f.lux, Program to Reduce Blue Light and Adjust Screen Brightness

When it comes to being in front of the computer screen for long hours, there is an element that we often overlook, but it is very important to our health, such as the brightness of the screen and blue light. Intense and prolonged use of it can be harmful to our eyes, causing the famous visual fatigue. This is something that can happen if we always maintain the same level of brightness, regardless of the lighting conditions. To help us with this work, we can use a tool like f.lux .

The brightness and temperature of our screen is a very important issue that we cannot ignore when we sit in front of the computer. The level of brightness during the day, in which we find greater clarity, should be higher. Instead, at night, the brightness should be much lower. In this way, we adapt the brightness to the light situation by reducing blue light , something that greatly favors the health of our eyes, since it prevents the appearance of visual fatigue . For all users who are concerned about the damage that blue light can cause to their eyes when used in low-light environments, a program such as f.lux is available to them, which we will talk about below.

f.lux, Program to Reduce Blue Light

Adjust brightness and temperature automatically with f.lux

F.lux is a software developed so that we can adapt the color and brightness of our computer screen depending on the hours of the day. The application is responsible for creating a personalized lighting schedule for every day. To do this, the program is configured based on our location thanks to Google Maps, and based on this adjusts the parameters of our monitor. It also allows us to preview the result before applying any changes, so that we can check if the brightness setting is correct.

In this way, f.lux allows us to adjust the tones of our screen, adapting to the lighting conditions of each hour of the day to reduce the blue color and protect our eyes from these damages. Thus, we will have more muted and yellowish tones at night and more vivid and whitish tones during the day. In addition, it allows us to adjust the equipment in the case that we have an intelligent lighting system so that it can adapt to the same tones and brightness of the screen. It is also possible to configure it so that it is not activated by a certain application that requires special brightness conditions.

Use their geolocation system

Once we run the application for the first time, a geolocation screen will appear. In it we must enter our location so that the program can locate us and establish the sunrise and sunset times, based on which we can adjust the tone and brightness of our screen.

f.lux geolocalización

Subsequently, its main menu will appear where we can configure various options. For example, in the lower left part we must select the usual time we wake up. In the central part the solar time appears, as well as the time that we woke up and the time since dawn. Just above we find a color configuration bar that the application has established for the time we meet. We can slide it to adjust it to another tonality if we think it is necessary.

f.lux menú principal

Make different color adjustments

If we click on the three horizontal bars that we find in the upper left part, several tabs are opened where we can make adjustments to the colors of the day and night together, smart lighting options and change the current color to different shades. It also includes additional effects and colors that we can set such as “Movie mode”, “Dark mode”, “Soft white”, “Blue sky”, among others.

f.lux ajustes de color

Another interesting function that we are going to find is “Disable”. This option can be used automatically for applications where color quality is essential and we do not need to adjust it. We can also disable the program for an hour, until dawn, in applications that use the full screen. We can also deactivate some specific programs that we are using at that moment so that they do not suffer changes. For example, if we are using Word and we do not want to change the brightness, we can deactivate it from this option.

f.lux deshabilitar

Color recommendation, with default profiles.

Finally, in the upper right we find a button to make custom color patterns. If we click on it, a drop-down menu appears where we can choose different predetermined color combinations . For example, we will find a way to reduce eyestrain, the classic f.lux mode, a special mode for working late, a mode that offers greater color fidelity among others. If we select one or the other, we will see how the menu sliding bar changes adjusting to each mode.

f.lux recomendación de color

F.lux free download

F.lux is a completely free program for non-commercial personal use , available for Windows, macOS and Linux, which we can download from the developer’s website . For professional use, its cost is $ 20 for the first 10 devices, and $ 10 from 11 devices onwards.

Currently its version 4.118 is available and its installation file weighs only 648 kbs. The installation is done through its wizard quickly, indicating all the steps to follow in order to configure it correctly. Likewise, the program is free of any type of virus or malware so its installation is safe.

Alternatives to f.lux

If we are looking for a program with which to take care of our eyes and adjust the brightness of our monitor, we propose a couple of alternatives to f.lux to take into account.

Gammy

With this simple software we can establish maximum and minimum brightness levels, so that it adapts to the different programs that we use. It also has an automatic brightness option and the possibility to control the adaptation speed at which the brightness change occurs. Gammy is a completely free application, compatible with Windows 8 and 10 that we can download from its website .

RedShift GUI

This application can be used to configure all the parameters related to the monitor’s color temperature. It allows us to find our exact location by IP or postal code, being able to see the elevation of the sun, as well as latitude and longitude, in its main menu. In this way we will be able to set the color temperature either day or night, along with the transition speed. RedShift GUI is a free application that we can download and try for free from here .