When Apple released iOS 9.3 back in March 2016, one of the touted features of the mobile operating system update was Night Shift.
Apple is finally bringing the helpful feature to Macs, as Night Shift has been spotted on the most recent developer beta of macOS Sierra.
What Is Apple's Night Shift Feature?
In a nutshell, the Night Shift feature allows users to adjust the display settings of their devices to lessen the amount of blue light that is being emitted by the screen.
Blue light helps the screens of devices stay visible even during the brightest times of the day. However, at night, the human body confuses the blue light as sunlight, leading to reduced production of the sleep hormone melatonin. In addition, blue light increases the alertness of the user. With these two factors combined, users exposed to blue light at night find themselves having difficulty in getting sleep.
With the Night Shift feature activated, the display of the device will be transformed from a bright screen emitting blue light into a warmer screen with yellow tones, which would not impede with melatonin production and would lead to better sleep for the user.
The feature can be set up to automatically activate at a certain time, such as the usual hour that users are making their final checks on their device before going to sleep. Users can also set how warm the colors of their screens can be, and can also activate it during the day time with a single tap.
Night Shift Coming To Macs
Apple will now be bringing Night Shift to Macs through its next update, as the feature was spotted in the first developer beta for macOS Sierra 10.12.4.
The feature will be accessible on Macs through the Display menu under System Preferences. The Night Shift feature will be shown as the third tab in the menu, and it will offer similar options as those on the iOS version of Night Shift. Users will be able to set a schedule for the feature to activate, manually turn it on until sunrise, and adjust the color temperature of the screen when Night Shift is activated from the least warm to the warmest settings.
Night Shift will also be accessible through the Mac's Notification Center, where there will be a toggle for the feature shown to allow users to manually activate or deactivate it.
As to when Night Shift, along with the next macOS Sierra update, will be coming to Macs and MacBooks is still unknown at this point. However, with the release of the first developer beta for macOS Sierra 10.12.4, users should expect the update and Night Shift to arrive within a couple of months.
Night Shift is currently only available in the developer beta, but for users who could not wait to try out the new feature, a public beta for the operating system update should be coming soon.
The upcoming introduction of Night Shift into the macOS is more than just a simple port of a feature from the iOS, as it is another way for Apple to improve the well-being and health of its users, which has become a priority under Apple CEO Tim Cook.
