This Phone Filter Might Be The Easiest Hack For A Good Night’s Sleep

Using your phone before bed gets a bad rap — and rightfully so. It’s tough to drift off when you’re over-stimulated by social media, and on top of that, your screen emits blue light, which is notorious for disrupting sleep.

While it’s best to put your phone away before bed and read a book or listen to music instead, it isn’t always feasible. If you want to scroll or text late into the evening — or maybe even fire off a few quick emails — you can put the red light filter on your phone first. According to TikTok, it’s an easy hack that allows you to have the best of both worlds.

In a viral video with over 50,000 likes, creator @mikaelawillson said the right light filter helps if you have insomnia or want to reset your circadian rhythm, which can be negatively impacted by blue light. If you use this filter at night (she turns hers on around 9 p.m.) it should counteract the blue light from your phone and make it easier to fall asleep.

In her comments, one person said, “I did this and my eyes immediately felt sleepier.” Another wrote, “I do this too and can confirm it’s amazing!” To see what all the hype was about, I tested the red light myself and asked an expert for their input. Here’s what to know.

The Benefits Of Making Your Screen Red

According to Dr. Catherine Darley, a naturopathic sleep expert and founder of Skilled Sleeper, it makes sense that a red-tinted phone filter could help you fall asleep. “The color of natural light shifts over the course of the day,” she tells Bustle. “There’s more blue in morning light and red in the evening — think sunset colors. These light cues let your body know what time it is, and how to behave.”

Taking in blue light at night signals to the brain that it’s morning, and that’s what throws off your circadian rhythm or ability to fall asleep. Meanwhile, red sends the message that it’s time for bed. As a bonus, the color red might also boost your melatonin, aka the hormone produced in the brain that makes you snooze. “This helps you feel drowsy, and starts switching your body into sleep mode,” she says.

To take full advantage of the red light, Darley recommends turning on this filter two to three hours before you go to bed. “It’s also important to dim the lights in your home at that time and turn off any LED lights that have blue light, [such as] any that are ‘full spectrum’ or ‘white’ light.”

It might not work as well as a red light device, which is made to emit a specific wavelength of red light shown to improve sleep, but it’s better than staring at a bright white screen.

How To Turn On The Red Filter

To use the red light on an iPhone, go to Settings, scroll down to Accessibility, and tap Display & Text Size. From there, scroll down to Color Filters and toggle it on. On the same screen, tap Color Tint and make sure the Intensity and Hue are turned up. Your screen will turn red.

To make it easier to turn on and off in the future, head back to Accessibility and scroll down to Accessibility Shortcut. Tap Color Filters so a checkmark appears next to it. Once you do that, you can simply tap the power button on the side of your phone to turn it off and on. If you have a phone with a Home button, you’ll tap that three times instead.

Trying It Out

I’ll be honest. When I first turned on the red light filter, I nearly screamed. It washed my entire screen in a bright shade of crimson that, IMO, was kind of scary to look at. The color alone made me want to put my phone down and go to sleep, but like most people, I had some scrolling to do — and nothing was going to stop me.

While I love the idea of having phone-free time before bed, the evening hours are when I catch up on texts, read articles and books, and stare at social media. To make it more palatable, I dimmed my phone’s brightness so the red was less horror-movie and more earth-tone, and that made a big difference.

On the first night, I used the red light filter while reading on my Kindle app, and I did notice that my eyes felt more relaxed than usual, especially compared to a bright white screen. The red also didn’t illuminate my bedroom as much as my normal screen, so I do think it helped me fall asleep a little faster than usual.

I’ve been popping it on about two hours before I want to go to bed, and have noticed that I’m lying awake a little less later than usual. Could it be that it’s stirring up more melatonin, the hormone that’s usually banished by blue light? The fact I fell asleep faster may point to yes.

On subsequent nights, I noticed that the red light wasn’t good for social media — it makes the videos look so weird — but it’s ideal for reading or a pre-bed texting sesh. My eyes seem to love it, and my brain, too. If you’re like me and really want to look at your phone before bed, but also struggle to sleep, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

Studies referenced:

Pan, R. (2023.) Effects of red light on sleep and mood in healthy subjects and individuals with insomnia disorder. Front Psychiatry. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1200350.

Source:

Dr. Catherine Darley, naturopathic sleep expert, founder of Skilled Sleeper