How to wind down at night with bedtime mode for android

Michael Crider has been writing about computers, phones, video games, and general nerdy things on the internet for ten years. He’s never happier than when he’s tinkering with his home-built desktop or soldering a new keyboard. Read more.

@MichaelCrider
Aug 11, 2020, 12:59 pm EDT | 1 min read

Do you use Wind Down, the part of Android’s Digital Wellbeing app that helps you get to sleep and stat there? Not anymore, you don’t. As of today that function is called “Bedtime Mode,” in a more on-the-nose bit of branding. The change comes with a collection of tweaks to how it works and when it operates.

Bedtime Mode can activate on a set schedule, or when you plug your phone in for the night. Alternately it can be started (or paused) from the Quick Settings panel. Once activated, the phone will turn off sound and notifications and de-saturate the screen to encourage you to go to freakin’ bed already.

Other tools include a revamped “Bedtime” tab in Android’s default Clock app, which includes a brief look at your agenda and the option to play some calming sounds as you go to sleep. There’s a “sunrise alarm,” which is just a big, gradually-brightening screen (instead of, say, an alarm that the sun is now rising).

If you use Family Link, you can lock a kid’s Android phone when bedtime rolls around. And if you merely can’t stop acting like a child, the YouTube app for Android now includes an option for its own bedtime reminder, telling you to stop watching Pitch Meeting reruns and get some sleep already.

The new Bedtime Mode settings are available starting today on Pixel phones, and they’re coming to every recent Android device “later this summer.”

How many minutes hours do you spend at night checking your social media feed or playing mobile games on your Android device before finally getting a shuteye? It’s a vicious cycle – you can’t sleep, so you pass the time by playing with your phone however, your phone could be the very thing that’s keeping you awake. You’ve probably heard about how smartphones and other electronic gadgets with screens can disrupt sleep due to the blue light they emit. Blue light sends a signal to the brain that it’s still morning, suppressing the production of the hormone melatonin, which is crucial to the body’s sleep timing and circadian rhythm. To counter the adverse effects of nighttime gadget usage, Google is set to introduce the Android Wind Down Mode feature along with Android P later this year.

What is Android P Wind Down Mode?

Designed to discourage users from using their device excessively at bedtime Wind Down mode automatically turns on Do Not Disturb mode and fades the device’s display to grayscale.

When you finally get your hands on an Android P device, setting up the Wind Down feature is very easy. All you have to do is tell Google Assistant to activate it: “OK Google, set Wind Down for 9:00 PM.” When the time you chose comes, your phone will still be usable, but you won’t get notifications, and your screen will be less inviting to look at. The blue light will also be canceled, so you’re likely to feel sleepy sooner.

Can’t Wait for Android P? Here’s an Alternative Way to “Wind Down”

If you can’t wait to take back lost sleeping hours and break the habit of staying up so late because of heavy nighttime gadget usage, you’re in luck. With an app like Color Breeze, you can enjoy the benefits of Android Wind Down even before the release of Android P.

Developed by Michael Schättgen, Color Breeze is compatible with devices running on Android 4.1 and up. Just like Wind Down, Color Breeze automatically grayscales a device’s screen at your set time or schedule. It also deactivates notifications.
What’s so great about Color Breeze is that it lets you enjoy the benefits of Wind Down even if you don’t have Android P. Furthermore, the app doesn’t require rooting.

Before you download Color Breeze, consider downloading Android cleaner tool as well. By cleaning your device of junk and boosting its RAM, you’re sure to enjoy Color Breeze’s Wind Down function better.

Google first introduced Digital Wellbeing back in 2018. The app has since seen a series of updates that have made it even better as the years have gone on. The latest Digital Wellbeing update tweaks a few things about the app, including swapping out “Wind Down” for a new “Bedtime Mode” (h/t: 9to5Google).

If your device features Digital Wellbeing, you may have seen the update land in the last day or so. Unfortunately, my Pixel 4 XL didn’t see the update until I opted into the beta channel. Here’s what it looks like after the update:

This isn’t a major update. The most notable change is Digital Wellbeing’s aforementioned new Bedtime Mode. This isn’t a new feature in itself, but it replaces the app’s existing Wind Down functionality. Though this is primarily a rebranding, the tweak appears to remove the existing grayscale toggle from the Quick Settings menu. Thankfully, you can just manually add this back if you want, or you can toggle it from the Digital Wellbeing’s Bedtime Mode settings page.

Another small tweak is the app’s Focus Mode icon. Before the update, the icon was a simple circle, but now, it looks like an “O” framed by what looks like a couple of parentheses. You can see the new icon in Focus Mode’s pop-up dialogue box as well as its persistent notification.

These aren’t major tweaks, but it’s nice to see Google constantly working on Digital Wellbeing. We think the app has the potential to change your life, so you should give it a shot if you haven’t already. You should see the update in the Play Store any time now if you haven’t already, or you can just opt into the beta channel as I did.

If you’ve been using Digital Wellbeing on your Android device, there is a new change that we thought you should know about. Google has changed the tools associated with Wind Down mode and has renamed it to Bedtime Mode. As you probably know by now, Digital Wellbeing released a couple of years ago as part of Android Pie.

This feature allows you to see how much time you are spending on your device and can give you a specific time for how long you spend in various apps. Google has been making small changes to Digital Wellbeing ever since it was released and we wanted to tell you all about the latest change.

Digital Wellbeing Changes Wind Down Tools to Bedtime Mode

If you’re someone that uses the Digital Wellbeing tools on your Android device, you might want to know some changes were just made. Google has been making changes to Digital Wellbeing ever since it launched a couple of years ago, which is aimed at helping you manage your digital life. The newest and biggest change you will notice with Digital Wellbeing is a name change for Wind Down.

The Wind Down section is now called Bedtime Mode and this is where the tools are that you’ve been using as part of Wind Down. It made more sense to call it Bedtime Mode since the whole point of Wind Down was to get you ready to go to bed. There are many different options within the Bedtime Mode, including Do Not Disturb, Night Light, and grayscale. All of the tools that were in Wind Down were put into place to help you get ready to sleep so changing the name to Bedtime Mode seemed obvious.

Digital Wellbeing Replaces Wind Down with Bedtime Mode & Make Some Tweaks

There are a couple of other changes we wanted to tell you about as well, although none of the changes include adding any new tools to the lineup for Bedtime Mode. One good thing is that all of the new timer settings that were a part of previous updates to Wind Down are still available in the new Bedtime Mode.

One change you will notice though is that there is no longer the dedicated toggle for grayscale that used to be in Quick Settings. This was removed from Quick Settings, but you can configure Bedtime Mode to turn on the grayscale mode if you want.

While no additional features are found in this Digital Wellbeing update, there was an icon change. You will notice that the “Focus Mode” icon has been changed from the plain circle to a circle with some lines. We don’t know why this change was made as it doesn’t make it more clear that this is “Focus Mode” but Google decided it was a better option than just the plain circle. It does add a little flair to the app itself, but overall doesn’t change anything as far as the tools or their functionality.

Digital Wellbeing Bedtime Mode Change Happening Now

Not everyone has noticed the change in Digital Wellbeing yet on Android, but this change to Bedtime Mode is happening right now. It seems to be appearing in stages, so if your Digital Wellbeing app hasn’t changed yet don’t worry you’ll see it very soon. As we mentioned, this doesn’t change any features or functionality of the Digital Wellbeing app or the tools associated with it. Small tweaks like these are just made to make the app look better and be a little more user-friendly.

In the comment section below, we want to know whether or not you’ve used Digital Wellbeing on Android and if you think it helps you some. Digital Wellbeing is supposed to help you since you can lock yourself out of apps and be more productive during the day, such as while you’re at work. Do you find that locking yourself out of apps you tend to frequent is helpful for you to get more work done? What other changes are you hoping to come to Digital Wellbeing in the near future? If you dislike Digital Wellbeing tell us what about this service you don’t like and how it could be changed to be more useful.

For those who are trying to find a well-balanced digital and real life, the Digital Wellbeing tools that Google introduced a couple of years ago have been really helpful. They did eventually roll it out to other Android devices aside from their own Pixel smartphones. The latest update to this suite hasn’t really brought anything new but it did have a significant change in terms of a name an icon. Wind Down mode is now called Bedtime Mode and Focus Mode gets a new icon.

The new changes to Digital Wellbeing aren’t very significant but it does change a few minor things, specifically for Wind Down. It has now been renamed to Bedtime Mode since most of the things the tool can do is related anyway to you going to bed and getting ready to sleep. These tools and options include turning your screen to grayscale, turning on a Night Light, and activating a Do Not Disturb mode.

But 9 to 5 Google says this change also has some effect on the Quick Settings menu. There is no more dedicated grayscale tool there but the Bedtime Mode is configurable anyway so you will still be able to to flip the grayscale mode on from there even if you’re not turning Bedtime Mode on during the day. The revamped timer settings are still in the Bedtime Mode so you can easily manage when and how long you need the mode to be turned on.

The other minor change to the Digital Wellbeing update is for the Focus Mode, which lets you restrict access to some apps and mute notifications during a certain period of the day. Previously, its icon was just a blue circle with a white circle in the middle. Now the icon has been changed to a circle inside what looks like a pair of parentheses. There’s no other effect of the change to the mode itself, but it’s there.

The update to the Digital Wellbeing suite is now rolling out to users. Hopefully, it can also roll out to more, older Android devices soon.

Turn on, tune in, drop out.

By David Nield | Published Aug 15, 2019 5:30 PM

Whether it’s endlessly scrolling through Twitter or binge-watching Netflix, technology is often to blame for keeping us up way too late. But our gadgets don’t have to be the culprits behind a bad night’s sleep—they can also help us wind down and rest as if we were sleepy toddlers all over again.

From reducing the distractions and eye strain linked to your phone, to setting up a pocket light projector that will have you nodding off in minutes, these apps and gadgets promise to get you a one-way ticket to Snoozeville.

Set up Wind Down on your Android phone

Android includes a special mode for getting you ready for bed called Wind Down, available on the latest smartphone models running Android 9.0 Pie and above. You can turn it on by opening Settings, tapping Digital Wellbeing, then Wind Down.

The feature changes your phone in two ways. For one, it turns the entire interface to grayscale, not only to ease the pressure on your eyes, but also to make those colored icons less tempting. It also enables Do Not Disturb mode, which means no sounds or notifications from any apps. If you’re not comfortable with total silence, you can customize a list of which apps can override this mode. Just go to the Do Not Disturb option on the Wind Down menu to set which apps and contacts can interrupt you and which can’t.

To make it a habit, you can schedule your phone to go in and out of Wind Down mode automatically from the settings panel. Set it to turn on at a specific time—maybe an hour before your bedtime—and have it switch off whenever your phone alarm is set to ring.

Wind Down also features the Night Light option which can be used in tandem with, or instead of, the grayscale mode. It adds a warm amber glow to the screen that reduces blue light—which has been linked with the disruption of our circadian rhythms—and therefore makes it easier for you to feel sleepy.

Enable Downtime on your iPhone

iOS 12 (and later) has a feature similar to Wind Down with a very similar name: Downtime. To turn it on, go to Settings >Screentime >Downtime. Once you’ve enabled it with the toggle switch, you can pick the days and times that it automatically turns itself on and off.

Like Wind Down, Downtime is intended to put your phone into a Do Not Disturb mode, which is less distracting. It also limits access to the apps of your choosing to deter you from falling into the temptation of spending another few minutes scrolling through Instagram or Facebook—which, we all know, could turn into hours.

When Downtime is activated on default, most apps (except for Safari, Clock, Settings, Maps, Messages and FaceTime) are grayed out. If you try to launch them, you’ll get an alert that Downtime is active. You can tap through it to use the app for 15 minutes, but you’ll be reminded again after that time, so it should at least be annoying enough to make you think twice about firing up Netflix late at night.

To configure which apps can be accessed without a nag screen on Downtime mode, go to Settings > Screen Time > Always Allowed. You can disable Messages and FaceTime as well, if you want.

Hit the app store

Besides what Android and iOS offer, you can find a plethora of apps to help you relax and get drowsy before bed. A few of our favorites are listed here, but there are a ton of alternatives available, so it’s worth doing some hunting yourself.

Calm for Android and iOS is one of the most well-known and popular de-stressing apps out there because of its versatility—it covers everything from breathing exercises to stories designed to send you to sleep, and sessions can be as short as 3 minutes or as long as 25.

The app includes more than 30 natural sounds and scenes to help you chill out or nod off, and new ones are added daily. While some content (like the spoken meditations) requires a $60-per-year subscription, there’s enough stuff here to fully enjoy the app for free.

Noisli for Android and iOS will set you back $2 but is worth the investment. It lets you mix and match sounds like rain in the forest or a train along a track, then build them up in layers to create your perfect, never-ending chill-out mix. Experimenting with different sounds is a lot of fun, and the fade out function lets you have the audio stop when you’re sleeping.

Pzizz for Android and iOS offers a combination of soothing sounds—such as melodic music or nature sounds—and voice cues to help you get to sleep faster. Do not use this app up while operating heavy machinery, because you could be out like a light within 10 minutes, based on our experience. The sounds you hear are generated with algorithms based on scientific research, so they change automatically to help lull you into the Land of Nod.

You get a limited number of sounds and narratives to listen to with the free version of the app, but that’s more than enough to decide if Pzizz is actually going to work for you. Pay $10 a month for the premium version, and you’ll unlock a lot more content.

If sounds don’t do it for you, there’s also Breathe2Relax. Available for Android and iOS, this app, as its name suggests, concentrates on breathing exercises. As well as teaching you how to breathe in a relaxing way, it explains the science behind it.

Get some help from gadgets

If you feel like investing in an extra bit of tech to help you wind down for the night, you’ve got lots to choose from, so you can tailor a setup that perfectly fits you and the relaxation method you like best.

Most smart lights on the market come with built-in options for calming and relaxing scenes, such as swirling colors or colors that slowly fade to black. Lights from Philips Hue (the starter kit is $160 on Amazon and Lifx (bulbs from $40 on Amazon) can be programmed in various ways to get you in a chilled-out kind of mood.

You might also want to consider a standalone smart light, something like the Dodow Sleep Aid device ($60 on Amazon). It uses timed breathing exercises based on lights projected on the ceiling above you to get you nodding off in record time, even if you usually have problems getting to sleep.

We also like this smart essential oil diffuser ($39 on Amazon), which can be controlled via an app or through an Amazon Echo or Google Home speaker. Set up the level of mist you prefer, then add your preferred oils for a sweet-smelling, relaxing way to wind down at the end of the day.

If sound does it for you, you can always stick a favorite album or podcast if you want to get in some relaxation time, but in terms of dedicated devices, consider the LectroFan Evo ($45 on Amazon). It pumps out a variety of white noise sounds to help your mind zone out and get ready for bed. Another option is the Avantek 30 ($40 on Amazon), which comes with 13 nature sounds and five ambient sounds besides a white noise selection.

David Nieldis a tech journalist from the UK who has been writing about gadgets and apps since way before the iPhone and Twitter were invented. When he’s not busy doing that, he usually takes breaks from all things tech with long walks in the countryside.

In the latest update to the test version of Digital Wellbeing, Wind Down mode has been renamed to “Bedtime mode”.

The change, appearing in version 1.0.306697358.beta of the beta version of the Digital Wellbeing app, is rolling to testers via the Google Play Store.

Besides the change of name to Bedtime mode, there is also a revamp of the user interface.

Further, users have a new way of triggering Bedtime: when their device is plugged in for the night and it’s past a certain time (that they have set). This is especially useful for those among us that regularly find themselves staying out late, only getting home way past the time that a normal bedtime routine could be observed and expected.

Universally, across the Digital Wellbeing app, the UI revamp can be felt too with a new Quick Settings tile coming into place as well.

Digital Wellbeing was introduced in 2018 with the release of Android 9 Pie . It included an app timer for setting screen time, perhaps its most widely used feature, a Do Not Disturb mode, the Wind Down mode and a central dashboard where users could get an “at a glance” look at how they’re faring.

The Do Not Disturb mode can be activated by use of a gesture, Shush. How this works is that it automatically kicks in when one lays their device face down.

Last year, with the release of Android 10 , Digital Wellbeing was updated to include a new Focus mode .

Focus mode built upon the groundwork laid by the Do Not Disturb mode; offering users a middle ground that allowed them to silence a few apps that they found distracting, for a while, without necessarily having to shut off everything.

Wind Down mode is an automatic Do Not Disturb mode meant to discourage the use of a device past a certain set (bed) time. It does this by grayscaling the whole phone and keeping things that way until the morning. That makes it less appealing for one to continue using their device.

In iOS 14 and watchOS 7, Apple introduced a new Sleep Tracking feature that lets you monitor how much sleep you’re getting each night and improve your sleep habits with the help of bedtime reminders and a winding down process.

In the Health app on ‌iPhone‌, Wind Down accompanies Sleep Mode and Sleep Schedule as an optional feature. When enabled, it activates Sleep Mode at a set time before your bedtime to reduce distractions, and adds apps and shortcuts to your ‌iPhone‌’s Lock screen that can help you relax.

After you’ve set up your Sleep Schedule and enabled Sleep Mode, follow the steps below to set up Wind Down and customize your shortcuts.

1. Launch the Health app on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. Tap the Browse tab, then select Sleep.
3. Under “Your Schedule,” tap Full Schedule & Options.
4. Under “Additional Details,” tap Wind Down and then select the amount of time that you want Sleep Mode to activate before your chosen bedtime.
5. Next, tap Wind Down Shortcuts.
   

Tap Add Another Shortcut to add more shortcuts to your Sleep Mode Lock screen.

When Sleep Mode is next active, you’ll see a Shortcuts button in the center of your dimmed Lock screen.

Tap it to reveal your shortcuts for quick access to your chosen apps. If you want to change your shortcuts, you can also find an Edit button in the Shortcuts pop-up.

For more on all the new sleep-related features in ‌iOS 14‌ and ‌watchOS 7‌, be sure to check out our dedicated guide.

Ahead of the upcoming official release of Android 11 , Google is pushing out a few updates to all Android phones (running Android 6 and above) and it includes some helpful updates to Android Auto, a new Bedtime mode to help you sleep better, enhanced emergency services, and improved accessibility for people with limited vision.

For Google, while individually these features might seem mostly unrelated, the goal of these updates is to help make the things you already do just a bit easier while also cutting down on distractions, or in the event of an accident, providing emergency personnel with more info so they can respond better to your situation.

First, in Android Auto , Google has updated its user interface so that now alongside directions to wherever you’re going, you can also see a short list of upcoming calendar appointments, so you can keep your hands on the wheel and avoid needing to switch between different apps while you’re driving. For appointments that have an associated contact number, Google has even added a built-in dialer button that will let you call someone with a single tap, instead of being forced to dive deep into your contacts. And thanks to a revamped settings app, Android Auto users should have more control over what they see on their car’s infotainment display.

Alternatively, for people trying to wind down at night, Google is pushing out Bedtime mode (which was previously only available on Pixel phones) to all Android devices, which makes it easier to do things like disable notifications after a certain time, set bedtime reminders that will pop up in YouTube (either at an exact time or after your current video is done), or choose from a selection of sounds or songs from YouTube Music or Spotify to help you relax before falling asleep. And in the morning, Google also added its Sunrise Alarm which turns on your phone’s display before your alarm is set to go off, gradually getting brighter and transitioning from orange to yellow to help you wake up a bit more gently. All of these new Bedtime mode features will be available from a new tab inside the Google Clock app.

When it comes to emergencies , in case you ever need to call for help, Google is expanding Android’s Emergency Locations Service (ELS) to provide emergency personnel with your device’s language settings. This should make it easier for first responders to communicate with you when they arrive on the scene, or in cases where you don’t speak the native language, an early heads up that they may need to find an appropriate translator.