Twilight: Blue light filter

4.6
430K reviews
10M+
Downloads
Editors' Choice
Content rating
Everyone
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About this app

Are you having trouble falling asleep? Are your kids hyperactive when playing with the tablet before bed time?
Are you using your smart phone or tablet in the late evening? Are you sensitive to light during migraine?
Twilight may be a solution for you!

Recent research suggests that exposure to blue light before sleep may distort your natural (circadian) rhythm and cause inability to fall asleep.

The cause is the photoreceptor in your eyes, called Melanopsin. This receptor is sensitive to a narrow band of blue light in the 460-480nm range which may suppress Melatonin production - a hormone responsible for your healthy sleep-wake cycles.

In experimental scientific studies it has been shown an average person reading on a tablet or smart phone for a couple of hours before bed time may find their sleep delayed by about an hour. See references below..

The Twilight app makes your device screen adapt to the time of the day. It filters the flux of blue light emitted by your phone or tablet after sunset and protects your eyes with a soft and pleasant red filter. The filter intensity is smoothly adjusted to the sun cycle based on your local sunset and sunrise times.

You can also use Twilight on your Wear OS device.

Documentation
http://twilight.urbandroid.org/doc/

Get more from Twilight
1) Bed reading: Twilight is more pleasant on the eyes for night reading. Especially as it is able to lower the screen backlight far below the ability of the backligt controls on your screen

2) AMOLED screens: We have tested Twilight on an AMOLED screen for 5 years without any sign of depletion or over-burning. If properly configured Twilight causes less light emission (by enabling dimming) with more equal light distribution (dark areas of the screen such as the status bar get tinted). This may in fact increase your AMOLED screen life time.

Basics on circadian rhythm and the role of melatonin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanopsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm_disorder

Permissions
- location - to find out your current sunset/surise times
- running apps - to stop Twilight in selected apps
- write settings - to set back-light
- network - access smartlight (Philips HUE) to shield you household light from blue

Accessibility Service

In order to filter also your notifications and lock screen the app may ask for enabling Twilight Accessibility Service. The app uses this service only to better filter your screen and does not collect any personal information. Please read more about this at https://twilight.urbandroid.org/is-twilights-accessibility-service-a-thread-to-my-privacy/

Wear OS

Twilight also syncs your Wear OS screen with your phone's filter settings. You can control filtering from a "Wear OS Tile".

Automation (Tasker or other)
https://sites.google.com/site/twilight4android/automation

Related scientific research

Amplitude Reduction and Phase Shifts of Melatonin, Cortisol and Other Circadian Rhythms after a Gradual Advance of Sleep and Light Exposure in Humans Derk-Jan Dijk, & Co 2012

Exposure to Room Light before Bedtime Suppresses Melatonin Onset and Shortens Melatonin Duration in Humans Joshua J. Gooley, Kyle Chamberlain, Kurt A. Smith & Co, 2011

Effect of Light on Human Circadian Physiology Jeanne F. Duffy, Charles A. Czeisler 2009

Efficacy of a single sequence of intermittent bright light pulses for delaying circadian phase in humans Claude Gronfier, Kenneth P. Wright, & Co 2009

Intrinsic period and light intensity determine the phase relationship between melatonin and sleep in humans Kenneth P. Wright, Claude Gronfier & Co 2009

The Impact of Sleep Timing and Bright Light Exposure on Attentional Impairment during Night Work Nayantara Santhi & Co 2008

Short-Wavelength Light Sensitivity of Circadian, Pupillary, and Visual Awareness in Humans Lacking an Outer Retina Farhan H. Zaidi & Co, 2007
Updated on
Dec 4, 2024

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
No data shared with third parties
Learn more about how developers declare sharing
No data collected
Learn more about how developers declare collection

Ratings and reviews

4.6
401K reviews
Jeff McCormack
December 13, 2024
I loved this app until recently when the app was updated it now has this annoying bright red graphic/ logo that appears on the right hand side of the screen partly obscuring other apps. I don't understand its purpose, and I don't know how to get rid of it. I may uninstall the app and reinstall to see if I can get rid of it. Thanks for the response from the developer. Before receiving the response, I found I could delete the floating icon with a long press, until an "X" appeared that I pressed
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Petr Nálevka (Urbandroid)
December 13, 2024
Hello Jeff, if your system shows a floating icon for apps with Accessibility service, disable this feature in system settings → Accessibility → Downloaded apps → Twilight. For more details, please contact support@urbandroid.org. Thank you.
Andrea F
December 12, 2024
I LOVED it until I had to upgrade my phone from a Samsung notebook 9 to an Samsung 24 ultra. Now every time I watch any streaming app and do the pop-up screen, it makes twilight disappear for a split second and then it overlays over the current screen again. It always used to be a smooth transition with my old phone. It may be a Samsung issue but I HATE whatever that is doing it. I didn't want to upgrade but what can you do? Any work around?
1 person found this review helpful
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Petr Nálevka (Urbandroid)
December 12, 2024
UPDATE: Hello Andrea, can you please double check that the Twilight Accessibility service is enabled? You can tap on "Filter everywhere" and the app will guide you. Please contact us at support@urbandroid.org for further assistance or help. Thank you and sorry for the troubles.
JJW
December 8, 2024
BEST blue blocker screen brightness modifying custom app in the universe right now for Android! I just had a problem with it and rated it poorly because I thought it could not supersede phone Auto brightness settings -But I was wrong-that was obviously because I had mistakenly touched the SUN button, which causes brightness to match the sun based on your time zone. I have a head injury and screen time and tolerance so I just toggled it back into CUSTOM mode and everything was back in order.
5 people found this review helpful
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What’s new

- Fix for Alarm permission flickering
- Material 3 redesign
- Multi display support
- Targeting Android 14
- Preview slider changes even when filter is not active
- Profile color indicator