The Best G.lux Alternative: Protect Your Eyes and Sleep Better
G.lux is a popular unofficial variation of F.lux, designed to automatically adjust your browser's screen color temperature as the sun sets. This is crucial because typical daylight-balanced monitors can disrupt your natural sleep cycle. G.lux aims to mitigate this by shifting the screen to a warmer, 'tungsten' or orange-balanced hue, signaling to your brain that it's time to wind down. While G.lux is a great solution for Chrome OS users, those without administrative rights, or users who only want browser-specific adjustments, many are looking for a comprehensive G.lux alternative that offers broader functionality or system-wide changes. If you're seeking to enhance your digital well-being beyond G.lux's capabilities, you're in the right place.
Top G.lux Alternatives
Whether you need a full system solution, cross-platform compatibility, or specific features, these alternatives offer excellent ways to reduce eye strain and improve your sleep quality by optimizing your screen's color temperature.
f.lux
f.lux is a widely acclaimed software that automatically adjusts your computer's display color to match the time of day, making it warm at night and bright like sunlight during the day. It's a fantastic G.lux alternative for those seeking a system-wide solution, available for Free on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iPhone, Android Tablet, and iPad. Key features include a blue light filter, various color temperature modes, a night mode/dark theme, and robust scheduling options.
Redshift
Redshift is an excellent Free and Open Source G.lux alternative that adjusts your screen's color temperature based on the sun's position. It intelligently sets different color temperatures for day and night, including twilight. Available on Windows, Linux, and BSD, Redshift offers color temperature adjustment, color correction, a command-line interface, a blue light filter, and a night mode/dark theme.
LightBulb
LightBulb is a Free and Open Source background application for Windows that adjusts screen gamma to make colors appear warmer at night, reducing eye strain. It's a lightweight, portable, and highly configurable G.lux alternative featuring a night mode/dark theme, automatic brightness dimming, automatic lighting control, a blue light filter, and color correction for optimal performance.
RedshiftGUI
RedshiftGUI is a Free and Open Source G.lux alternative for Windows and Linux that changes your monitor's color temperature to better match your surroundings, setting a cooler temperature during the day. While it doesn't list specific features beyond this core functionality, its open-source nature and simple purpose make it a good choice for users prioritizing ease of use.
Twilight
Twilight is a Free G.lux alternative specifically for Android devices. This app filters the blue light spectrum on your phone or tablet after sunset, protecting your eyes with a red filter. The filter intensity adjusts smoothly with the sun's position, offering automatic brightness dimming, a blue light filter, and color correction to ensure comfortable viewing on mobile devices.
SunsetScreen
SunsetScreen is a Commercial G.lux alternative for Windows that offers extensive control over your sleep cycle. It allows you to manually set the time of sunset and sunrise, giving you complete customization. Features include a highly customizable interface, support for keyboard shortcuts, a lightweight footprint, portability, and temperature monitoring, making it ideal for users who want precise control over their screen's warmth.
Desktop Dimmer
Desktop Dimmer is a Free and Open Source G.lux alternative available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It enables darker-than-dark desktop dimming for your displays, offering a small resource footprint and a minimal user interface. Settings are persisted and restored per-display, and its primary feature is automatic brightness dimming, making it a simple yet effective tool for reducing screen glare.
Turn Off the Lights
Turn Off the Lights is a versatile, Free and Open Source G.lux alternative available across numerous platforms including Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, Android, iPhone, Chrome OS, and various browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. While primarily known for fading the page to dark to focus on videos, it also includes a night mode/dark theme, making it a comprehensive browser extension for a more comfortable viewing experience.
Iris mini
Iris mini is a Freemium G.lux alternative that offers cross-platform blue light reduction and PWM flicker-free brightness software. Available on Mac, Windows, and Linux, it provides a basic yet effective solution for reducing eye strain without complex features, ideal for users who need a straightforward blue light filter.
PangoBright
PangoBright is a Free G.lux alternative for Windows that offers screen dimming capabilities, allowing you to control the brightness of both your built-in screen and external monitors. It's a portable application with a simple dimmer feature, making it a convenient option for users who want a quick and easy way to adjust screen brightness across multiple displays.
Choosing the right G.lux alternative depends on your specific needs, whether you prioritize system-wide adjustments, cross-platform compatibility, open-source solutions, or advanced customization. Explore these options to find the perfect fit for protecting your eyes and improving your sleep.