Sleep deprived? iOS 9.3 dims blue light in new iPhone update

You won't lose sleep over iOS 9.3, as today's beta update adds a new Night Shift mode in order to turn down the iPhone's bright blue light in the evening hours.

Exposure to this type of light can affect your circadian rhythms and make it harder to fall asleep, according to Apple citing many studies.

Night Shift automatically adjusts to warmer colors in iPhone, iPad and iPod touch displays running iOS 9.3 beta. It uses the clock and your geolocation to pull off this trick as soon as the sun sets.

Apple isn't the first to tone down sleep-meddling blue light. Amazon updated its Fire Tablet line last month with "Blue Shade," a feature that has the same effect for night reading.

However, with hundreds of millions of active iPhones in the hands of a weary public every night, Apple's iOS 9.3 update stands to have a more dramatic change on our sleeping habits.

More iOS 9.3 update features

That well-rested brain will take heart in knowing that Apple's iOS 9.3 Preview also includes new Education features for growing brains: a new Classroom app and much-needed multi-student login support.

Students can log into individual profiles and pick up where they left off in what the company calls a shared, but personal experience. Sounds like we're one step away from multi-user support in iOS 10.

Minor iOS 9.3 beta tweaks include Apple News, locking certain Notes behind Touch ID and a new design for the Health app dashboard. Apple CarPlay has new Maps and Music functionality, too.

Today's iOS 9.3 public beta is available to download for anyone who is enrolled in the company's testing program. Everyone else with an iPhone will have to hold tight in order to sleep tight.

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