night Mode function / © NextPit

Bluelight Filter for Eye Care

Install on Google Play

App version: 2.4.3

App size: 5.56 MB

Compatibility: Android 4.0 or higher

Price: free

Blue light filter on e-reader apps

If you do a lot of reading on your smartphone or tablet, then it’s better to do it using a dedicated e-reader app. Not only do these apps offer a range of convenience features, but many also integrate a blue light filter to ease the strain on your eyes during your nighttime reading. 

Source: https://www.nextpit.com/night-mode-blue-filter-android

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