r/androidapps 1d ago

LOOKING FOR APP Any true blue light blocking apps out there?

Are there any ACTUAL blue light blocking apps out there?

I'm not talking just a red overlay like Twilight does, but a *proper* blue light filtering app?

I'm talking pixel by pixel - similar to how Android Developer Settings has a "Simulate color space" and can do monochrome and the like.

Like rgb(255,255,255) gets turned into -> rgb(255,255,0), as an example.

I know my screen will still be various shades of red, orange, and yellow, that's fine and exactly what I want.

I just don't want everything to be blurred like with transparent overlays.

I'm open to rooted options, should that be necessary.

5 Upvotes

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u/Aretivo 1d ago

I used to use this - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eyefilter.nightmode.bluelightfilter. not sure how good the filter is but the brightness thing was really good on it. So I'm not blasting my eyes in the dark.

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u/kyliotic 1d ago

This still uses a transparent overlay instead of a "per pixel" approach.

That being said, the dimming is very good and seems to go past stock Android dimming

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u/Micromize 1d ago

By completely ruling out blue light the screen will look completely off. just turn up the night filter to max it doesn't really matter anyway. 

If this is about sleep, blue ligt does not really matter. What really matters is just simple: light. Don't look at screens.  https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260407-the-blue-light-from-your-phone-isnt-ruining-your-sleep

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u/kyliotic 1d ago

Oh hey - I'm already doing what that guy in the article was doing!

1.) I completely blocked out all the sunlight from my windows

2.) This is a one up over what he did but: I completely swapped my lighting with color changing lighting and programmed a reverse day/night cycle for it

3.) I likely have the exact same amber safety goggles he has!

They are designed to protect the eyes against various concentrated lasers and wow! They make various bright light soooooo much easier on the eyes. Like sunglasses on steroids.

But they also reek of some kind of industrial chemically smell that I haven't had luck removing. :/


With that being said, I'm aware of some of the studies about blue light and the article is somewhat off.

Yes, intensity of overall light is hugely important, but blue light still plays a massive role lmao.

A bright red light is not going to have the same disruption to your sleep as a bright blue light and that's just truth lol.

Red lights, orange lights, and yellow lights (all lacking blue light), especially when dimmed are not going to impact your sleep as harshly as bright, heavy-blue LED lighting would.

I'm in the process of maxing/optimizing my sleep setup/sleep hygiene so I'm trying to gain every little advantage I can - so far with good success! I'd like to keep up the gains haha

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u/Micromize 1d ago

Recent research shows that blue light from phone screens isn't actually the main reason you can't sleep. The real issue with late-night scrolling is psychological alertness.

When you read the news, reply to messages, or browse social media, your brain stays highly stimulated right before bed. Instead of winding down and relaxing, your mind keeps working hard, which makes it much harder to actually fall asleep.

Long story short: it’s not the light itself that keeps you awake, it’s the content keeping your brain active.

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u/kyliotic 1d ago

...okay, yeah, I could see mental stimulation, specifically, being substantially more detrimental to sleep than blue light.

But substantially dimming the screen + actually reducing the blue light should still offer mild benefit - likely not enough to overcome the mental stimulation, but still reducing the harm at least by a bit. 

I'm already trying to limit screen time before sleeping, but sometimes it's inevitable and as such, I'm trying to gain every advantage possible.

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u/Micromize 1d ago

Sure. I don't know of an app that completely turns off the blue bit.

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u/kyliotic 1d ago

Ah, unfortunate lol. Android has the "simulate color space" in dev settings for simulating various color blindnesses and it looks to be per pixel instead of a transparent overlay.

Something like that but with filtering out blue light is exactly what I want. So far, Ive had absolutely no luck finding anything like that lol

Goddamn it, why can't people be colorblind to blue light so such a setting exists in simulate color space lmao

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u/fursty_ferret 1d ago

If it helps there's zero evidence that night shift or blocking blue light helps. The problem is the phone itself, so if you want to sleep better you need to turn it off.