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Google Books app has the Night Light mode. It detects the time of the day and adjust the light accordingly.

Screenshot of the app, showing the message 'Introducing Night Light!'

Is there any scientific study that backs up such statement?

Update:

Text from image:

As the sun sets, Night Light gradually filters the blue light from your screen, replacing it with a warm, amber light that's better for reading. Turn it on once, and Night Light will always adjust to the perfect setting.

Example: enter image description here

This question has nothing to do with Does reading off a self-luminous tablet impact the quality of sleep? as it has been marked as duplicate, please read both questions and see that they are totally different.

update 2

Answering to comments, with "better for reading" I mean to not causing fatigue, strained and dry eyes, at least no more than a clear background, easier to read improving the reading experience.

May be improving sleep is a side benefit from using an amber background, but I am not asking anything related to improve sleep. As said before, the background color adjust depending the time of the day, not just at night, so the main goal of this technology won't be to have a better sleep, but a better reading experience.

Rephrasing the original question, what are the benefits (if anyone) of filtering "the blue light from your screen, replacing it with a warm, amber light"?

marcanuy
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  • Well, on submarines they use red lights at night because it improves contrast. You can see edges better in red light then in other lights. Not sure if its related, but it might. – Polygnome Jul 24 '16 at 19:31
  • This seems like an interesting point to start from: https://justgetflux.com/research.html - apparently there have been multiple studies on this (too numerous to re-post here). – Piskvor left the building Jul 26 '16 at 14:23
  • Scientific studies are present for amber colored safety glasses as one found here-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20030543, here-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20030543 and a review here -https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/can-orange-glasses-help-you-sleep-better/?_r=0 but not for amber colored backgrounds in book apps! – pericles316 Jun 18 '17 at 10:30
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    **Define *"that's better for reading"***. I can write an answer about the neurological benefits of reducing blue light at night time, but it's up for debate whether that can be considered *"better for reading"*. – Jordy Jun 19 '17 at 09:06
  • Marcanuy: I understand you have been through this before, but I am not at all convinced this isn't a duplicate. As @Jordy and ReubenB point out, "better for reading" is vague, and probably refers to getting better sleep afterwards, not clarity or eye-strain. – Oddthinking Jun 22 '17 at 22:15
  • @Jordy I've answered in the answer! I would like an answer that address the benefits of filtering "the blue light from your screen, replacing it with a warm, amber light" – marcanuy Jun 22 '17 at 22:36
  • @Oddthinking I've added more info to the question clarifying what I understand for "better" in this context. – marcanuy Jun 22 '17 at 22:38
  • @marcanuy: Here's my concern: Some people claim removing the blue helps sleep. A question was asked on Skeptics. Someone at Google believes it true, so they came up with an app feature, and described it vaguely as "better for reading". You want to know if it is better, so you asked this question. You insist it isn't a duplicate, but it seems to be one to me. – Oddthinking Jun 23 '17 at 07:31
  • @Oddthinking I am not asking if it is better for sleep, so it is not a duplicate. It could be that the answer is: "it won't help with eye fatigue but it is used because it is better for sleep", then that would be a possible answer, but that does not turn this question a duplicate of the other one. – marcanuy Jun 23 '17 at 15:16

1 Answers1

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Amber tinted screens do not make the device better for reading in the sense that they allow you to read more easily.

The purpose of the tint is to diminish the effect that the phone's screen has on your sleep cycle. Studies indicate that bright blue lights can interfere with the body's sleep cycle by changing one's levels of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.

The message means that the tint will make it better for reading at night because of this benefit.

Reubend
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    But does it *work*? This answer is more than a restatement of the claim, but not much more. – Oddthinking Jun 22 '17 at 22:13
  • @Oddthinking I'm not aware of any studies that examine reading on a phone with a brown filter. AFAIK the only studies done on this examine blue lights vs orange lights, not smartphones with screen filters. So even though the theoretical basis for this is well-founded, I don't think any study has been done on this feature. – Reubend Jun 23 '17 at 03:32
  • So your answer is 'no-one knows'? We'll need a reference to an expert saying that, so we know it isn't just an argument from ignorance. – Oddthinking Jun 23 '17 at 06:22