Beta version of f.lux is live, anyone can sign up

You know how you woke up this morning feeling exhausted even though you got 6-8 hours of sleep? It probably has something to do with you being glued to your smartphone sleep all the way up until your head hit the pillow – or even afterward! Our friend Science tells us that light on the blue end of the visible spectrum stimulates our brains and makes us think it’s daytime even when it’s not. Blue light makes us stimulated and ready for action. This was an awesome evolutionary trait back when the only time we saw the color blue was during broad daylight, but evolution selfishly decided not to take into consideration the fact that we would develop screens and stay up way past sunset chatting and browsing and endlessly scrolling. This is where f.lux comes in.

F.lux lets you maintain your unhealthy day-night cycle without compromising quality sleep. The app, which has long been available for the computer, gradually alters your screen so that blue light is filtered out, leaving only calming reddish hues. It happens so gradually that, over a long period of active use, you probably won’t even notice it. Since people are spending more and more time on their smartphones toward the end of the day, it only makes sense that the app would make a splash on them. And so far, it looks pretty hot.

Since f.lux intercepts colors at the pixel level and filters out blues, it unfortunately needs root access to run correctly. If you’re a root user and would like to give it a try, f.lux has now officially opened up beta testing signups. There appears to be no limit to the number of people who can sign up, but the company is permitting groups of new signees to come into the program in waves. That means if you want to get your hands on this early version of f.lux, the sooner you sign up the better. Click the button below to head over to the beta landing page, and let us know your thoughts of f.lux in the comments below!