Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7 ships with its latest TouchWiz software, which finally includes a blue light filter. The feature was obviously inspired by Night Shift mode, which Apple introduced to iPhone and iPad with iOS 9.3 back in March.

Apple wasn’t the first to offer a blue light filter; Amazon’s Fire tablets got the feature sometime earlier, and other devices have one, too. In fact, you’ve long been able to download third-party blue light filters from the Google Play Store on Android.

But for a while, Apple has been the only major smartphone maker to make a blue light filter available as standard in its Night Shift mode. Now Samsung is following suit — and we don’t mind that it is copycatting… again.

Inside its display settings on the Galaxy Note 7, users can toggle a blue light filter that promises to reduce eye strain. The feature can also be activated and deactivated more easily from within the Quick Settings panel, but sadly it cannot be scheduled like Night Shift.

This means you don’t need third-party blue light filters with the Galaxy Note 7. Presumably, this feature will also come to other Samsung devices — like the Galaxy S7 series — when they get its latest TouchWiz software with a future update.

Google is also making a blue light filter available as standard in Android 7.0 Nougat, which is currently in testing with developers and will rollout to Nexus users this fall.

I’ve written about why blue light filters are important in my post on why you should use Night Shift mode in iOS. In a nutshell, it could help you fall asleep faster and improve the quality of your sleep, as well as reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and more.

Via: SamMobile