Why You Should Adjust the Brightness on Your Smartphone

​When friends and family have a good laugh over something on social media or other networks, they usually want to share it with others. When something is being shared with me in person, the number one thing I always feel like I do is lower their brightness. Why? Un-adjusted brightness physically hurts my head.

Enduring excruciating headaches along with eye pain, or itchy, dry eyes, and vision that persists on being blurry even when spending time away from smart devices is unnecessary. There’s no reason to cope with annoying physical effects if you don’t have to. You might just be someone in need of a friend to turn down your brightness. 

There’s been a myth floating around that lowering brightness is damaging to eyesight when it’s the opposite. Smartphones, tv screens, and computers/laptops have adjustable brightness features for a reason. If you’re doing your brightness manually, I’d recommend adjusting your brightness to your environment. While in a pitch-black room, it’s significant to have your phone on the lowest brightness possible, and if it’s available, turn on a dim nightlight so there’s something else in the room that can match the brightness of your phone to reduce eye strain.

Some people don’t like the “auto brightness” feature on iPhones due to rumored inaccuracy, but it works for me. If your eyes are more sensitive, you should lower your brightness manually, and if you continue to have headaches or blurry vision, I’d say it’s best to see your doctor about that. I’m in no way a physician, but I personally know what makes my head feel better.

By now you might be asking, “how do I know if my brightness is too high?” Normally, eyes will adjust to whatever their focused on. If your eyes are immediately squinting when you look at a digital screen you should probably lower your brightness. If you’ve been on your phone for a while and your eyes are already adjusted, step away from the gadgets for a bit and test my eye squinting method upon return.
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To adjust brightness and white-point on iPhones or learn how to download a brightness controlling app for Android click here. For step by step instructions and more information on changing display settings and gaining better tips on reducing harmful brightness effects visit wikiHow.

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