11 ms·

F.lux major update

267 points by cconstantin 9y ago

graphitezepp 9y ago
The supposed performance improvement is really the only thing I care about as I am happy with the amount of red shift I currently have. It's nice they are bothering to integrate more pro-sleep functionality for those who care though.
jedberg 9y ago
The best tip I ever got (other than to use f.lux at all) was to set it to 5800K during the day. It's an almost unnoticeable difference, but makes a huge improvement in reducing my eyestrain.
- herf 9y ago
  The new eyestrain preset is 5900K, so good call.
  - jedberg 9y ago
    Where do I find that? I'm using the latest f.lux but I can't find all the new features...
    - joshschreuder 9y ago
      Not sure if other platforms are different, but it's here at least on Windows: https://i.imgur.com/7HWJvMb.png https://i.imgur.com/7HWJvMb.png
      - jedberg 9y ago
        Fascinating. On my Mac only have a few of those: http://imgur.com/wycKzdS http://imgur.com/wycKzdS
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
- eikenberry 9y ago
  I've found the lower the value the better for reducing eyestrain. Slowly lowering it down in about 100K chunks it doesn't take long to get used to each step. I currently have mine at 4900/4200 (day/night).
  - r00fus 9y ago
    Why so high at night? I do fine with candle setting at 1900K (though I turn my brightness up a notch from lowest).
    - eikenberry 9y ago
      The night value hasn't bothered me so I haven't given it much thought. I set it to that value when I first started using it as lower just looked weird at that time. I should probably try lower values at night and see if it effects my sleep.
  - mjs7231 9y ago
    My low setting makes me feel old. 3800 day / 2800 night. However, this is redshift (Linux), not sure it translates 1 to 1.
- smegel 9y ago
  I just did this and I have to say I felt my eyes relax a little, and it looks the same. Thanks.
- k_sh 9y ago
  Thanks for this! I just changed the setting and my eyes immediately felt less strained.
- j45 9y ago
  Nice, just tried this. It reminds me of the "comfort view" tint on my phone that I forget is on over time.
  - j45 9y ago
    Setting it to 5700-5800 seems to have made a noticeable a big difference to me, as I'm plugging into my monitor at home right away my screen had less of a bite.
Analemma_ 9y ago
I have to assume that this burst of activity came because Apple and Microsoft are both now just do what f.lux does in the OS (Apple fans will be familiar with the term "getting Sherlocked"). Can't see how f.lux is going to survive long-term, to be honest.
- jedberg 9y ago
  I still use f.lux because it has way more options and control than the built in Apple product. I wish I had it on my phone too, but I just suffer with Night Shift instead.
  - graphitezepp 9y ago
    I've been very happy with Twilight on my Android device.
    - mcescalante 9y ago
      My Android (Pixel XL) has it built in as "Night Light" in the Display settings which I prefer. I've used both Twilight and f.lux (rooted only) on Android in the past and Twilight's defaults are rough and needs too much fuss & attention to get the settings right. f.lux was buggy even tho I was rooted. "Night Light" is OK.
  - g09980 9y ago
    I've set iOS Night Shift to be active all day (start at 8:00 AM, end at 7:59 AM, something like that), can't look at the phone without it now.
  - overcast 9y ago
    Sorry, what exactly is causing you to "suffer"? It's an option to warm up the color temperature on your screen.
    - jedberg 9y ago
      The lack of programmability, like I have with f.lux. I can only make it come on and off at a certain time, and the color temp is just a slider with no numbers. With f.lux, I can have day, evening, and night, and it adjusts automatically to my location. When I travel, I have to adjust the time on my phone. All little things, but it shows how f.lux is polished and Night Shift is not.
deft 9y ago
Do I still need to set a location or can I just use timed based? Most annoying part of flux...
- kumaraman 9y ago
  Using location is more accurate as depending on how far away from the equator you are light levels can change drastically. This covers some of the details around it: http://www.ccfg.org.uk/conferences/downloads/P_Burgess.pdf http://www.ccfg.org.uk/conferences/downloads/P_Burgess.pdf
  - adt2bt 9y ago
    I think the gist isn't to match the outside so much as to set a pattern of turning on F.lux at the same time every day, to settle into a night-time routine.
  - deft 9y ago
    I know the reasoning, I guess I'd just prefer to set it manually based on when I'm actually using my machine. As in, near the end of my usage at night I want it to be very orange no matter what the time is.
    - dagurp 9y ago
      I agree. I live in Iceland and during the summer months it does nothing.
  - nebabyte 9y ago
    Many people aren't attuning it to outdoor light levels.
- didgeoridoo 9y ago
  I just set mine to Quito, Ecuador (anywhere on the equator will do). That keeps things relatively consistent throughout the year, instead of following sunset/sunrise times which have no bearing on my sleep/wake schedule.
slackoverflower 9y ago
Was expecting them to announce a $5 monthly subscription to use the new version too. Lol. "SOFTWARE SHOULD BE SUBSCRIPTION"
adamdecaf 9y ago
You can donate via PayPal off their install page. https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/welcome/ https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/welcome/
pinpeliponni 9y ago
Does the Linux version work with Wayland already? Edit: Apparently this is now built-in to Gnome 3.24+, using the name Night Light. I am happy camper again!
JasonSage 9y ago
When does the new version become available?
- colejohnson66 9y ago
  Now. Go to the homepage to download.
  - deagle50 9y ago
    The mac version is still the old one look like.
- Mathnerd314 9y ago
  It's been available for a while now, since April 3: https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/3675/f-lux-beta-for-windows https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/3675/f-lux-beta-for-wind... But I guess now they've made it official.
reificator 9y ago
I've been using this version on macOS for probably over a year now, I'm not sure exactly how long. I don't believe I opted into any betas, and I couldn't find a similar featureset for Windows/Linux. Still, good news for anyone running Windows/Linux, I'm actually going to go update ASAP.
- codefined 9y ago
  Yeah, I've had this version for a while on Linux. I believe it was just the Windows build that was behind a few months.
  - reificator 9y ago
    Weird, I didn't have it available on Ubuntu whatever I use at work either...
andyhnj 9y ago
I love f.lux, but it disappeared from my work computer recently, and the f.lux site is blocked on our network now. I'm not sure why we would have flagged the program and/or site as bad. It seems like a pretty harmless utility to me, and I don't recall there ever being any issues with it. Oh well. At least I can still use it on my home PCs.
IceDane 9y ago
Windows 10 has this built-in now, and I use redshift on linux. I don't see how f.lux is going to compete against Windows 10's built-in feature tbh.
- TazeTSchnitzel 9y ago
  Especially since OSes with it integrated can probably do a better job of consistently dimming the screen. It's not really the competency of a third-party app.
  - kalleboo 9y ago
    Although ironically macOS's "Night Shift" is far buggier than f.lux was (widespread known issue where it doesn't turn off on the morning)
- cknight 9y ago
  I tried it out and found the gradual transition to be still too abrupt and distracting. With flux I don't notice it gradually changing over the course of the evening, and that's enough for me to stick with it.
- srigi 9y ago
  With W10 you must enable location service to enable "sunset to sunrise". If you keep LS disabled you can only mechanically set up & down times, which slowly drifts by seasons. With f.lux you can insert your location manually.
  - emn13 9y ago
    Frankly: why would you want to follow sunset to sunrise? That's clever and all, but not useful. What matters is your sleep schedule; just because the sun doesn't set until after 10pm doesn't mean you monitor needs to be on it's bluest setting until then; similarly, even when the sun sets at 1630, I really don't need my monitors to start putting me to sleep yet. And in general, if I need to wake up early, I'd rather the monitors be at their bluest immediately, and not wait until sunrise. A fixed schedule is better than the fancy sunset times.
cknight 9y ago
Something I've been pondering recently: If there is broad acceptance of the research, and sufficient industry agreement to justify programs like f.lux and other night lights, should web developers like myself be more considerate as to what colours we splash over our websites? I ask this as someone whose most recent project is bathed in a deep blue background, while posting on a site that is comfortably orange.
- tscs37 9y ago
  Personally I think its sufficient to have a low contrast mode on your website. In general I think its never a bad idea to reduce strain on the eyes of a user, reducing excessive contrast is one way to do it I'm not a professional web designer Tho.
- taberiand 9y ago
  I'd just leave it up to the browser or even the monitor.
  - SeanDav 9y ago
    > "I'd just leave it up to the browser or even the monitor." As long as it is is easy to disable said behaviour. Case in Point: My rather fancy and expensive Dell monitors have got a so called intelligent powersave mode where they automatically power down if there is no activity after a period of time. Unfortunately there is no way to disable this "intelligent" behaviour. Also unfortunately this behaviour is buggy (tested on more than 1 Dell monitor). I can be typing, playing a game or just browsing around and bang, monitor powers down. It turns out the underlying cause is the type of connection I am using to the monitor. It turns out that this "intelligent" powersave is rather dumb, buggy and best of all can't be disabled because why would anyone ever not need this glorious new feature, right? /s
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  Many times colors go with branding, in most cases it wouldn't be possible to change the color according to the user's time. You could put a switch to enable "night mode" for your website, but if your visitor knows about this problem he'll already have either f.lux installed, or native options enabled.
kylehotchkiss 9y ago
I prefer OS X's nighttime mode. Except that it always forgets to turn off when on Sunset to Sunrise mode.
syphilis2 9y ago
Very happy to see this, as I use f.lux less often than I'd like because of some shortcomings (slowdown when transitioning, and lack of customization). What I'd really like to see is direct and unbounded control over brightness and red-shift separately. At night flux just doesn't go dim enough for me, and the 1200k loses more contrast than I think it ought to.
- syphilis2 9y ago
  I had a chance to try out the update at home and I'm happy with it. There's an 800K color temperature now that's accessible using the Alt+Shift+PgDown shortcut, and many more dimming increments (Alt+PgDown). I'm at 800K and the most dim it will go without entering "darkroom mode". I still wish I could make it more dim, but this is a good improvement.
koverda 9y ago
Awesome!!! It works with my display adapter finally!
baxuz 9y ago
I switched to ligthbulb in the meantime (https://github.com/Tyrrrz/LightBulb https://github.com/Tyrrrz/LightBulb) Haven't really looked back, and I actually prefer it.
- rosstex 9y ago
  Why do you prefer it?
  - baxuz 9y ago
    Works way better on windows. Doesn't have the issues on sleep /wake. Doesn't destroy performance on fullscreen windowed apps. > Unlike f.lux, LightBulb is optimized to make as little WinAPI calls as possible to prevent FPS drops and hitches. It also allows way more customization, albeit the most intricate settings needs to be changed manually in the config file. LightBulb also offers an option to temporarily pause its gamma control routine when a fullscreen window (like a game) is in foreground. A good summary can be found in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/osugame/comments/5rpq1q/lightbulb_gamingfriendly_flux_alternative/ https://www.reddit.com/r/osugame/comments/5rpq1q/lightbulb_g...
    - teach 9y ago
      To be fair, that post is six months old and this update specifically addresses gaming performance: > We've improved performance, so f.lux will have much less impact on your system and on games especially.
- drey08 9y ago
  Thanks, it seems to have the same simple interface as f.lux used to have.
- tofof 9y ago
  Thank goodness, I've been looking for a f.lux improvement that would actually let me control exactly when and across what duration the shifts happen. The f.lux developer is very stubborn about wanting it synchronized to sunrise and sunset, regardless of any user preference or reason (third-shift work, daylight saving time, working the same hours on June 20 and December 20, etc) for any other use case.
lanius 9y ago
>Better performance with games (no stutter) Hopefully this fixes my main issue with f.lux. It seems to cause severe input lag during transitions, making my Windows machine nearly unusable.
drey08 9y ago
This new interface is the most confusing UI yet.. Also, the update managed to "forget" all my existing settings..
driverdan 9y ago
I'm constantly surprised at how many designers use flux and its alternatives. I can't stand the color shift and I'm not even a designer. How do you put up with it?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
  - headelf 9y ago
    There is no color shift with Hacker Vision which is what I recommend – you can turn it on and feel your eyes relax. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-vision/fommidcneendjonelhhhkmoekeicedej https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-vision/fomm...
- egypturnash 9y ago
  I use the 'turn flux off for an hour' feature when I'm actually thinking about colors in the evening. There's a lot of parts of the process where color accuracy isn't important. The fact that the color change makes drawing a little bit harder may also serve as a gentle reminder to get the fuck off the computer and go to bed instead of staying up until the wee hours of the morning.
- wingerlang 9y ago
  It is jarring at first, especially if you set it to too much red. If you sloooowly ease into it, each day changing it the lowest amount you might get used to it. And when you get used to it, there is no going back.
chairmanwow 9y ago
Hue integration is one of the most interesting applications of IoT that I've read about in a while. An entirely obvious application once I think about it, but something I never thought about until now. Looking forward to trying that out!
- jffry 9y ago
  Looks like for now, Hue integration is only available in the Windows build: https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/1912/f-lux-and-philips-hue https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/1912/f-lux-and-philips-h...
goodroot 9y ago
Excellent! Great update. I run F.lux all the time, day or night. I recently attempted to switch to Night Shift but it's much less effective. May they manage to find a rewarding and stable business, they've done my eyes and I an important service. Before F.lux, I had strained "computer eyes". It was a drain on my energy and made me grumpy. It is no more.
Negative1 9y ago
Is F.lux open source software? I don't see a link to source code on their site and a quick web search didn't turn anything up. I wonder why they would lock down development when they could get a lot of great community support (not much to lose; it's free and they just ask for a $5 donation).
- s3krit 9y ago
  Unfortunately not. However, there is an open-source project Redshift[1] that I'm sure would be greatly welcoming of community support :). It also has a GTK client, etc. [1] https://github.com/jonls/redshift https://github.com/jonls/redshift
ComputerGuru 9y ago
Windows 10 and OS X now offer "flux" natively, as does iOS (after the whole debacle of forcing fl.ux out of the app store and then implementing the feature into the OS for themselves). I was a loyal f.lux user for a long time, but now there's really no point. Additionally, f.lux doesn't (perhaps didn't, I should check the changelog on this new version) take into account OS-native color shifting and (at least on Windows) caused "night mode" to be enacted on top of the OS' own "night mode" leaving me with a... let's just say very drab screen as a result.
- redm 9y ago
  I thought the same thing, so I disabled f.lux and turned on Nightshift on Mac OS. To my surprise, nothing happened. It turns out that it doesn't work with my monitors for some reason. They are non-Apple and thus not supported. Back to f.lux which works perfectly. Additionally, f.lux has more con-figurability, it's easy to disable quickly if I need to for a short period, etc. I personally prefer the OS doing less, but more stability and better, and allowing me to customize through apps. I feel that over the last few years, Mac OS has gone "wide" with features and has gotten less stable.
  - dingo_bat 9y ago
    FWIW, windows night mode works fine on any monitor.
  - Schlaefer 9y ago
    Also you need a "powerful" GPU (i.e. Metal), so not every Mac which is able to run Sierra supports Nightshift.
  - thesmok 9y ago
    > doesn't work with my monitors for some reason. They are non-Apple and thus not supported. I've got a 2012 Mac Mini with Dell display connected over DP, and night shift just works. So at least some non-Apple displays are supported. Not sure what's the difference here.
- sandGorgon 9y ago
yladiz 9y ago
When I originally set up flux, it had the default night time colors way too orange, somewhere like 1900K. This made my eyes strain quite heavily and I had to turn it up to a usable level. Has this been changed/fixed?
dingo_bat 9y ago
Have they added custom times yet? Last time somebody requested that feature the dev basically told them to f themselves.
gfodor 9y ago
The fact that our eyes adapt so well to the light temperature change by flux makes me wonder if there are other tricks we could be burning into operating systems to reduce eye strain or other benefits for health just by applying filters or alter treatments to the display. It seems like "health-oriented graphics methods" is pretty uncharted territory.
- kerbalspacepro 9y ago
  I'm pretty sure there are a whole host of color schemes that apps/sites/terminals are supposed to use because they decrease eye stress.
daveFNbuck 9y ago
Installing the last update was an awful experience for me. I was prompted to update at night and during the upgrade f.lux turned off without warning and I got blasted with brightness. I hope they handle this better in the future.
aorth 9y ago
Looks like their appcast hasn't been updated for 4.0 yet. I'll wait for that so I can install it with Homebrew. https://justgetflux.com/mac/macflux.xml https://justgetflux.com/mac/macflux.xml

267 points by cconstantin 9y ago

The supposed performance improvement is really the only thing I care about as I am happy with the amount of red shift I currently have. It's nice they are bothering to integrate more pro-sleep functionality for those who care though.

jedberg 9y ago

The best tip I ever got (other than to use f.lux at all) was to set it to 5800K during the day. It's an almost unnoticeable difference, but makes a huge improvement in reducing my eyestrain.

herf 9y ago
The new eyestrain preset is 5900K, so good call.
- jedberg 9y ago
  Where do I find that? I'm using the latest f.lux but I can't find all the new features...
  - joshschreuder 9y ago
    Not sure if other platforms are different, but it's here at least on Windows: https://i.imgur.com/7HWJvMb.png https://i.imgur.com/7HWJvMb.png
    - jedberg 9y ago
      Fascinating. On my Mac only have a few of those: http://imgur.com/wycKzdS http://imgur.com/wycKzdS
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
eikenberry 9y ago
I've found the lower the value the better for reducing eyestrain. Slowly lowering it down in about 100K chunks it doesn't take long to get used to each step. I currently have mine at 4900/4200 (day/night).
- r00fus 9y ago
  Why so high at night? I do fine with candle setting at 1900K (though I turn my brightness up a notch from lowest).
  - eikenberry 9y ago
    The night value hasn't bothered me so I haven't given it much thought. I set it to that value when I first started using it as lower just looked weird at that time. I should probably try lower values at night and see if it effects my sleep.
- mjs7231 9y ago
  My low setting makes me feel old. 3800 day / 2800 night. However, this is redshift (Linux), not sure it translates 1 to 1.
smegel 9y ago
I just did this and I have to say I felt my eyes relax a little, and it looks the same. Thanks.
k_sh 9y ago
Thanks for this! I just changed the setting and my eyes immediately felt less strained.
j45 9y ago
Nice, just tried this. It reminds me of the "comfort view" tint on my phone that I forget is on over time.
- j45 9y ago
  Setting it to 5700-5800 seems to have made a noticeable a big difference to me, as I'm plugging into my monitor at home right away my screen had less of a bite.

Analemma_ 9y ago

I have to assume that this burst of activity came because Apple and Microsoft are both now just do what f.lux does in the OS (Apple fans will be familiar with the term "getting Sherlocked"). Can't see how f.lux is going to survive long-term, to be honest.

jedberg 9y ago
I still use f.lux because it has way more options and control than the built in Apple product. I wish I had it on my phone too, but I just suffer with Night Shift instead.
- graphitezepp 9y ago
  I've been very happy with Twilight on my Android device.
  - mcescalante 9y ago
    My Android (Pixel XL) has it built in as "Night Light" in the Display settings which I prefer. I've used both Twilight and f.lux (rooted only) on Android in the past and Twilight's defaults are rough and needs too much fuss & attention to get the settings right. f.lux was buggy even tho I was rooted. "Night Light" is OK.
- g09980 9y ago
  I've set iOS Night Shift to be active all day (start at 8:00 AM, end at 7:59 AM, something like that), can't look at the phone without it now.
- overcast 9y ago
  Sorry, what exactly is causing you to "suffer"? It's an option to warm up the color temperature on your screen.
  - jedberg 9y ago
    The lack of programmability, like I have with f.lux. I can only make it come on and off at a certain time, and the color temp is just a slider with no numbers. With f.lux, I can have day, evening, and night, and it adjusts automatically to my location. When I travel, I have to adjust the time on my phone. All little things, but it shows how f.lux is polished and Night Shift is not.

deft 9y ago

Do I still need to set a location or can I just use timed based? Most annoying part of flux...

kumaraman 9y ago
Using location is more accurate as depending on how far away from the equator you are light levels can change drastically. This covers some of the details around it: http://www.ccfg.org.uk/conferences/downloads/P_Burgess.pdf http://www.ccfg.org.uk/conferences/downloads/P_Burgess.pdf
- adt2bt 9y ago
  I think the gist isn't to match the outside so much as to set a pattern of turning on F.lux at the same time every day, to settle into a night-time routine.
- deft 9y ago
  I know the reasoning, I guess I'd just prefer to set it manually based on when I'm actually using my machine. As in, near the end of my usage at night I want it to be very orange no matter what the time is.
  - dagurp 9y ago
    I agree. I live in Iceland and during the summer months it does nothing.
- nebabyte 9y ago
  Many people aren't attuning it to outdoor light levels.
didgeoridoo 9y ago
I just set mine to Quito, Ecuador (anywhere on the equator will do). That keeps things relatively consistent throughout the year, instead of following sunset/sunrise times which have no bearing on my sleep/wake schedule.

slackoverflower 9y ago

Was expecting them to announce a $5 monthly subscription to use the new version too. Lol. "SOFTWARE SHOULD BE SUBSCRIPTION"

adamdecaf 9y ago

You can donate via PayPal off their install page. https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/welcome/ https://justgetflux.com/news/pages/welcome/

pinpeliponni 9y ago

Does the Linux version work with Wayland already? Edit: Apparently this is now built-in to Gnome 3.24+, using the name Night Light. I am happy camper again!

JasonSage 9y ago

When does the new version become available?

colejohnson66 9y ago
Now. Go to the homepage to download.
- deagle50 9y ago
  The mac version is still the old one look like.
Mathnerd314 9y ago
It's been available for a while now, since April 3: https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/3675/f-lux-beta-for-windows https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/3675/f-lux-beta-for-wind... But I guess now they've made it official.

reificator 9y ago

I've been using this version on macOS for probably over a year now, I'm not sure exactly how long. I don't believe I opted into any betas, and I couldn't find a similar featureset for Windows/Linux. Still, good news for anyone running Windows/Linux, I'm actually going to go update ASAP.

codefined 9y ago
Yeah, I've had this version for a while on Linux. I believe it was just the Windows build that was behind a few months.
- reificator 9y ago
  Weird, I didn't have it available on Ubuntu whatever I use at work either...

andyhnj 9y ago

I love f.lux, but it disappeared from my work computer recently, and the f.lux site is blocked on our network now. I'm not sure why we would have flagged the program and/or site as bad. It seems like a pretty harmless utility to me, and I don't recall there ever being any issues with it. Oh well. At least I can still use it on my home PCs.

IceDane 9y ago

Windows 10 has this built-in now, and I use redshift on linux. I don't see how f.lux is going to compete against Windows 10's built-in feature tbh.

TazeTSchnitzel 9y ago
Especially since OSes with it integrated can probably do a better job of consistently dimming the screen. It's not really the competency of a third-party app.
- kalleboo 9y ago
  Although ironically macOS's "Night Shift" is far buggier than f.lux was (widespread known issue where it doesn't turn off on the morning)
cknight 9y ago
I tried it out and found the gradual transition to be still too abrupt and distracting. With flux I don't notice it gradually changing over the course of the evening, and that's enough for me to stick with it.
srigi 9y ago
With W10 you must enable location service to enable "sunset to sunrise". If you keep LS disabled you can only mechanically set up & down times, which slowly drifts by seasons. With f.lux you can insert your location manually.
- emn13 9y ago
  Frankly: why would you want to follow sunset to sunrise? That's clever and all, but not useful. What matters is your sleep schedule; just because the sun doesn't set until after 10pm doesn't mean you monitor needs to be on it's bluest setting until then; similarly, even when the sun sets at 1630, I really don't need my monitors to start putting me to sleep yet. And in general, if I need to wake up early, I'd rather the monitors be at their bluest immediately, and not wait until sunrise. A fixed schedule is better than the fancy sunset times.

cknight 9y ago

Something I've been pondering recently: If there is broad acceptance of the research, and sufficient industry agreement to justify programs like f.lux and other night lights, should web developers like myself be more considerate as to what colours we splash over our websites? I ask this as someone whose most recent project is bathed in a deep blue background, while posting on a site that is comfortably orange.

tscs37 9y ago
Personally I think its sufficient to have a low contrast mode on your website. In general I think its never a bad idea to reduce strain on the eyes of a user, reducing excessive contrast is one way to do it I'm not a professional web designer Tho.
taberiand 9y ago
I'd just leave it up to the browser or even the monitor.
- SeanDav 9y ago
  > "I'd just leave it up to the browser or even the monitor." As long as it is is easy to disable said behaviour. Case in Point: My rather fancy and expensive Dell monitors have got a so called intelligent powersave mode where they automatically power down if there is no activity after a period of time. Unfortunately there is no way to disable this "intelligent" behaviour. Also unfortunately this behaviour is buggy (tested on more than 1 Dell monitor). I can be typing, playing a game or just browsing around and bang, monitor powers down. It turns out the underlying cause is the type of connection I am using to the monitor. It turns out that this "intelligent" powersave is rather dumb, buggy and best of all can't be disabled because why would anyone ever not need this glorious new feature, right? /s
nkkollaw 9y ago
Many times colors go with branding, in most cases it wouldn't be possible to change the color according to the user's time. You could put a switch to enable "night mode" for your website, but if your visitor knows about this problem he'll already have either f.lux installed, or native options enabled.

kylehotchkiss 9y ago

I prefer OS X's nighttime mode. Except that it always forgets to turn off when on Sunset to Sunrise mode.

syphilis2 9y ago

Very happy to see this, as I use f.lux less often than I'd like because of some shortcomings (slowdown when transitioning, and lack of customization). What I'd really like to see is direct and unbounded control over brightness and red-shift separately. At night flux just doesn't go dim enough for me, and the 1200k loses more contrast than I think it ought to.

syphilis2 9y ago
I had a chance to try out the update at home and I'm happy with it. There's an 800K color temperature now that's accessible using the Alt+Shift+PgDown shortcut, and many more dimming increments (Alt+PgDown). I'm at 800K and the most dim it will go without entering "darkroom mode". I still wish I could make it more dim, but this is a good improvement.

koverda 9y ago

Awesome!!! It works with my display adapter finally!

baxuz 9y ago

I switched to ligthbulb in the meantime (https://github.com/Tyrrrz/LightBulb https://github.com/Tyrrrz/LightBulb) Haven't really looked back, and I actually prefer it.

rosstex 9y ago
Why do you prefer it?
- baxuz 9y ago
  Works way better on windows. Doesn't have the issues on sleep /wake. Doesn't destroy performance on fullscreen windowed apps. > Unlike f.lux, LightBulb is optimized to make as little WinAPI calls as possible to prevent FPS drops and hitches. It also allows way more customization, albeit the most intricate settings needs to be changed manually in the config file. LightBulb also offers an option to temporarily pause its gamma control routine when a fullscreen window (like a game) is in foreground. A good summary can be found in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/osugame/comments/5rpq1q/lightbulb_gamingfriendly_flux_alternative/ https://www.reddit.com/r/osugame/comments/5rpq1q/lightbulb_g...
  - teach 9y ago
    To be fair, that post is six months old and this update specifically addresses gaming performance: > We've improved performance, so f.lux will have much less impact on your system and on games especially.
drey08 9y ago
Thanks, it seems to have the same simple interface as f.lux used to have.
tofof 9y ago
Thank goodness, I've been looking for a f.lux improvement that would actually let me control exactly when and across what duration the shifts happen. The f.lux developer is very stubborn about wanting it synchronized to sunrise and sunset, regardless of any user preference or reason (third-shift work, daylight saving time, working the same hours on June 20 and December 20, etc) for any other use case.

lanius 9y ago

>Better performance with games (no stutter) Hopefully this fixes my main issue with f.lux. It seems to cause severe input lag during transitions, making my Windows machine nearly unusable.

drey08 9y ago

This new interface is the most confusing UI yet.. Also, the update managed to "forget" all my existing settings..

driverdan 9y ago

I'm constantly surprised at how many designers use flux and its alternatives. I can't stand the color shift and I'm not even a designer. How do you put up with it?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
- headelf 9y ago
  There is no color shift with Hacker Vision which is what I recommend – you can turn it on and feel your eyes relax. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-vision/fommidcneendjonelhhhkmoekeicedej https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-vision/fomm...
egypturnash 9y ago
I use the 'turn flux off for an hour' feature when I'm actually thinking about colors in the evening. There's a lot of parts of the process where color accuracy isn't important. The fact that the color change makes drawing a little bit harder may also serve as a gentle reminder to get the fuck off the computer and go to bed instead of staying up until the wee hours of the morning.
wingerlang 9y ago
It is jarring at first, especially if you set it to too much red. If you sloooowly ease into it, each day changing it the lowest amount you might get used to it. And when you get used to it, there is no going back.

chairmanwow 9y ago

Hue integration is one of the most interesting applications of IoT that I've read about in a while. An entirely obvious application once I think about it, but something I never thought about until now. Looking forward to trying that out!

jffry 9y ago
Looks like for now, Hue integration is only available in the Windows build: https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/1912/f-lux-and-philips-hue https://forum.justgetflux.com/topic/1912/f-lux-and-philips-h...

goodroot 9y ago

Excellent! Great update. I run F.lux all the time, day or night. I recently attempted to switch to Night Shift but it's much less effective. May they manage to find a rewarding and stable business, they've done my eyes and I an important service. Before F.lux, I had strained "computer eyes". It was a drain on my energy and made me grumpy. It is no more.

Negative1 9y ago

Is F.lux open source software? I don't see a link to source code on their site and a quick web search didn't turn anything up. I wonder why they would lock down development when they could get a lot of great community support (not much to lose; it's free and they just ask for a $5 donation).

s3krit 9y ago
Unfortunately not. However, there is an open-source project Redshift[1] that I'm sure would be greatly welcoming of community support :). It also has a GTK client, etc. [1] https://github.com/jonls/redshift https://github.com/jonls/redshift

ComputerGuru 9y ago

Windows 10 and OS X now offer "flux" natively, as does iOS (after the whole debacle of forcing fl.ux out of the app store and then implementing the feature into the OS for themselves). I was a loyal f.lux user for a long time, but now there's really no point. Additionally, f.lux doesn't (perhaps didn't, I should check the changelog on this new version) take into account OS-native color shifting and (at least on Windows) caused "night mode" to be enacted on top of the OS' own "night mode" leaving me with a... let's just say very drab screen as a result.

redm 9y ago
I thought the same thing, so I disabled f.lux and turned on Nightshift on Mac OS. To my surprise, nothing happened. It turns out that it doesn't work with my monitors for some reason. They are non-Apple and thus not supported. Back to f.lux which works perfectly. Additionally, f.lux has more con-figurability, it's easy to disable quickly if I need to for a short period, etc. I personally prefer the OS doing less, but more stability and better, and allowing me to customize through apps. I feel that over the last few years, Mac OS has gone "wide" with features and has gotten less stable.
- dingo_bat 9y ago
  FWIW, windows night mode works fine on any monitor.
- Schlaefer 9y ago
  Also you need a "powerful" GPU (i.e. Metal), so not every Mac which is able to run Sierra supports Nightshift.
- thesmok 9y ago
  > doesn't work with my monitors for some reason. They are non-Apple and thus not supported. I've got a 2012 Mac Mini with Dell display connected over DP, and night shift just works. So at least some non-Apple displays are supported. Not sure what's the difference here.
sandGorgon 9y ago

yladiz 9y ago

When I originally set up flux, it had the default night time colors way too orange, somewhere like 1900K. This made my eyes strain quite heavily and I had to turn it up to a usable level. Has this been changed/fixed?

dingo_bat 9y ago

Have they added custom times yet? Last time somebody requested that feature the dev basically told them to f themselves.

gfodor 9y ago

The fact that our eyes adapt so well to the light temperature change by flux makes me wonder if there are other tricks we could be burning into operating systems to reduce eye strain or other benefits for health just by applying filters or alter treatments to the display. It seems like "health-oriented graphics methods" is pretty uncharted territory.

kerbalspacepro 9y ago
I'm pretty sure there are a whole host of color schemes that apps/sites/terminals are supposed to use because they decrease eye stress.

daveFNbuck 9y ago

Installing the last update was an awful experience for me. I was prompted to update at night and during the upgrade f.lux turned off without warning and I got blasted with brightness. I hope they handle this better in the future.

aorth 9y ago

Looks like their appcast hasn't been updated for 4.0 yet. I'll wait for that so I can install it with Homebrew. https://justgetflux.com/mac/macflux.xml https://justgetflux.com/mac/macflux.xml