5 Screen Dimming Android Apps to Manage Brightness & Save Your Eyes

How much time do you spend with your smartphone? Probably a lot. And if you are anything like me, majority of your usage must happen during night. In case you didn’t know, staring at a bright screen during night (in a dark room) is one the main reason for eyestrain.

Although ambient light sensor adjusts the screen brightness according to the light around you, during night even the 0 percent brightness seems like a lot. In this article, we have compiled a list of some of the best apps that can reduce the brightness below 0 percent and give you total control over your screens brightness.

1. Lux

Lux has been around for a while now and is one of the best brightness apps I’ve ever encountered. Automatic screen brightness adjustment is its best feature. Unlike Android’s default auto-brightness, Lux gives you complete control over the brightness settings.

Another cool thing is that it can reduce the brightness below the minimum brightness. It can go even darker than the lowest brightness. In addition to great adjustment options, the app can change the hue of the screen so that your phone projects red light instead of blue, putting less strain on your eyes at night.

For $3, you can upgrade to Lux’s pro version and unlock some extra features like astronomer mode for stargazers, using the camera to read ambient light, showing warmer colors at night, etc.

[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux”]

2. Cobrets

Cobrets is a widget that allows you to toggle between different brightness presets. There are six predefined brightness modes : Minimum (8%), Cuarter (25%), Medium (45%), Maximum (100%), Automatic, Nightly Filter, and Diurnal Filter.

The Automatic mode uses Android’s auto-brightness settings to manage the screen brightness. The Nightly filter mode sets brightness value to 0 and applies black overlay filter to the screen, so you get the brightness level even lower than system’s default. The Diurnal mode applies yellow filter over your screen which makes it easier for your eyes to use your phone in a dark room. Cobrets also allows you to manually change all brightness and overlay filter values, including filter colors and opacity levels.

[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rombus.evilbones.cobrets”]

3. IntelliScreen

IntelliScreen allows you to customize screen timeout intervals depending on device position, lighting conditions, and which apps are currently running. It also has the option to always keep the screen on when the app is running in the foreground. Screen timeouts for each app can also be customized.

By using various sensors that come in a phone, it can automatically decide when to turn the screen on and when to turn it off, just like Gravity Screen. However, this is a premium option that is only available if you decide to upgrade IntelliScreen to the premium version.

[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.pyrobytestudio.intelliscreen.full”]

4. Twilight

If you’ve heard of F.lux for computers, Twilight is a lot like that. Instead of reducing the brightness level below minimum value, it converts the blue light coming from the bright screen into warm shades of red and orange depending on the time of day. It require access to your location to keep track of sunrise and sunset to adjust screen temperature perfectly. After sunset, it starts adding layer of warm colors to the screen automatically.

If you choose to go for the pro version, you’ll get some additional features like adjustable transition time, predefined profiles, etc.

[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.lux”]

5. Screen Filter

This is the app I’m currently using. If you don’t need all the fancy features and just need a black filter over your screen to reduce the screen brightness below minimum level, Screen Filter is the app for you. Tap the app icon to activate it and tap again to deactivate it. The slider that manages the screen brightness is available in the notification area when the app is activated, from there you can increase or decrease the brightness level.

[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.haxor”]