21 ms·

f.lux for iOS is no longer available

616 points by kilian 11y ago

scrumper 11y ago
Curious what the violation of the developer program agreement is. It contained a binary, presumably signed, so maybe that's it? I downloaded it this morning, very excited to try it as I can't stand the blue glow of my phone after dark.
- JohnTHaller 11y ago
  Apple won't let apps use APIs that aren't officially approved. Officially approved APIs can't do the things that flux needs to do. So, no flux on iOS in the App Store. The flux developers put together a beta that used said APIs and made it available for sideloading. Apple killed that off as well by threatening to kill their account due to a violation of the Developer Agreement which prohibits distributing your app anywhere but the App Store. Apple will only let apps onto iOS devices via the App Store. No side loading, no direct downloads, no third party app stores.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    The confusion is that the "sideloading" was just an Xcode project along with instructions for how to build it. It's hard to figure out what part of that is supposed to be a violation. Are you not supposed to provide Xcode projects to other people? Are you not supposed to tell them how to use Xcode? Or is it just the fact that they were too overt about the purpose of it all?
    - dmishe 11y ago
      Would the use of private API be seen as violation of reverse engineering clause?
  - robterrell 11y ago
    But exactly is the term they violated? You don't have to be in the Apple developer program to post an Xcode project on a web site. Nor to download Xcode, since it comes free from the Mac App Store.
    - scrumper 11y ago
      I think it has to be something to do with the binary component. I can't see this being an issue if they'd delivered all source code in their project and required users to build the entire thing.
      - azar1 11y ago
        I think you're correct. They were distributing an iOS app outside of the approved channels, which is explicitly called out near the very top of the Apple Developer License Program agreement: Applications developed under this Agreement for iOS Products, Apple Watch, or Apple TV can be distributed in four ways: (1) through the App Store, if selected by Apple, (2) through the B2B Program area of the App Store, if selected by Apple, (3) on a limited basis for use on Registered Devices (as defined below), and (4) for beta testing through TestFlight.
    - JohnTHaller 11y ago
      Lowercase free is not the same as uppeprcase Free. Xcode is freeware (as in no cost) but it has a restrictive 14 page license attached to it that you must agree to to use it. https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/xcode.pdf https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/xcode.pdf You can only allow third parties to install your app on their devices for testing if you have written approval from Apple. You can only use a limited number of devices that you/your company own for testing. Your license to use Xcode, the SDKs, and release software for iOS can be revoked at any time: "Apple reserves the right to revoke, disable or suspend any Provisioning Profiles or any access to the device deployment and provisioning features of the Apple Software and Services at any time, in its sole discretion. By way of example, Apple may do this if Apple has reason to believe that Apple IDs were fraudulently obtained, that an unreasonable number of devices have been entered into the Apple Software, and/or that the Services are being used in a fraudulent, suspicious, or improper manner."
jonknee 11y ago
Anyone have a mirror? Installing it was on my todo list today.
- orik 11y ago
  I've sent you the code.
Kronopath 11y ago
Goddamn it. Shows what I get for waiting to download it. I found a mirror on GitHub, but I haven't verified it: https://github.com/jefferyleo/f.lux https://github.com/jefferyleo/f.lux
- hwestbrook 11y ago
  I've installed on a 6S, works for me!
- walterbell 11y ago
  Can someone who downloaded yesterday please publish a sha256sum of the zip (or each file in the directory tree), for comparison with the github mirror?
  - dubroff 11y ago
    9a5da2e28a1d0633f9940bb3242d9efac28385a27d5882d5b14345e4c0b4b0bb I think I did this right. I ran `shasum -a 256` on the zip, but let me know if it doesn't look quite right.
    - 0942v8653 11y ago
      For various reasons (at least, metadata and the .git folder) it's very unlikely that you'd get the exact same checksum for the entire zip... you'd need to post the sum for each file individually if you want to compare them.
      - baby 11y ago
        > For various reasons (at least, metadata and the .git folder) it's very unlikely that you'd get the exact same checksum for the entire zip... This sounds entirely wrong to me. Checksums are used all the time to verify the integrity of archives.
        StavrosK 11y ago
        The integrity of archives you're supposed to download from a site, not archives you're meant to create yourself.
shinratdr 11y ago
So it's a violation of the developer agreement, that's why they pulled it? Of course it's a violation. What do they care? They signed no such agreement and they are not registered Apple developers. Developing for Cydia is a violation of the developer agreement as well, that doesn't seem to stop them. Honestly, I don't get it. It's extremely disappointing, as the app works great but needs some fine tuning. Which we will now never see because they capitulated that they were violating an agreement they were never party to in the first place.
- mikeash 11y ago
  Are you sure they are not registered Apple developers? Seems to me that their being registered Apple developers is the simplest explanation here.
  - shinratdr 11y ago
    I suppose it's possible, but they don't have any applications under their f.lux brand/company published anywhere. If they're just unpublished but registered developers, then sign up for a new account under a different identity. The only way this threat holds any water is if there is a revenue stream or published application they are at risk of having removed. As far as I can tell, they have no such issue.
    - brazzledazzle 11y ago
      On the other hand, they may want to maintain a good relationship with Apple so if/when Apple allows apps to modify the screen's gamma through approved API's they'll be able to start using it immediately.
      - shinratdr 11y ago
        How does developing the most famous jailbreak tweak for five years constitute "maintaining a good relationship with Apple". As far as I can tell, that went out the window years ago.
    - 11y ago
robterrell 11y ago
I'm kind of shocked Apple hasn't sherlocked f.lux by now -- it's such a great feature.
- jws 11y ago
  My guess is that it might have a negative effect on rendering energy consumption. In OS X you can use CoreImage to filter a view, but that has always been excluded from iOS. The platform perception management kicks in, they can't let all the cool kids install a filter on top of all the rendering then complain that iPad and iPhone battery life sucks. In my own Sudoku program I automatically manage the screen white point by sensing the backlight level (I'm not allowed to use the ambient light sensor, so I watch something that watches it.) but I have to do it by changing all of my colors everywhere I draw. It's not a big deal and works beautifully, until you finish a puzzle and the pure iOS alert comes up in full white and burns a hole straight through your drowsy dark adapted retinas. Then you have to go to sleep because you have a huge afterimage floating around in the center of your vision.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
evo_9 11y ago
Oh so they plan to incorporate this feature into iOS soon then?
- tptacek 11y ago
  Lord I hope so.
- fixermark 11y ago
  Hard to say. Sometimes Apple's OS is just legitimately missing the feature (I'm reminded of the tricks needed to have one process render into another process's window before QuickTime needed that feature for 10.6). Honestly, I'm surprised more people aren't responding "Wait, why _isn't_ this possible in iOS? Windows has had the necessary tools to do this for years."
  - MBCook 11y ago
    > Honestly, I'm surprised more people aren't responding "Wait, why _isn't_ this possible in iOS? Windows has had the necessary tools to do this for years." Not enough people care. On the grand scale the number is tiny. I'd imagine that's because so few people have heard of this. As you said Windows has had it for a very long time but the vast VAST majority of people dnot use it, it's still niche. When enough people want some (say user swappable keyboards, or Notification Center) Apple adds it once they have a good design.
- rajacombinator 11y ago
  No chance...
tacos 11y ago
I realize that f.lux has a small and passionate group of users. And if it works for you -- use it! But I find the constant drama around the product to be absurd. A wealthy California couple that previously got famous for refusing to give their fingerprint while attempting to buy a new BMW in cash spends six years making this product? And now their complaint is that you can't use your fingerprint to authorize installation of it via the app store? The cherry picked research and weasel word phrasing and the constant bugs and updates -- all so I can get used to it and then lose access every time Apple releases a new OS? I'm sorry, but I just don't believe that running a piece of software is going to prevent acne. Though that's what their website says. There are other ways to reduce the amount of blue light entering your skull in the twenty minutes before bedtime. You can turn down the brightness. You can turn on lights in the room. You can turn off the device altogether and make love to your partner, assuming you can get him or her to turn off the damn phone, too. But f.lux -- it's time to get real. You've had six years. You haven't managed to get a single TV, Device, Platform Vendor or Lighting manufacturer to license this "patented" product of yours. The attention game isn't working. Find a dev who can fix the product and find a product manager who can sell it. Edit: I'd appreciate refutation in lieu of downvotes. Blame Apple all you want but where's the Android version? If there were so many significant health benefits to be had, you'd think they'd be working on hitting the larger market instead of playing this narcissism game. At least get the damn thing running on a Kindle if you're worried about bedtime reading. But nope, just Cydia and constant drama.
- atomical 11y ago
  >A wealthy California couple that previously got famous for refusing to give their fingerprint while attempting to buy a new BMW in cash spends six years making this product? And now their complaint is that you can't use your fingerprint to authorize installation of it via the app store? Link?
  - tacos 11y ago
    http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.ph...
atomical 11y ago
Just go with Android. Less hassle.
- chadzawistowski 11y ago
  Oh hey! Fancy seeing you here, fellow Halo 1 mod developer.
  - atomical 11y ago
    Halo 1 is on product hunt now!
- morganvachon 11y ago
  And suffer multiple regressions just for one progression? No thanks. I gave up a few nice things moving from Android to iOS, but I gained much more than I lost. In the end it would be quite a bit of hassle. I will say that I wish Apple would either build f.lux type technology into the OS as part of the Accessibility settings, or just allow the f.lux developers to use the APIs they need. When I did have an Android phone it was a welcome tweak that made it easier to read on my phone before bed.
  - StavrosK 11y ago
    Out of curiosity, what are the regressions?
    - egypturnash 11y ago
      http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/5/9675740/apple-gaming-android-google-late-games http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/5/9675740/apple-gaming-androi...
    - morganvachon 11y ago
      Mostly stability. I've yet to own an Android phone that the dialler hasn't crashed either placing or during a call. And I've owned around a dozen different Android phones since 2010. I've had issues with GPS being wildly inaccurate, screens losing touch sensitivity, random force close events in Google and third party apps, terrible camera software, WiFi working sporadically or not at all, sound server crashing in the middle of calls (Nexus 4 is notorious for this), and so on. All of this across the gamut of cheap to flagship phones running AOSP, Cyanogen, and carrier/manufacturer ROMs from 1.5 through 5.1. There was a time when I wouldn't touch an iPhone with a ten foot pole after using the original and a 4S, but with the 6 and iOS 8/9 Apple has finally made a phone that surpasses Android and Windows on the balance of stability and function.
MikeKusold 11y ago
I setup a shortcut on my iPhone. When I triple tap the home button, my screen becomes dimmer than the dimmest setting on a MBP. If I triple tap again, it returns to the previous brightness settings. How to: http://lifehacker.com/toggle-your-iphones-brightness-with-a-home-button-trip-1651329242 http://lifehacker.com/toggle-your-iphones-brightness-with-a-...
- jedberg 11y ago
  That adjusts brightness, not color temperature. Color temperature is what changes your circadian rhythm and prevents proper sleep.
  - burke 11y ago
    I haven't read any research on this, but this feels incorrect. If this is true, staring at red-tinged floodlight should do less to keep you awake than looking at a blue LED with masking tape over it. It feels more likely that this is related to excitation of S cones -- which dimming the screen without changing the colour temperature would also accomplish, to a degree.
    - Domenic_S 11y ago
      Gettin' awful feelsy in here. No need to feel, they aggregated a bunch of the research here: https://justgetflux.com/research.html https://justgetflux.com/research.html
      - burke 11y ago
        So according to that (or a quick skim thereof), it's not the overall colour temperature, but the intensity of absorbed light in the ~480nm range. In other words, dimming the screen should be at least somewhat effective.
- mrks_ 11y ago
  I found that this made double clicking lag, since it waited for a third click to register.
thought_alarm 11y ago
This would be a lot more interesting if f.lux was actually distributing source code. Instead, they were just distributing a binary that you sign with your own dev cert. Side-loading pre-built binaries like that is a huge risk for users and never had a chance of being tolerated by Apple. Such abuse puts the new free-tier Xcode dev program in jeopardy.
- slg 11y ago
  >Such abuse puts the new free-tier Xcode dev program in jeopardy. Or it would force Apple to adapt similar to how they responded to the black market for developer program spots to access iOS betas by making a public beta program.
  - coldtea 11y ago
    Or they just made a public beta program out of their own will -- and not adapted at all.
- arm 11y ago
  Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I thought they were distributing the source for you to compile yourself.
  - autoreleasepool 11y ago
    > I thought they were distributing the source for you to compile yourself. This is what they should have done. Instead, they chose to distribute a binary of their proprietary (patent pending [0]), closed source [1] product. Not only am I not surprised that Apple shut them down the very next day, but I'm also having trouble feeling any sympathy for their cause. [0] https://justgetflux.com/ https://justgetflux.com/ - bottom of page [1] https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/eula/ https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/eula/
    - walterbell 11y ago
      Developers distributed binaries before app stores. They could publish a hash for their binary, on an HTTPS web page.
mortenjorck 11y ago
This is tough. On one hand, there's obviously a demand (of which I am part) for f.lux, but on the other, 15 million downloads, despite being a respectably big number, barely registers compared to an install base that can grow by 75 million in a single quarter. Using private APIs does negatively impact the iPhone experience (witness the constant screen wakes in the pulled Xcodeproj), and making those APIs public has development overhead – As big as the iOS team may be, its human resources are finite (even if Apple's cash reserves are barely so). That said... What percentage of Apple's user base lives with disabilities? What percentage is visually impaired; what percentage has motor difficulties? These are clearly worthy, comparatively small populations of users that Apple devotes an otherwise-inordinate amount of development resources to. Maybe it's time Apple considers melanopsin sensitivity worthy of admitting to this circle.
- wpietri 11y ago
  It seems to me that there could be a half-way model. Some permissions are surely problematic to give to everybody. But perhaps they could then not give them to absolutely everybody? One option would be to require preapproval. The other would be to say that they are sensitive, such that Apple gives apps that use them a much lower threshold for complaints.
  - madeofpalk 11y ago
    People don't seem to take to nicely to Apple when they give preferential treatment for developers and allow some to access APIs that others can't.
- cortesoft 11y ago
  The other option for Apple was to do nothing - not do any public API development, but also not send a C&D notice to f.lux.
  - MBCook 11y ago
    I'd imagine they don't want to end up looking like they're encouraging this behavior in anyway (including tacitly). Flux may be relatively harmless, but that might not be the case with other apps.
walterbell 11y ago
repost from yesterday's thread We can only hope that control of blue light emissions will be natively implemented by all phone and tablet manufacturers, to protect the future health of billions of humans. Here are some articles about the impact of blue light on eyes and sleep. http://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2014/04/23/7-things-can-right-now-protect-vision/ http://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2014/04/23/7-things-can-righ..., "Blue light is able to pass through what is called the retinohypothalamic tract, or pathway. This pathway is responsible for regulating our circadian rhythm and a number of other biological and behavioral processes." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/, "Hastings and Sweeney’s paper, published in the December 1958 Biological Bulletin, gathered dust for decades. No one thought these findings might hold any relevance for humans, whose circadian rhythms were then widely believed to be relatively insensitive to light. But scientific discoveries in the past two decades have changed all that." https://theconversation.com/a-dark-night-is-good-for-your-health-39161 https://theconversation.com/a-dark-night-is-good-for-your-he..., "In the last decade or two it has become clear that the genes which control the endogenous circadian rhythm (the “clock genes”) also control a large part of our entire genome including genes for metabolism (how we process the food we eat), DNA damage response (how we are protected from toxic chemicals and radiation), and cell cycle regulation and hormone production (how our cells and tissues grow)." There is room lighting with low-blue content, e.g. the G.E. Align PM bulb, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PLR3M0M http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PLR3M0M & https://gigaom.com/2014/09/01/what-is-the-blue-light-from-our-screens-really-doing-to-our-eyes/ https://gigaom.com/2014/09/01/what-is-the-blue-light-from-ou..., "It remains unclear whether our screens themselves will soon emit less blue light — Hansler is pessimistic because he says that changing the amount of blue light will be like admitting that the screens are causing health problems, and lawsuits could ensue."
- chucksmash 11y ago
  > We can only hope that control of blue light emissions will be natively implemented by all phone and tablet manufacturers, to protect the future health of billions of humans. A little hyperbolic there, no? I'm surprised to hear this is even a problem that exists.
jordanthoms 11y ago
All this passionate advocacy, and they won't even mention that this is allowed on Android (with a few apps doing it distributed through the Play Store) - or build an Android app themselves? I get that people are iOS fans, but there seems like a bit of Stockholm syndrome here.
- Sephr 11y ago
  The apps that change screen gamma on Android still require root, so it's not as easy as going to the Play Store on any device (at least the apps are on the Play Store if you do have root though). There are non-root apps that use an overlay instead, which can sorta help but it's not an optimal solution.
  - adevine 11y ago
    Regardless of how it is accomplished, I use Twilight for Android, and I love it, and it is the number one reason I can't go back to using iOS. It has made a HUGE impact on reducing my insomnia, and I will not look at any screen without a screen reddener within a couple hours of bedtime.
    - devsquid 11y ago
      wurd, I really like iPhones and iPads. But I find the OS hard to deal with. Twilight is a good example. Theres also an Audiobook app I love that could not be used on iOS. I don't want to be forced to use Safari or a rebranded Safari. The list grows :)
  - jevinskie 11y ago
    I think the proper solution is to add gamma correction APIs to Surface Flinger and get that upstreamed so eventually all recent Android phones will support it without root. At least, that was my idea when I looked into it. IIRC OpenGL ES 2 was missing some OpenGL proper feature that would have made the gamma correction easy.
  - mintplant 11y ago
    I use Lux on Android without root and it works perfectly. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux&h...
psophis 11y ago
An open source version that is not affiliated with f.lux: https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/ https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/
- walterbell 11y ago
  That does have visible source, but it is "All Rights Reserved".
  - matthewmacleod 11y ago
    License I don't know which license matches this so I'm going to write it out. You can do what you want with the code, but do not distribute compiled copies of the app, especially on mass download sites. I mean, it's not quite BSD, but it's hardly 'all rights reserved'.
    - walterbell 11y ago
      That's encouraging, I was going by https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/blob/2b504461c4f1afad839513384a754398325cc429/GammaTest/mvc/controller/GammaController.m https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/blob/2b504461c4f1... which has // Created by Thomas Finch on 6/22/15. // Copyright (c) 2015 Thomas Finch. All rights reserved.
      - tomf64 11y ago
        That's the default header created by Xcode when making a new file, I didn't add that on purpose. I suppose I should go through and get rid of those lines.
  - pconner 11y ago
    "All rights reserved has pretty much no legal effect now" [IANAL] https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2007/06/msg00252.html https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2007/06/msg00252.html (Though it looks like this project doesn't have a standard license)
FussyZeus 11y ago
Speaking as an iOS developer, you do not screw with the fruit. > Developer learns iOS > Developer uses private APIs (which is neither easy, or allowed per the terms they agreed to) > Developer sends in app for approval, is rejected for above because duh > Developer whines on the Internet and gets a bunch of people angry at Apple, who likely will not change. You know I feel the need to point out that Apple doesn't lock us out of code to be mean, they do it because it ensures their devices don't suck, because we as developers do not have access to the system level things that can make them suck.
- shinratdr 11y ago
  None of this is what happened. Here's what actually happened. Developer develops a tweak requiring a jailbreak. It becomes one of the most popular jailbreak tweaks available. Five years pass, Apple inadvertently allows sideloading by giving anyone who wants one a dev certificate. Developers utilize this to create a version of their tweak that can live inside the sandbox & can be signed by end users, but still utilizes private APIs. They develop this and release it, knowing full well that they're doing an end-run around Apple's policies, very similar to requiring a jailbreak. They did not develop it expecting it to be approved. I have no clue where you got that from. The only confusing part is when they caved because Apple complained, knowing full well they would complain at some point.
- dnautics 11y ago
  They also do it because if they don't, they lose standing for future legal remedies.
  - wiml 11y ago
    That applies to trademark cases, but I don't see why it would apply to this. It sounds like legal folklore.
- mikeash 11y ago
  How does forcing someone to take down an Xcode project hosted on their own web site help to ensure that my iPhone doesn't suck?
kevinSuttle 11y ago
Gah. I have the zip, but didn't archive the instructions. Wayback Machine, you're my only hope.
- Untit1ed 11y ago
  Sideloading f.lux on iOS with Xcode 7 In Xcode 7, you can install apps directly to your iOS device with a free account from Apple. So we decided to make a beta version of f.lux for people to try. It’s a few more steps than installing the app store, but there are plenty of harder things even on Pinterest. So, here’s how to get f.lux installed on your iOS device. Download f.lux for iOS for use with Xcode 7 Ingredients Mac, OSX 10.10 or greater 1 installed version of Xcode 7 1 Developer account (use your AppleID) 1 Download, f.lux for iOS, unzipped Instructions First, mix the build ingredients together. Batter may be slightly lumpy. Open the “iflux.xcodeproj” project in Xcode Open Xcode > Preferences > Accounts and enter your iCloud or developer credentials Under Targets > iflux > General > Identity, add a word to the end of the Bundle Identifier to make it a unique name In the same place, under Identity > Team, select your iCloud account or Developer profile While the batter chills, connect your iPhone or iPad and load the iflux build: From the Xcode Product menu, choose Destination and select your iOS device (f.lux doesn’t work in a Simulator) Push Cmd-R when you’re ready to have f.lux When you first run, you’ll be prompted to open Settings > General > Profile on your device, and trust your developer account Run again, and allow location and notifications (things don’t work so well without both of these) By loading an app this way, there are no automatic updates or bug fixes, so this version does a daily update check. If one is available, a message will appear at the bottom of the app, so you can stay up to date when we make fixes. (instructions are still there if you scroll down, I guess they'll delete them imminently)
- graeme 11y ago
  Scroll down the page, they're still there: https://justgetflux.com/sideload/ https://justgetflux.com/sideload/
  - dannysu 11y ago
    403 Forbidden now
ypeterholmes 11y ago
Solution: hire them and include as an improved system setting. Obviously people want this.
- pbhjpbhj 11y ago
  Isn't the Apple way to invite them in to talk about their software intimating a buyout then incorporate the software features and sideline the other company? Just from a misremembered story I can't pull up from memory about Steve Jobs interactions with a music/audio software company in the earlier days of Apple.
  - Steko 11y ago
    No, you misremembered it. Apple set up a meeting with Panic (makers of Audion) but they had to cancel because they were trying to get bought out by Aol. Apple ended up buying competitor SoundJam to use as the basis of iTunes and then still offered to hire the Audion devs but they declined. https://www.panic.com/extras/audionstory/ https://www.panic.com/extras/audionstory/ If you're looking for 10-15 year old story where Apple famously ate someone's lunch then Sherlock/Watson and Konfabulator/Dashboard are some of the more prominent examples but those are fairly obvious directions for OS makers to fill.
    - pbhjpbhj 11y ago
      Cool, thanks will revisit when I've chance to mitigate against misremembering again in the future ... I think it was parts such as: >"We also seem to remember Jobs painted us a vibrant (but genuinely honest) picture of how he viewed Audion fairing against iTunes: "It's like you guys are a little push-cart going down the railroad tracks, and we're a giant steam engine about to run you down." // That gave me the impression that stuck with me. Thanks for the sourced correction.
- MBCook 11y ago
  After they stuck a middle finger in Apple's face in public? Surely Apple already has people who are smart enough to do this. They have some of the most color accurate screens in the world and worked really hard on that kind of thing there's no way they don't have people who would know how to do this.
ndreckshage 11y ago
Next best - http://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-dim-your-ios-screen-with-an-accessibility-setting-trick/ http://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-dim-your-ios-scr...
ents 11y ago
Good. As a professional photo retoucher, I hate that app.
- jedberg 11y ago
  Why? It even has a feature to turn it off for doing color sensitive work.
- nickbyfleet 11y ago
  Wait, you do professional photo retouching on your iPhone?
will_pseudonym 11y ago
I usually don't get annoyed at fans wearing rose-tinted glasses (aka fanboyism), but I feel that people sticking up for Apple here is some variant of the Stockholm syndrome. We're heading for a world where advanced users might not be allowed to interact with their devices because They (et al.) Know Best. Protecting knowledgeable users from running arbitrary code is generally a pretty solved problem. There are layers of trust in the system, and human connections that keep the system alive. This delegation of critical thinking to Apple is an unfortunate path. P.S. I say all of this as someone who has recently converted to iOS from Android after many years of loving Google Nexus devices, and wanted to see what the integrated design of the iPhone 6s Plus was like. I absolutely don't support ANY of the major technology companies as people who won't do the wrong thing so that they can make more money. They're all self-interested actors! We should never forget that. They can be just as evil as big oil or the textile industry. EDIT: to fix phrasing and the omission of a couple words
- ohazi 11y ago
  > rose-tinted glasses In this case, the fans are literally not being allowed to wear their rose-tinted glasses...
  - idibidiart 11y ago
    LOL, up voting.
    - idibidiart 11y ago
      Down voted to -4. Really? Are you guys just completely lacking in humor or are you just angry at anyone who laughs because you were brought up with no appreciation for laughter? What is it with super fragile egos? It's not about you! Don't be so vain. Jesus.
      - Kapow 11y ago
        Do you really think everyone who finds a post entertaining is compelled to reply with "LOL"? This place would be full of substanceless posts like that, you'd have to wade through them all to find any actual discussion. It's considered rude to post when you have nothing to say.
mwharrison 11y ago
Is there anything stopping you from throwing this up on Github with a CC non-commercial license, or does that also break the Apple Developer Agreement?
- thinkmac 11y ago
  Problem is that it is pointless, because the f.lux is released as a binary.. it is not like we can just look at the source code to change the 1900K to whatever temperature we wanted
bkerensa 11y ago
Geez Apple just keeps doing terrible on the app developer relations front. I have talked with startup founders time and time again they tell me their iOS apps are more barebones because Apple's policies or permissions prevent them from implementing the same features they can implement on Android
- MBCook 11y ago
  How is 'not publishing unlisted APIs that have been unpublished for years' Apple 'doing terrible things'. These guys blatantly violated the TOS. There should be no surprise here. If anything what they did was basically a stunt. > I have talked with startup founders time and time again they tell me their iOS apps are more barebones because Apple's policies or permissions prevent them from implementing the same features they can implement on Android Apple implements things at the pace they want. That's one of the reasons things in iOS are generally well thought out and it's so hard for a rogue app to destroy battery life or violate your privacy. Apple chose the trade offs they want to make, andnit seems to be working very well for them.
bunkydoo 11y ago
Namely why I stopped using an iPhone long ago, damn these bastards for making such good computers though...
- thinkmac 11y ago
  It is still a matter of opinion really. My 2010 Macbook Pro heats up and has fan going off crazy, and my 2008 ThinkPad T400 is sitting next to the MBP, just chugging away like a champ. If you are talking about user interface, I agree on that. But hardware wise, I am not that impressed. However, if you do run into hardware issues, AppleCare is excellent.
rajacombinator 11y ago
Well I got screwed and couldn't obtain the original version (was in airport at the time) but I seem to have obtained an alternate. Been waiting for this for years, no surprise Apple tried to screw users immediately.
Spooky23 11y ago
Why the shock? This is iOS. There are a lot of compelling and expedient reasons why iOS is the way it is. Apple isn't the only player on the market, and they aren't misleading or a monopolist like IBM was in the 80s or Microsoft in the 90s. As for why can't you do on iOS what you can do on your Mac... Apple doesn't want the types of problems that android has.
- harryh 11y ago
  You're right this is not like Microsoft in the 1990s. It's significantly worse than that. Microsoft, for all their faults, constantly championed developers on their platform. Just think of that Steve Balmer "Developers! Developers! Developers!" video. Apple, on the other hand, consistently treats developers on its platform with nothing but disdain.
  - Spooky23 11y ago
    Worse -- For developers. Apple's customers are users. Users benefit from a secure system, mostly safe applications and consistent UI. The consequence of Microsoft's fuck-the-user, go developer philosophy has been over a decade a pain for the users. That's why Dell and HP are giving away PCs under cost while giving up share, while Apple is growing and making a killing.
herf 11y ago
Author of f.lux here: After reversing the new APIs in iOS9, it’s really really clear that Apple has added lots of great features to iOS (and the new devices) to adjust screen colors. The new models even have RGB color sensing, so they are an ideal platform to build f.lux on. (I was pretty excited about our next version!) If this were only about reverse-engineering or using LLVM to compile code I wrote, it would be reasonable to fight it. The remarkable thing about their agreement is that it concerns using information that is not provided under the agreement. This is a reasonable term for app store distribution, but it seems unprecedented and heavy-handed for unsigned binaries. Ultimately, we pulled the app both to show good faith, and also because we were asking hundreds of thousands of people to use Xcode to make accounts and sign our software. When Apple calls up and says they don't want that to happen, it is not really a thing you can fight. It’s their infrastructure, and they can decide how it is used. We were feeling pretty good about introducing “building stuff in Xcode” to people who’ve never tried it before. We have been as polite as we can to Apple in hopes that they will open up the platform to developers like us. The demand for f.lux is certainly incredible.
- btreecat 11y ago
  Why not just start work on an android version?
  - OJFord 11y ago
    From the FAQ [1]: > We have a version internally (it looks beautiful!) > but it requires a very complicated installation > process. We are working to simplify this and ship > f.lux to the Android OS as soon as possible. I'd have thought Android users would generally be more willing to do this "very complicated installation" than iOS users would be to sideload with XCode, but there you go. [1] https://justgetflux.com/faq.html https://justgetflux.com/faq.html
    - SamBam 11y ago
      On Android we already have dimming/warming apps like Twilight. Why is f.lux any more complicated?
ryan-allen 11y ago
This is why I much prefer using Android devices. Apple and their grandiose pretense think they know what's best for us, I prefer a bit more control. It's so sad because they do make the best hardware!
scarface74 11y ago
I don't get it. Is Apple against programmers publishing their own source code? If the authors are giving away the code anyway why not just put it on GitHub and let anyone clone it and use it?
- provemewrong 11y ago
  It wasn't the source code, it was an XCode project with an unsigned binary. f.lux isn't open source.
  - scarface74 11y ago
    Ahhh. In that case, I can understand why Apple wouldn't want to encourage this. if he just open sourced it, Apple wouldn't care about him distributing it or using private APIs.
KyleBrandt 11y ago
Atwood captured this well in the past: http://blog.codinghorror.com/serving-at-the-pleasure-of-the-king/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/serving-at-the-pleasure-of-the-...
daniiyyel 11y ago
Has anyone tried GoodNight [1] on iOS? > Based off of Thomas Finch's "GammaThingy" > GoodNight is an app that allows you to directly access the screen's gamma levels, and modify it using IOMobileFramebuffer. With this you can do any of the following: Change the screen temperature, Put the brightness lower than iOS would normally allow you to, Adjust the RGB values of the framebuffer > This application uses dlsym, which loads in the private symbols at runtime, rather than using headers, so no additional setup is needed once you download the source. [1] https://github.com/anthonya1999/GoodNight https://github.com/anthonya1999/GoodNight
entelechy0 11y ago
I'd like to note that, while this version of f.lux works on my iPhone 5s running iOS 9.1, it only gives me a black screen on my iPad2 running iOS 9.1 =\
ex3ndr 11y ago
May be just app developers integrate something like this to their apps? I believe that people spend most of their times in one-two applications.
skc 11y ago
Incredible how developers are always ever so gosh darn polite when complaining about Apple, who in turn tend to respond/not respond in a blatantly passive-aggressive manner. And on and on it goes.
cheshire137 11y ago
Soooo who has a mirror where I can download it for myself?
andreash 11y ago
does it still work if you have the xcode-project? (downloaded the file yesterday, but never tried it out)

616 points by kilian 11y ago

Curious what the violation of the developer program agreement is. It contained a binary, presumably signed, so maybe that's it? I downloaded it this morning, very excited to try it as I can't stand the blue glow of my phone after dark.

JohnTHaller 11y ago
Apple won't let apps use APIs that aren't officially approved. Officially approved APIs can't do the things that flux needs to do. So, no flux on iOS in the App Store. The flux developers put together a beta that used said APIs and made it available for sideloading. Apple killed that off as well by threatening to kill their account due to a violation of the Developer Agreement which prohibits distributing your app anywhere but the App Store. Apple will only let apps onto iOS devices via the App Store. No side loading, no direct downloads, no third party app stores.
- mikeash 11y ago
  The confusion is that the "sideloading" was just an Xcode project along with instructions for how to build it. It's hard to figure out what part of that is supposed to be a violation. Are you not supposed to provide Xcode projects to other people? Are you not supposed to tell them how to use Xcode? Or is it just the fact that they were too overt about the purpose of it all?
  - dmishe 11y ago
    Would the use of private API be seen as violation of reverse engineering clause?
- robterrell 11y ago
  But exactly is the term they violated? You don't have to be in the Apple developer program to post an Xcode project on a web site. Nor to download Xcode, since it comes free from the Mac App Store.
  - scrumper 11y ago
    I think it has to be something to do with the binary component. I can't see this being an issue if they'd delivered all source code in their project and required users to build the entire thing.
    - azar1 11y ago
      I think you're correct. They were distributing an iOS app outside of the approved channels, which is explicitly called out near the very top of the Apple Developer License Program agreement: Applications developed under this Agreement for iOS Products, Apple Watch, or Apple TV can be distributed in four ways: (1) through the App Store, if selected by Apple, (2) through the B2B Program area of the App Store, if selected by Apple, (3) on a limited basis for use on Registered Devices (as defined below), and (4) for beta testing through TestFlight.
  - JohnTHaller 11y ago
    Lowercase free is not the same as uppeprcase Free. Xcode is freeware (as in no cost) but it has a restrictive 14 page license attached to it that you must agree to to use it. https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/xcode.pdf https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/xcode.pdf You can only allow third parties to install your app on their devices for testing if you have written approval from Apple. You can only use a limited number of devices that you/your company own for testing. Your license to use Xcode, the SDKs, and release software for iOS can be revoked at any time: "Apple reserves the right to revoke, disable or suspend any Provisioning Profiles or any access to the device deployment and provisioning features of the Apple Software and Services at any time, in its sole discretion. By way of example, Apple may do this if Apple has reason to believe that Apple IDs were fraudulently obtained, that an unreasonable number of devices have been entered into the Apple Software, and/or that the Services are being used in a fraudulent, suspicious, or improper manner."

jonknee 11y ago

Anyone have a mirror? Installing it was on my todo list today.

orik 11y ago
I've sent you the code.

Kronopath 11y ago

Goddamn it. Shows what I get for waiting to download it. I found a mirror on GitHub, but I haven't verified it: https://github.com/jefferyleo/f.lux https://github.com/jefferyleo/f.lux

hwestbrook 11y ago
I've installed on a 6S, works for me!
walterbell 11y ago
Can someone who downloaded yesterday please publish a sha256sum of the zip (or each file in the directory tree), for comparison with the github mirror?
- dubroff 11y ago
  9a5da2e28a1d0633f9940bb3242d9efac28385a27d5882d5b14345e4c0b4b0bb I think I did this right. I ran `shasum -a 256` on the zip, but let me know if it doesn't look quite right.
  - 0942v8653 11y ago
    For various reasons (at least, metadata and the .git folder) it's very unlikely that you'd get the exact same checksum for the entire zip... you'd need to post the sum for each file individually if you want to compare them.
    - baby 11y ago
      > For various reasons (at least, metadata and the .git folder) it's very unlikely that you'd get the exact same checksum for the entire zip... This sounds entirely wrong to me. Checksums are used all the time to verify the integrity of archives.
      - StavrosK 11y ago
        The integrity of archives you're supposed to download from a site, not archives you're meant to create yourself.

shinratdr 11y ago

So it's a violation of the developer agreement, that's why they pulled it? Of course it's a violation. What do they care? They signed no such agreement and they are not registered Apple developers. Developing for Cydia is a violation of the developer agreement as well, that doesn't seem to stop them. Honestly, I don't get it. It's extremely disappointing, as the app works great but needs some fine tuning. Which we will now never see because they capitulated that they were violating an agreement they were never party to in the first place.

mikeash 11y ago
Are you sure they are not registered Apple developers? Seems to me that their being registered Apple developers is the simplest explanation here.
- shinratdr 11y ago
  I suppose it's possible, but they don't have any applications under their f.lux brand/company published anywhere. If they're just unpublished but registered developers, then sign up for a new account under a different identity. The only way this threat holds any water is if there is a revenue stream or published application they are at risk of having removed. As far as I can tell, they have no such issue.
  - brazzledazzle 11y ago
    On the other hand, they may want to maintain a good relationship with Apple so if/when Apple allows apps to modify the screen's gamma through approved API's they'll be able to start using it immediately.
    - shinratdr 11y ago
      How does developing the most famous jailbreak tweak for five years constitute "maintaining a good relationship with Apple". As far as I can tell, that went out the window years ago.
  - 11y ago

robterrell 11y ago

I'm kind of shocked Apple hasn't sherlocked f.lux by now -- it's such a great feature.

jws 11y ago
My guess is that it might have a negative effect on rendering energy consumption. In OS X you can use CoreImage to filter a view, but that has always been excluded from iOS. The platform perception management kicks in, they can't let all the cool kids install a filter on top of all the rendering then complain that iPad and iPhone battery life sucks. In my own Sudoku program I automatically manage the screen white point by sensing the backlight level (I'm not allowed to use the ambient light sensor, so I watch something that watches it.) but I have to do it by changing all of my colors everywhere I draw. It's not a big deal and works beautifully, until you finish a puzzle and the pure iOS alert comes up in full white and burns a hole straight through your drowsy dark adapted retinas. Then you have to go to sleep because you have a huge afterimage floating around in the center of your vision.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

evo_9 11y ago

Oh so they plan to incorporate this feature into iOS soon then?

tptacek 11y ago
Lord I hope so.
fixermark 11y ago
Hard to say. Sometimes Apple's OS is just legitimately missing the feature (I'm reminded of the tricks needed to have one process render into another process's window before QuickTime needed that feature for 10.6). Honestly, I'm surprised more people aren't responding "Wait, why _isn't_ this possible in iOS? Windows has had the necessary tools to do this for years."
- MBCook 11y ago
  > Honestly, I'm surprised more people aren't responding "Wait, why _isn't_ this possible in iOS? Windows has had the necessary tools to do this for years." Not enough people care. On the grand scale the number is tiny. I'd imagine that's because so few people have heard of this. As you said Windows has had it for a very long time but the vast VAST majority of people dnot use it, it's still niche. When enough people want some (say user swappable keyboards, or Notification Center) Apple adds it once they have a good design.
rajacombinator 11y ago
No chance...

tacos 11y ago

I realize that f.lux has a small and passionate group of users. And if it works for you -- use it! But I find the constant drama around the product to be absurd. A wealthy California couple that previously got famous for refusing to give their fingerprint while attempting to buy a new BMW in cash spends six years making this product? And now their complaint is that you can't use your fingerprint to authorize installation of it via the app store? The cherry picked research and weasel word phrasing and the constant bugs and updates -- all so I can get used to it and then lose access every time Apple releases a new OS? I'm sorry, but I just don't believe that running a piece of software is going to prevent acne. Though that's what their website says. There are other ways to reduce the amount of blue light entering your skull in the twenty minutes before bedtime. You can turn down the brightness. You can turn on lights in the room. You can turn off the device altogether and make love to your partner, assuming you can get him or her to turn off the damn phone, too. But f.lux -- it's time to get real. You've had six years. You haven't managed to get a single TV, Device, Platform Vendor or Lighting manufacturer to license this "patented" product of yours. The attention game isn't working. Find a dev who can fix the product and find a product manager who can sell it. Edit: I'd appreciate refutation in lieu of downvotes. Blame Apple all you want but where's the Android version? If there were so many significant health benefits to be had, you'd think they'd be working on hitting the larger market instead of playing this narcissism game. At least get the damn thing running on a Kindle if you're worried about bedtime reading. But nope, just Cydia and constant drama.

atomical 11y ago
>A wealthy California couple that previously got famous for refusing to give their fingerprint while attempting to buy a new BMW in cash spends six years making this product? And now their complaint is that you can't use your fingerprint to authorize installation of it via the app store? Link?
- tacos 11y ago
  http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.ph...

atomical 11y ago

Just go with Android. Less hassle.

chadzawistowski 11y ago
Oh hey! Fancy seeing you here, fellow Halo 1 mod developer.
- atomical 11y ago
  Halo 1 is on product hunt now!
morganvachon 11y ago
And suffer multiple regressions just for one progression? No thanks. I gave up a few nice things moving from Android to iOS, but I gained much more than I lost. In the end it would be quite a bit of hassle. I will say that I wish Apple would either build f.lux type technology into the OS as part of the Accessibility settings, or just allow the f.lux developers to use the APIs they need. When I did have an Android phone it was a welcome tweak that made it easier to read on my phone before bed.
- StavrosK 11y ago
  Out of curiosity, what are the regressions?
  - egypturnash 11y ago
    http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/5/9675740/apple-gaming-android-google-late-games http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/5/9675740/apple-gaming-androi...
  - morganvachon 11y ago
    Mostly stability. I've yet to own an Android phone that the dialler hasn't crashed either placing or during a call. And I've owned around a dozen different Android phones since 2010. I've had issues with GPS being wildly inaccurate, screens losing touch sensitivity, random force close events in Google and third party apps, terrible camera software, WiFi working sporadically or not at all, sound server crashing in the middle of calls (Nexus 4 is notorious for this), and so on. All of this across the gamut of cheap to flagship phones running AOSP, Cyanogen, and carrier/manufacturer ROMs from 1.5 through 5.1. There was a time when I wouldn't touch an iPhone with a ten foot pole after using the original and a 4S, but with the 6 and iOS 8/9 Apple has finally made a phone that surpasses Android and Windows on the balance of stability and function.

MikeKusold 11y ago

I setup a shortcut on my iPhone. When I triple tap the home button, my screen becomes dimmer than the dimmest setting on a MBP. If I triple tap again, it returns to the previous brightness settings. How to: http://lifehacker.com/toggle-your-iphones-brightness-with-a-home-button-trip-1651329242 http://lifehacker.com/toggle-your-iphones-brightness-with-a-...

jedberg 11y ago
That adjusts brightness, not color temperature. Color temperature is what changes your circadian rhythm and prevents proper sleep.
- burke 11y ago
  I haven't read any research on this, but this feels incorrect. If this is true, staring at red-tinged floodlight should do less to keep you awake than looking at a blue LED with masking tape over it. It feels more likely that this is related to excitation of S cones -- which dimming the screen without changing the colour temperature would also accomplish, to a degree.
  - Domenic_S 11y ago
    Gettin' awful feelsy in here. No need to feel, they aggregated a bunch of the research here: https://justgetflux.com/research.html https://justgetflux.com/research.html
    - burke 11y ago
      So according to that (or a quick skim thereof), it's not the overall colour temperature, but the intensity of absorbed light in the ~480nm range. In other words, dimming the screen should be at least somewhat effective.
mrks_ 11y ago
I found that this made double clicking lag, since it waited for a third click to register.

thought_alarm 11y ago

This would be a lot more interesting if f.lux was actually distributing source code. Instead, they were just distributing a binary that you sign with your own dev cert. Side-loading pre-built binaries like that is a huge risk for users and never had a chance of being tolerated by Apple. Such abuse puts the new free-tier Xcode dev program in jeopardy.

slg 11y ago
>Such abuse puts the new free-tier Xcode dev program in jeopardy. Or it would force Apple to adapt similar to how they responded to the black market for developer program spots to access iOS betas by making a public beta program.
- coldtea 11y ago
  Or they just made a public beta program out of their own will -- and not adapted at all.
arm 11y ago
Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I thought they were distributing the source for you to compile yourself.
- autoreleasepool 11y ago
  > I thought they were distributing the source for you to compile yourself. This is what they should have done. Instead, they chose to distribute a binary of their proprietary (patent pending [0]), closed source [1] product. Not only am I not surprised that Apple shut them down the very next day, but I'm also having trouble feeling any sympathy for their cause. [0] https://justgetflux.com/ https://justgetflux.com/ - bottom of page [1] https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/eula/ https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/eula/
  - walterbell 11y ago
    Developers distributed binaries before app stores. They could publish a hash for their binary, on an HTTPS web page.

mortenjorck 11y ago

This is tough. On one hand, there's obviously a demand (of which I am part) for f.lux, but on the other, 15 million downloads, despite being a respectably big number, barely registers compared to an install base that can grow by 75 million in a single quarter. Using private APIs does negatively impact the iPhone experience (witness the constant screen wakes in the pulled Xcodeproj), and making those APIs public has development overhead – As big as the iOS team may be, its human resources are finite (even if Apple's cash reserves are barely so). That said... What percentage of Apple's user base lives with disabilities? What percentage is visually impaired; what percentage has motor difficulties? These are clearly worthy, comparatively small populations of users that Apple devotes an otherwise-inordinate amount of development resources to. Maybe it's time Apple considers melanopsin sensitivity worthy of admitting to this circle.

wpietri 11y ago
It seems to me that there could be a half-way model. Some permissions are surely problematic to give to everybody. But perhaps they could then not give them to absolutely everybody? One option would be to require preapproval. The other would be to say that they are sensitive, such that Apple gives apps that use them a much lower threshold for complaints.
- madeofpalk 11y ago
  People don't seem to take to nicely to Apple when they give preferential treatment for developers and allow some to access APIs that others can't.
cortesoft 11y ago
The other option for Apple was to do nothing - not do any public API development, but also not send a C&D notice to f.lux.
- MBCook 11y ago
  I'd imagine they don't want to end up looking like they're encouraging this behavior in anyway (including tacitly). Flux may be relatively harmless, but that might not be the case with other apps.

walterbell 11y ago

repost from yesterday's thread We can only hope that control of blue light emissions will be natively implemented by all phone and tablet manufacturers, to protect the future health of billions of humans. Here are some articles about the impact of blue light on eyes and sleep. http://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2014/04/23/7-things-can-right-now-protect-vision/ http://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2014/04/23/7-things-can-righ..., "Blue light is able to pass through what is called the retinohypothalamic tract, or pathway. This pathway is responsible for regulating our circadian rhythm and a number of other biological and behavioral processes." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/, "Hastings and Sweeney’s paper, published in the December 1958 Biological Bulletin, gathered dust for decades. No one thought these findings might hold any relevance for humans, whose circadian rhythms were then widely believed to be relatively insensitive to light. But scientific discoveries in the past two decades have changed all that." https://theconversation.com/a-dark-night-is-good-for-your-health-39161 https://theconversation.com/a-dark-night-is-good-for-your-he..., "In the last decade or two it has become clear that the genes which control the endogenous circadian rhythm (the “clock genes”) also control a large part of our entire genome including genes for metabolism (how we process the food we eat), DNA damage response (how we are protected from toxic chemicals and radiation), and cell cycle regulation and hormone production (how our cells and tissues grow)." There is room lighting with low-blue content, e.g. the G.E. Align PM bulb, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PLR3M0M http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PLR3M0M & https://gigaom.com/2014/09/01/what-is-the-blue-light-from-our-screens-really-doing-to-our-eyes/ https://gigaom.com/2014/09/01/what-is-the-blue-light-from-ou..., "It remains unclear whether our screens themselves will soon emit less blue light — Hansler is pessimistic because he says that changing the amount of blue light will be like admitting that the screens are causing health problems, and lawsuits could ensue."

chucksmash 11y ago
> We can only hope that control of blue light emissions will be natively implemented by all phone and tablet manufacturers, to protect the future health of billions of humans. A little hyperbolic there, no? I'm surprised to hear this is even a problem that exists.

jordanthoms 11y ago

All this passionate advocacy, and they won't even mention that this is allowed on Android (with a few apps doing it distributed through the Play Store) - or build an Android app themselves? I get that people are iOS fans, but there seems like a bit of Stockholm syndrome here.

Sephr 11y ago
The apps that change screen gamma on Android still require root, so it's not as easy as going to the Play Store on any device (at least the apps are on the Play Store if you do have root though). There are non-root apps that use an overlay instead, which can sorta help but it's not an optimal solution.
- adevine 11y ago
  Regardless of how it is accomplished, I use Twilight for Android, and I love it, and it is the number one reason I can't go back to using iOS. It has made a HUGE impact on reducing my insomnia, and I will not look at any screen without a screen reddener within a couple hours of bedtime.
  - devsquid 11y ago
    wurd, I really like iPhones and iPads. But I find the OS hard to deal with. Twilight is a good example. Theres also an Audiobook app I love that could not be used on iOS. I don't want to be forced to use Safari or a rebranded Safari. The list grows :)
- jevinskie 11y ago
  I think the proper solution is to add gamma correction APIs to Surface Flinger and get that upstreamed so eventually all recent Android phones will support it without root. At least, that was my idea when I looked into it. IIRC OpenGL ES 2 was missing some OpenGL proper feature that would have made the gamma correction easy.
- mintplant 11y ago
  I use Lux on Android without root and it works perfectly. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux&h...

psophis 11y ago

An open source version that is not affiliated with f.lux: https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/ https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/

walterbell 11y ago
That does have visible source, but it is "All Rights Reserved".
- matthewmacleod 11y ago
  License I don't know which license matches this so I'm going to write it out. You can do what you want with the code, but do not distribute compiled copies of the app, especially on mass download sites. I mean, it's not quite BSD, but it's hardly 'all rights reserved'.
  - walterbell 11y ago
    That's encouraging, I was going by https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/blob/2b504461c4f1afad839513384a754398325cc429/GammaTest/mvc/controller/GammaController.m https://github.com/thomasfinch/GammaThingy/blob/2b504461c4f1... which has // Created by Thomas Finch on 6/22/15. // Copyright (c) 2015 Thomas Finch. All rights reserved.
    - tomf64 11y ago
      That's the default header created by Xcode when making a new file, I didn't add that on purpose. I suppose I should go through and get rid of those lines.
- pconner 11y ago
  "All rights reserved has pretty much no legal effect now" [IANAL] https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2007/06/msg00252.html https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2007/06/msg00252.html (Though it looks like this project doesn't have a standard license)

FussyZeus 11y ago

Speaking as an iOS developer, you do not screw with the fruit. > Developer learns iOS > Developer uses private APIs (which is neither easy, or allowed per the terms they agreed to) > Developer sends in app for approval, is rejected for above because duh > Developer whines on the Internet and gets a bunch of people angry at Apple, who likely will not change. You know I feel the need to point out that Apple doesn't lock us out of code to be mean, they do it because it ensures their devices don't suck, because we as developers do not have access to the system level things that can make them suck.

shinratdr 11y ago
None of this is what happened. Here's what actually happened. Developer develops a tweak requiring a jailbreak. It becomes one of the most popular jailbreak tweaks available. Five years pass, Apple inadvertently allows sideloading by giving anyone who wants one a dev certificate. Developers utilize this to create a version of their tweak that can live inside the sandbox & can be signed by end users, but still utilizes private APIs. They develop this and release it, knowing full well that they're doing an end-run around Apple's policies, very similar to requiring a jailbreak. They did not develop it expecting it to be approved. I have no clue where you got that from. The only confusing part is when they caved because Apple complained, knowing full well they would complain at some point.
dnautics 11y ago
They also do it because if they don't, they lose standing for future legal remedies.
- wiml 11y ago
  That applies to trademark cases, but I don't see why it would apply to this. It sounds like legal folklore.
mikeash 11y ago
How does forcing someone to take down an Xcode project hosted on their own web site help to ensure that my iPhone doesn't suck?

kevinSuttle 11y ago

Gah. I have the zip, but didn't archive the instructions. Wayback Machine, you're my only hope.

Untit1ed 11y ago
Sideloading f.lux on iOS with Xcode 7 In Xcode 7, you can install apps directly to your iOS device with a free account from Apple. So we decided to make a beta version of f.lux for people to try. It’s a few more steps than installing the app store, but there are plenty of harder things even on Pinterest. So, here’s how to get f.lux installed on your iOS device. Download f.lux for iOS for use with Xcode 7 Ingredients Mac, OSX 10.10 or greater 1 installed version of Xcode 7 1 Developer account (use your AppleID) 1 Download, f.lux for iOS, unzipped Instructions First, mix the build ingredients together. Batter may be slightly lumpy. Open the “iflux.xcodeproj” project in Xcode Open Xcode > Preferences > Accounts and enter your iCloud or developer credentials Under Targets > iflux > General > Identity, add a word to the end of the Bundle Identifier to make it a unique name In the same place, under Identity > Team, select your iCloud account or Developer profile While the batter chills, connect your iPhone or iPad and load the iflux build: From the Xcode Product menu, choose Destination and select your iOS device (f.lux doesn’t work in a Simulator) Push Cmd-R when you’re ready to have f.lux When you first run, you’ll be prompted to open Settings > General > Profile on your device, and trust your developer account Run again, and allow location and notifications (things don’t work so well without both of these) By loading an app this way, there are no automatic updates or bug fixes, so this version does a daily update check. If one is available, a message will appear at the bottom of the app, so you can stay up to date when we make fixes. (instructions are still there if you scroll down, I guess they'll delete them imminently)
graeme 11y ago
Scroll down the page, they're still there: https://justgetflux.com/sideload/ https://justgetflux.com/sideload/
- dannysu 11y ago
  403 Forbidden now

ypeterholmes 11y ago

Solution: hire them and include as an improved system setting. Obviously people want this.

pbhjpbhj 11y ago
Isn't the Apple way to invite them in to talk about their software intimating a buyout then incorporate the software features and sideline the other company? Just from a misremembered story I can't pull up from memory about Steve Jobs interactions with a music/audio software company in the earlier days of Apple.
- Steko 11y ago
  No, you misremembered it. Apple set up a meeting with Panic (makers of Audion) but they had to cancel because they were trying to get bought out by Aol. Apple ended up buying competitor SoundJam to use as the basis of iTunes and then still offered to hire the Audion devs but they declined. https://www.panic.com/extras/audionstory/ https://www.panic.com/extras/audionstory/ If you're looking for 10-15 year old story where Apple famously ate someone's lunch then Sherlock/Watson and Konfabulator/Dashboard are some of the more prominent examples but those are fairly obvious directions for OS makers to fill.
  - pbhjpbhj 11y ago
    Cool, thanks will revisit when I've chance to mitigate against misremembering again in the future ... I think it was parts such as: >"We also seem to remember Jobs painted us a vibrant (but genuinely honest) picture of how he viewed Audion fairing against iTunes: "It's like you guys are a little push-cart going down the railroad tracks, and we're a giant steam engine about to run you down." // That gave me the impression that stuck with me. Thanks for the sourced correction.
MBCook 11y ago
After they stuck a middle finger in Apple's face in public? Surely Apple already has people who are smart enough to do this. They have some of the most color accurate screens in the world and worked really hard on that kind of thing there's no way they don't have people who would know how to do this.

ndreckshage 11y ago

Next best - http://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-dim-your-ios-screen-with-an-accessibility-setting-trick/ http://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-dim-your-ios-scr...

ents 11y ago

Good. As a professional photo retoucher, I hate that app.

jedberg 11y ago
Why? It even has a feature to turn it off for doing color sensitive work.
nickbyfleet 11y ago
Wait, you do professional photo retouching on your iPhone?

will_pseudonym 11y ago

I usually don't get annoyed at fans wearing rose-tinted glasses (aka fanboyism), but I feel that people sticking up for Apple here is some variant of the Stockholm syndrome. We're heading for a world where advanced users might not be allowed to interact with their devices because They (et al.) Know Best. Protecting knowledgeable users from running arbitrary code is generally a pretty solved problem. There are layers of trust in the system, and human connections that keep the system alive. This delegation of critical thinking to Apple is an unfortunate path. P.S. I say all of this as someone who has recently converted to iOS from Android after many years of loving Google Nexus devices, and wanted to see what the integrated design of the iPhone 6s Plus was like. I absolutely don't support ANY of the major technology companies as people who won't do the wrong thing so that they can make more money. They're all self-interested actors! We should never forget that. They can be just as evil as big oil or the textile industry. EDIT: to fix phrasing and the omission of a couple words

ohazi 11y ago
> rose-tinted glasses In this case, the fans are literally not being allowed to wear their rose-tinted glasses...
- idibidiart 11y ago
  LOL, up voting.
  - idibidiart 11y ago
    Down voted to -4. Really? Are you guys just completely lacking in humor or are you just angry at anyone who laughs because you were brought up with no appreciation for laughter? What is it with super fragile egos? It's not about you! Don't be so vain. Jesus.
    - Kapow 11y ago
      Do you really think everyone who finds a post entertaining is compelled to reply with "LOL"? This place would be full of substanceless posts like that, you'd have to wade through them all to find any actual discussion. It's considered rude to post when you have nothing to say.

mwharrison 11y ago

Is there anything stopping you from throwing this up on Github with a CC non-commercial license, or does that also break the Apple Developer Agreement?

thinkmac 11y ago
Problem is that it is pointless, because the f.lux is released as a binary.. it is not like we can just look at the source code to change the 1900K to whatever temperature we wanted

bkerensa 11y ago

Geez Apple just keeps doing terrible on the app developer relations front. I have talked with startup founders time and time again they tell me their iOS apps are more barebones because Apple's policies or permissions prevent them from implementing the same features they can implement on Android

MBCook 11y ago
How is 'not publishing unlisted APIs that have been unpublished for years' Apple 'doing terrible things'. These guys blatantly violated the TOS. There should be no surprise here. If anything what they did was basically a stunt. > I have talked with startup founders time and time again they tell me their iOS apps are more barebones because Apple's policies or permissions prevent them from implementing the same features they can implement on Android Apple implements things at the pace they want. That's one of the reasons things in iOS are generally well thought out and it's so hard for a rogue app to destroy battery life or violate your privacy. Apple chose the trade offs they want to make, andnit seems to be working very well for them.

bunkydoo 11y ago

Namely why I stopped using an iPhone long ago, damn these bastards for making such good computers though...

thinkmac 11y ago
It is still a matter of opinion really. My 2010 Macbook Pro heats up and has fan going off crazy, and my 2008 ThinkPad T400 is sitting next to the MBP, just chugging away like a champ. If you are talking about user interface, I agree on that. But hardware wise, I am not that impressed. However, if you do run into hardware issues, AppleCare is excellent.

rajacombinator 11y ago

Well I got screwed and couldn't obtain the original version (was in airport at the time) but I seem to have obtained an alternate. Been waiting for this for years, no surprise Apple tried to screw users immediately.

Spooky23 11y ago

Why the shock? This is iOS. There are a lot of compelling and expedient reasons why iOS is the way it is. Apple isn't the only player on the market, and they aren't misleading or a monopolist like IBM was in the 80s or Microsoft in the 90s. As for why can't you do on iOS what you can do on your Mac... Apple doesn't want the types of problems that android has.

harryh 11y ago
You're right this is not like Microsoft in the 1990s. It's significantly worse than that. Microsoft, for all their faults, constantly championed developers on their platform. Just think of that Steve Balmer "Developers! Developers! Developers!" video. Apple, on the other hand, consistently treats developers on its platform with nothing but disdain.
- Spooky23 11y ago
  Worse -- For developers. Apple's customers are users. Users benefit from a secure system, mostly safe applications and consistent UI. The consequence of Microsoft's fuck-the-user, go developer philosophy has been over a decade a pain for the users. That's why Dell and HP are giving away PCs under cost while giving up share, while Apple is growing and making a killing.

herf 11y ago

Author of f.lux here: After reversing the new APIs in iOS9, it’s really really clear that Apple has added lots of great features to iOS (and the new devices) to adjust screen colors. The new models even have RGB color sensing, so they are an ideal platform to build f.lux on. (I was pretty excited about our next version!) If this were only about reverse-engineering or using LLVM to compile code I wrote, it would be reasonable to fight it. The remarkable thing about their agreement is that it concerns using information that is not provided under the agreement. This is a reasonable term for app store distribution, but it seems unprecedented and heavy-handed for unsigned binaries. Ultimately, we pulled the app both to show good faith, and also because we were asking hundreds of thousands of people to use Xcode to make accounts and sign our software. When Apple calls up and says they don't want that to happen, it is not really a thing you can fight. It’s their infrastructure, and they can decide how it is used. We were feeling pretty good about introducing “building stuff in Xcode” to people who’ve never tried it before. We have been as polite as we can to Apple in hopes that they will open up the platform to developers like us. The demand for f.lux is certainly incredible.

btreecat 11y ago
Why not just start work on an android version?
- OJFord 11y ago
  From the FAQ [1]: > We have a version internally (it looks beautiful!) > but it requires a very complicated installation > process. We are working to simplify this and ship > f.lux to the Android OS as soon as possible. I'd have thought Android users would generally be more willing to do this "very complicated installation" than iOS users would be to sideload with XCode, but there you go. [1] https://justgetflux.com/faq.html https://justgetflux.com/faq.html
  - SamBam 11y ago
    On Android we already have dimming/warming apps like Twilight. Why is f.lux any more complicated?

ryan-allen 11y ago

This is why I much prefer using Android devices. Apple and their grandiose pretense think they know what's best for us, I prefer a bit more control. It's so sad because they do make the best hardware!

scarface74 11y ago

I don't get it. Is Apple against programmers publishing their own source code? If the authors are giving away the code anyway why not just put it on GitHub and let anyone clone it and use it?

provemewrong 11y ago
It wasn't the source code, it was an XCode project with an unsigned binary. f.lux isn't open source.
- scarface74 11y ago
  Ahhh. In that case, I can understand why Apple wouldn't want to encourage this. if he just open sourced it, Apple wouldn't care about him distributing it or using private APIs.

KyleBrandt 11y ago

Atwood captured this well in the past: http://blog.codinghorror.com/serving-at-the-pleasure-of-the-king/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/serving-at-the-pleasure-of-the-...

daniiyyel 11y ago

Has anyone tried GoodNight [1] on iOS? > Based off of Thomas Finch's "GammaThingy" > GoodNight is an app that allows you to directly access the screen's gamma levels, and modify it using IOMobileFramebuffer. With this you can do any of the following: Change the screen temperature, Put the brightness lower than iOS would normally allow you to, Adjust the RGB values of the framebuffer > This application uses dlsym, which loads in the private symbols at runtime, rather than using headers, so no additional setup is needed once you download the source. [1] https://github.com/anthonya1999/GoodNight https://github.com/anthonya1999/GoodNight

entelechy0 11y ago

I'd like to note that, while this version of f.lux works on my iPhone 5s running iOS 9.1, it only gives me a black screen on my iPad2 running iOS 9.1 =\

ex3ndr 11y ago

May be just app developers integrate something like this to their apps? I believe that people spend most of their times in one-two applications.

skc 11y ago

Incredible how developers are always ever so gosh darn polite when complaining about Apple, who in turn tend to respond/not respond in a blatantly passive-aggressive manner. And on and on it goes.

cheshire137 11y ago

Soooo who has a mirror where I can download it for myself?

andreash 11y ago

does it still work if you have the xcode-project? (downloaded the file yesterday, but never tried it out)