iOS 9.3 Beta 5 Makes These 3 Changes to the Highly-Anticipated ‘Night Shift’ Feature

Perhaps one of the most intriguing, hotly anticipated features expected to be baked into the forthcoming iOS 9.3 update is Apple’s ‘Night Shift’ — a unique new tool that’s been scientifically proven to help improve sleep patterns and circadian rhythms at night.

It works by reducing your pre-bedtime exposure to the otherwise awakening blue light that’s omitted (by default) from the LCD panels employed across the entire family of Apple’s mobile devices.

As we mentioned, the concept of Night Shift is premised around the findings of extensive scientific research, which has suggested that viewing bright blue light after sundown can affect your circadian rhythms, and thereby, making it increasingly difficult to fall asleep at night.

How Does Night Shift Work? 

When Night Shift mode is enabled, an iPhone or iPad running v9.3 automatically knows when the sun has set — based on your geographical location as pinged by Apple’s Location services. At that time, the device will substitute the default, bright blue color from the screen, with a warmer temperature of colors so you can end up sleeping more soundly.

The latest beta of iOS 9.3, however — version 9.3 Beta 5, has brought to the table with it some new tweaks to Apple’s Night Shift feature that could ultimately see their way into the final, commercially available release.

A few examples of these changes are explained below:

1. If iOS is humming along on Low Power Mode, it will no longer be possible to activate Night Shift.

2. In pervious beta versions of iOS 9.3, merely tapping the Night Shift icon in the Command Center would result in two options popping up: “Turn On For Now” or “Turn On Until Tomorrow.” In iOS 9.3 beta 5, however, tapping the Night Shift icon on the Command Center now allows it to stay on until it is either turned off manually or via a pre-determined schedule.

3. The temperature slider used to regulate Night Shift’s color ambience has changed from the former “Cooler” and “Warmer” temperature scheme, to “Less Warm” and “More Warm.”

iOS 9.3, beta 5, just might be the final pre-release version of iOS 9.3. The company is expected to release a new 4-inch iPhone SE, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and a ‘refresh’ of the Apple Watch at a special town hall event on March 21st. And if that ultimately turns out to be the case, it’s more than likely won’t be very long until iPhone and iPad users around the world begin experiencing Night Shift for themselves — and hopefully the nirvana of a more restful night’s sleep.

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