OS users finally have the long-awaited Night Shift feature, which rolled out Monday in iOS 9.3, but Android users may not have long to wait for a similar nighttime viewing mode.
A hidden feature in Google's developer preview of Android N, the next version of Android, suggests Google may be looking to add a similar nighttime viewing mode to its smartphones and tablets.
The feature is called Night Mode and, like Apple's Night Shift feature, it will change the color temperature of your display at night. The feature is tucked away in a hidden settings menu, so it's not clear if Google plans to make this an official part of its next operating system or if it's just an experiment.
Here's what it looks like in action:
If you are using the developer preview of Android N, which was released last week, you can take the feature for a spin now — if you know where to look. (While anyone with a Nexus device can opt-in to test Google's beta software, keep in mind that it's still a very early build so it's best not to test it on your primary device.)
In order to use Night Mode you first need to access a hidden settings menu called "System UI Tuner," which you can activate by holding down on the gear icon in the notifications drawer. Wait until you feel a vibration to let go. This activates the System UI Tuner menu in the device's main settings.
From settings, head to System UI Tuner —> Color and Appearance —> Night Mode. There you can turn the feature on and off manually or opt to have it kick in automatically based on the time of day. In my testing on a Nexus 9 tablet, turning the feature on and off was a bit buggy though it worked just as well as the iOS version once it was on.
While it's still too early to know what Google's plans for the feature are — we'll likely be hearing a lot more about Android N at Google's I/O developer conference in May — we're hoping Google plans to keep it around for the final release.
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