Apple released their iOS 9.3 preview this week and it includes details about a new mode called “Night Shift”. The proposed mode would change the colour of your display from a cool blue to colours at the “warmer end of the spectrum”. The Night Shift feature will use your iOS device’s clock and geolocation to figure out when the sun has set in your location.

While being previewed as part of the ‘new’ iOS update, the idea of changing the colour of an iPhone display is not exactly a new idea. An app called f.lux was previously made available to people who’ve jailbroken their phones. The creators of f.lux said that, they’d like to make f.lux available for iOS devices but in order for it to work on iOS they’ve had to “go outside the bounds of what apps are normally allowed to do”.

It can be argued Apple’s Night Shift mode is different because it’s not an exact replica of f.lux but that’s for an attorney to argue not me. Seeing as details are limited at the moment it is unknown as to how similar both pieces of software actually are. Apple have not yet released any statements relating to any cooperation between them and f.lux.

F.lux posted a response to the release of the iOS 9.3 preview on their website saying in part, “We’re proud that we are the original innovators and leaders in this area.

“In our continued work over the last seven years, we have learned how complicated people actually are. The next phase of f.lux is something we cannot wait to ship to the world.

“Today we call on Apple to allow us to release f.lux on iOS, to open up access to the features announced this week, and to support our goal of furthering research in sleep and chronobiology.”

Similarities aside, studies have found that exposure to blue light at night can impact our body clock which could lead to disrupted sleep.

Night Shift is just one of a few features being teased in Apple’s iOS 9.3 preview. To find out more about this click here.