I get asked all the time how and WHY I’m staring at a totally red screen when I’m on my phone or iPad. I get it, it looks super strange if you’re not used to it. But I promise you, this is a GAME CHANGER you’ll need to implement IMMEDIATELY.
How To Turn Your iPhone and iPad Screen Red, and Why it’s a Must for Everyone
Why Make Your iPhone and iPad Screen Red?
We’ve all heard of cool and warm tones, and our iPhones even prompt us to have a “night mode” where we can warm up the blue light that’s been blasting our face all day. Most of us know that the warmer tones are better for our eyes, and less stimulating than blue light.
So, changing the backlight to fully red is just taking that concept up a notch.
Red light on the phone is so much less jarring than any other color light. It was once explained to me like thinking of the colors of the sunset, and how those colors signal to our eyes it’s time to wind down. This made a lot of sense to me (whether it’s true or not, I can’t say I know that much for sure…but it sure sounds nice).
Like so many of you, I’m on a screen A LOT. I do the majority of my work from my phone, and I almost always read on my iPad. I chose not to get a Kindle, because the backlight option can NOT turn red, which means the other option for reading at night is with a warm light bedside lamp- which seemed worse than a red light iPad.
I digress.
Because I stare at the screen a lot, my eyes need a BREAK from the blue light, ya know? Yes, most of the time it’s turned up to the warmest setting- but I have to look at it regularly when I’m editing photos or videos, otherwise the color is super funky.
When I first heard about the red light hack, I thought, what the heck? Might as well try it. If I don’t like it, I can always change it back.
But the thing was, I LOVED it. It’s been 3 years since I made the switch, and I continue to shout it from the rooftops to anyone who will listen (hence the full blog post on it).
The best thing about the whole backlight red light thing is the SHORTCUT available on the iPhone, that allows you to toggle back and forth from regular light to red light by triple clicking the lock button. Genius. And so convenient, which we love.
Benefits of Red Light on Your iPhone or iPad:
-Reducing blue and green light improves health and wellness.
-Red light is less stimulating than blue/green light, which is helpful early morning and evenings.
-Reduces eye strain and damage.
-May decrease headaches.
-Helps you to see better in the dark.
Who Needs to Change Their iPhone or iPad Backlight to Red?
Although I’d argue to say that this would benefit EVERYONE. Let’s narrow it down to a few specific demographics, shall we?
Influencers
Because I know you’re looking at your phone all day. Trust me, I get it.
Working From Home People
This is for everyone like my wife, who’s glued to Zoom for hours a day.
Insomniacs
Ok, even if you don’t have insomnia, but you just check the time in the middle of the night, and then find the light wakes you up. Red light is for you, baby!
How to Change Your iPhone and/or iPad Backlight to Red:
This is for iPhone X users and above in terms of models. I think this is just about where we’re all at nowadays, no? If not, I don’t think it varies TOO much for previous models. But have a play, and let me know.
Alright so, go to:
Settings –> Accessibility –> Display and Text Size –> Color Filters
From there, turn on “Color Filters” by tapping the switch at the top of the screen.
Next, select “Color Tint” as your filter.
Scroll down a bit to use the Intensity and Hue sliders to deepen the red effect to the fullest extent. To reach the maximum red color, both will be all the way to the right.
How to Turn on the Shortcut Option on the iPhone:
This is one of my favorite things about the backlight red light, because this means you don’t have to go through those 4 steps every time you want to change it back to your standard light color.
The shortcut allows you to triple click your lock button to toggle between red light, and your standard screen light with ease and convenience.
Go to:
Settings –> Accessibility
Go all the way to the bottom, and select Accessibility Shortcut.
Choose the Color Filters option, and THAT’S IT.
I share about this so much on my stories, I had to make a quick blog post for you on how to join the red light gang.
Please try it out, and let me know how you like it!
xx,
K