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Glad there is finally a built-in alternative for Flux. Been overdue.
by taylorwc 11y ago
Glad there is finally a built-in alternative for Flux. Been overdue.
- bhouston 11y agoIt probably also means it will be built-in to Andriod next and then probably Windows itself. That could negatively impact Flux the product, which sucks for him.
- nicksergeant 11y agoF.lux is free software and they've said outright that as devices / systems implement color shifting as built-in systems, they've accomplished their goal.
- jonknee 11y agoWell, on the other hand, their website says this: > f.lux is patent pending. Do you make a cell phone, display, lighting system, or other cool sleep tech, and want to talk about collaboration? Email us: support@justgetflux.com https://justgetflux.com/ https://justgetflux.com/
- comex 11y agoIt's quite possible that Apple has already obtained a license from them.
- jonknee 11y agoThat's not Apple's MO, but anything is possible.
- schappim 11y agoSure it is. They licenced Microsoft's Exchange protocols.
- jonknee 11y agoLicensing from a fellow giant who will absolutely take you to court if you don't and repurposing the ideas of small indie developers are entirely different things.
- gyc 11y agoI could be wrong, but I don't think Apple has a history of violating patents from practicing small software developers. Seems like they're pretty much only sued by patent trolls.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- cowsandmilk 11y agoApple regularly licenses patents when it agrees they are valid. That doesn't make the news. Sometimes they disagree and that makes the news.
- comex 11y agoNot only does it not make the news, it's often confidential.
- madeofpalk 11y agoWhy not? They 'license' plenty of things without using their brand name publically, like Gorilla Glass
- ywecur 11y agoIf they are truly doing this for the benefit of the community then why isn't f.lux open source?
- berberous 11y agoYes, but it's much better that this stuff is built in natively to the OS. F.lux and equivalents I have used on Android often are gltichy given that they interact with the video system.
- Analemma_ 11y agoIt's not just Android: on both Windows and Linux, F.lux seems to interact badly with certain Intel video chipsets, and often just turns on and off continuously until I reboot the system. It's great software, but having it native to the OS would be even better. I hope the other vendors follow Apple's lead here.
- sandGorgon 11y agoCyanogenmod has had it for a while now.
- kevinSuttle 11y agoHoping OSX is next.
- taylorwc 11y agoYou can install f.lux for OSX and it works very well. Though I am sure the new Apple functionality will make its way to OSX too.
- duskwuff 11y agoThere's some annoying glitches in the Mac OS implementation. In particular, the profile gets reset to normal for a second or two when certain applications (particularly OpenGL games) start up or exit, and when the screensaver is unlocked.
- chipotle_coyote 11y agoWhile that's true, f.lux handles edge cases in important ways -- letting you disable it for certain apps or time periods, as well as "movie mode." As much as I'd like to see this feature be built into the OS, Apple tends to simplify away a lot of fiddly preferences by choosing what they hope are sensible defaults, and as much as I appreciate that in theory, in practice this might be one of those areas where fiddly preferences are superior.
- striking 11y agoThat may be because creating an OpenGL context on Mac OS would reset the Color LookUp table, which f.lux would then have to refresh. Annoying, but possibly not f.lux's fault.
- kevinSuttle 11y agoYep. It's one of the first things I install on a new machine, via Homebrew Cask.
- r00fus 11y agoHopefully then, OSX as well. I probably spend as much time (sadly) on my macbook as I do in front of my iPhone at night. F.lux is a lifesaver, but I'd prefer it builtin to the OS.
- MBCook 11y agoSeems likely. They share lots of code and when one gets a feature the other tends to get it within a release or two if it makes any sense.
- bad_user 11y agoWhile I'm glad about the functionality becoming available, is Apple rejecting third-party apps only to copy them?
- cballard 11y agoThat's not really what happened, Flux was using private API, and distributing it as a binary blob (!!!).
- JustSomeNobody 11y agoSo, it's OK because Apple gets to use the "private" API?
- jonknee 11y agoWell, Apple didn't treat Flux any differently than other developers who used private APIs or tried to distribute binary blobs to iOS users. Software running in the background is something Apple tightly controls in iOS (battery life and security being major concerns). They also don't let apps make changes to the OS appearance. That may be the wrong approach, but Apple is at least consistent in it. This was either an OS level feature or a no go from Apple's perspective. As a user I'm happy it's a feature!
- cballard 11y agoYes, that's the whole point of private APIs - they're not supported, and they can be changed or removed whenever. It's just access control at the framework level. Apple could embed a copy in each application using the framework, but that's inefficient, so they install it at the system level.
- mikeash 11y agoIt totally sucks that Apple prohibits third-party apps from offering useful functionality that requires deep integration with the system. So no, it is not exactly "OK." However, it has nothing to do with rejecting apps because of it, and offering their own version of the functionality. Apple has always reserved this domain for themselves from day one, and f.lux would have had the exact same problems even if Apple hadn't been doing their own version of it.
- AustinScript 11y agoI couldn't agree more. I used to jailbreak my phone just for f.lux when it used to be easier. So happy it is being cloned but it would've be nice if it was just on the AppStore to begin with.
- schoen 11y agoHow about if you didn't have to jailbreak your phone in order to install non-App Store software?
- gtk40 11y agoIt is a good point. I recently got a company provided phone and I strongly considered getting an iPhone, especially since it's the dominant platform at my company and most internal apps are developed for it exclusively. However, I started tallying up what functionalities I would have to give up and decided against it, a flux like program being one of them.
- evilduck 11y agoDone [with caveats]. You can compile and sideload any software yourself using XCode and an AppleID. I run Gamma Thingy (a f.lux alternative) on my non-jailbroken iPhone. You can compile and run emulators, use any private API, whatever. Those apps will just never be in the App Store.
- schoen 11y agoThanks for the explanation.
- ctz 11y agoThis kind of magical innovation takes time!
- jonathanpoulter 11y agoNice subtle detail that the page header changes colour in that section.
- pc86 11y agoIt does so in several sections, I don't think it's just because of the content.
- rdl 11y agoI wonder if they licensed his patent.
- josho 11y agoThere is nothing to license. Flux is patent pending.
- kristofferR 11y agoI hate that this, like Flux, apparently is based on the time of sunset. I don't want my screen to dim at 15:00/3PM, that's just super annoying instead of useful. Let me input a time for dimming instead.
- alexweber 11y agowell, if you'd like to simulate more sun in your locale, you could pick a city closer to the equator in your timezone.