Software update: f.lux 4.84

Version 4.84 of f.lux has been released. This program adjusts the color of the screen to the position of the sun. For example, the screen is brighter during the day and when the sun goes down the color becomes ‘warmer’. Not only is this calmer for the eyes, it could even help with sleeping problems. The program helps find your location on Earth, so it knows exactly when the sun sets. F.lux is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android. The changelog for this release looks like this:

Version 4.84: Grayscale mode, distraction-free reading

This new version of f.lux has a grayscale mode and new key to turn it on: Windows + End.

You may already know about Tristan Harris and the Center for Humane Technology. They’ve explained how apps mess with our attention, so even the colors used on our screens are chosen to distract you. At first, we didn’t think this problem would be as bad on the desktop as it is on your phone.

The big surprise is how distracting the icons on the top and bottom of your screen are. These icon colors are the kind of thing you see in candy stores and on fire alarms, but we have to ignore them just to get work done. Without those colors, your computer looks more like a magazine that can help you focus on reading or thinking—it feels different, like a sheet of paper.

Also, turning your devices to grayscale does not remove blue light, so f.lux will continue to do what it does.

In this version, there’s also dusk-to-dawn support for people with Hue lights, so you can put Hue lights outside and use f.lux to turn them off during the day.

There are some bug fixes too.