I built a f.lux alternative because the M5 Max firmware broke existing solutions | Hacker News Reader

I built a f.lux alternative because the M5 Max firmware broke existing solutions

driftformac.app

25 pointsjackvanstone21 comments

So the M5 firmware has some limitations and bugs that broke one of my favourite apps, after a while I found a thread that basically said certain devices don't allow modification of the gamma layer in the display. I started building a util for myself but it grew arms and legs, eventually it turned into a small app which i wanted to share, as it solves night shift issues which are still present in f.lux. If you work late like me, but you like your eyes to not be on fire when you go to sleep, please take a look at Drift :)

Thanks - Jack

On mobile there’s weird copy ragging and you’ve left out a word or two.

Product looks nice. Hope does it compare to Apple’s built-in Night Shift?

Seems like a bug that slipped through with the GSAP split text animation, thanks for letting me know and for the nice feedback.

The app utilises Night Shift directly to provide more granular scheduling controls and quick access features. Snooze is helpful for me when I work late, because if you need to design something, you need to disable tint temporarily and not have to think about it again.

The main aim is to make it easier to manage settings, and give more control to users, not ground breaking, just helpful :)

And what exactly was the issue with the built in Night Shift mode?

I think you should have instead filed an issue with f.lux rather than vibe code a redundant app.

The website looks like 50 other AI-generated product sites I've seen lately.

Just from the screenshots it looks like this has a bunch of features Night Shift doesn't have.

Thank you, and you're right - the main point of drift is to extend Night Shift to give more granular control, quick access options, and also help people who used f.lux and no longer can (all M5 Pro and M5 Max users), to get back to their regular flow.

Night Shift has limited control, no quick access options etc.

f.lux has had an issue filed for more than 6 weeks with the solution being wait it out until Apple fixes it, with no confirmation that they are even aware of the issue or any planned date for a fix.

Not sure why you would think the app was vibe coded, nor why that would be an issue like anyone writes every line of code themselves anymore. Not the noble point of principle people think it is. If you're a good developer already it makes you faster - principles be damned.

The website is secondary to the app, and it's purpose is to be clean and simple to understand. I also doubt those websites have WebGL backgrounds, infinite carousels that don't bug out nor payment and licensing integrations that actually work.

Maybe try being more constructive in future, it's nice to be nice.

The Liquid Glass effect `<canvas />` used for 1(!) tiny, barely visible button degrades the performance of the entire website.

Also, why is text selection disabled?

Also, please don't hijack the scroll to make it "smooth", I know it's not smooth on Macs by default, that's why lots of people use e.g. `Mos`, so now it's double smoothed.

Degrade the performance can only refer to the library load time which is 130 KB, a trade off I'm happy with to bring the feel of the product inline with modern Mac aesthetics.

Text selection disabled is a bug, thanks for letting me know.

A lot of mac users have a trackpad which is way too snappy by default for a product like this.

what if i told you that there are randomized control trials that conclusively show that the color tint of your screen, blue or otherwise, does not affect sleep?

Good luck staying misinformed then. "Trust the science".

The placebo effect is a hell of a thing, and is especially potent with sleep interventions.

metareview CRD420251034611 "non-significant reduction in sleep onset latency" means blue light has been conclusively observed to not delay sleep - it doesn't mean that blue light has not yet been observed to delay sleep, we instead know conclusively that it does not.

registered trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01855126 - RCT where shining a bunch of blue light on old people's eyeballs didn't help them stay awake longer.

something i learned from this journey is, going to bed too early is actually a more common clinical issue than staying up too late. like old people go to the doctor, and that's the issue that they have, they feel like they sleep way too much.

Well, we know that conclusively in the study population of 65+ year olds who suffer from insomnia and suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness

So you are saying we need to conduct trials on a representative set of bayesnets of say.. 200k and then it'll be conclusive?

I think that’s uncharitable. The study has a very specific goal of assessing whether blue light can keep seniors with problems staying awake from falling asleep early. It’s neither obvious nor intended by the authors that conclusions about this population generalize further.

Especially in the context of the flux and night shift, which are intended to help people with the opposite problem (who want to sleep sooner rather than stay awake later), it’s an important distinction.

Maybe, but warm tint at night subjectively feels more comfortable

does it ease the strain on the eyes? I believe that's individual and hard to measure.

If it helps OP then I see no issue with it being useless for sleep.

I tried using f.lux a decade ago or so. Deemed it not helpful for myself

It was extremely helpful to me, to the point where I could pinpoint basically all my insomnia nights (retroactively, not the night they happened) to accidentally turning F.lux off. But the research on it seems pretty clear, so I'm convinced it's just a potent placebo effect. There's nothing wrong with that!

If I told you there are certain eye conditions/deformities that impact the refraction of light based on the wavelength? Lasik side effects can (and do) include increased distortion as wavelengths move closer to blue from red. And who cares if it works or not for sleep, it is shocking to me how little control modern laptops allow over their screens. Why is it not OS native to control gamma curves? Same question about audio equalization. Don't get me started on transparency and gradients that are clawing their way back. Looking at you "AI-Era" Google aesthetic and Liquid Glass. /rant

It's not that it improves sleep, it's that it eases your eye strain before bed, which is incredibly important for people who already work late. Anecdotal maybe, but consistent across the creatives and devs I know.

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