There’s nothing more important than getting a good night’s rest.
Whether I’m calculating the trajectory of a rocket or writing guides for Android Police, a lack of sleep has a dire impact on my efficiency and overall quality of life.
Unfortunately, smartphones and sleep do not mix.
Between the blue light emitted from devices and the stimulating content generally found on various apps, even a few seconds on your phone before bed can guarantee that you aren’t going to feel well rested in the morning.
There are, however, some features on Android 16 that you can use to mitigate the more egregious issues with smartphone usage before bed, so that setting your alarm doesn’t unravel your entire sleep routine.
Smartphones vs. sleep
The battle of our time
Before we delve into exactly how to reclaim your sleep from your smartphone, it’s important to understand exactly how big of a problem for the approximately 60 million people in the US that don’t get enough sleep.
For starters, sleep is very important. According to the National Sleep Foundation, people that get poor sleep are four times less likely to be happy, three times less likely to achieve their goals, and two times less likely to be productive at home.
Even worse, smartphones are directly contributing to poor sleep. A study from the National Library of Medicine found that “mobile phone usage, especially near bedtime, worsens sleep quality” for a number of reasons.
The blue light emitted from your phone has an effect on your circadian rhythm, making it harder to get to sleep.
On top of that, the things you see on your smartphone, like videos on social media and other entertaining content, can raise your heart rate and cortisol levels, which doesn’t exactly make for a relaxing sleep environment.
Make your smartphone sleep friendly
Android 16 to the rescue
As has become increasingly common over the last few years, there is a smartphone functionality that can help.
More specifically, Android 16 is equipped with a few features and settings you can turn on that are aimed at helping you get a good night’s rest.
Bedtime mode is where you’ll want to start. This Digital Wellbeing feature is designed to help you sleep better by changing how your phone operates, starting at your desired bedtime.
The feature is extremely intuitive and convenient for users that want to improve their sleep quality.
It automatically activates some of your phone’s Digital Wellbeing features, like grayscale display, which makes your device’s display infinitely less bright and jarring in the middle of the night.
Even better, you can pick the schedule for Bedtime mode. The feature allows you to pick a time that will automatically turn on and off, or you can have it activate every time you start charging your phone.
If you need to be a bit more granular with how Bedtime mode works, you can do that too.
The feature allows you to allow certain notifications from certain people or certain apps during Bedtime mode, and it can allow specific alarms and other interruptions through, if you decide they are more important than getting plenty of sleep.
How to set up Bedtime mode
Your sleep routine will thank you
Depending on how sleep-deprived you are, you might have a hard time figuring out how to turn on the Bedtime mode feature on your device. Luckily, I got plenty of sleep last night, and I’m happy to help.
Naturally, you’ll want to click the Settings menu. Then, you’ll give that a big scroll until you can click the Digital Wellbeing option.
There, you’ll find the Bedtime mode button, which will open a dashboard that allows you to turn on the feature, set a routine for the feature, and customize the feature.
If you’ve opted into some of the more advanced features, like sleep tracking, you’ll also find a graph of Bedtime activity and Cough & snore info, which can give you a bit more insight into why you’re sleeping so poorly.
Because, as GI Joe always said, knowledge is power when it comes to getting a good night’s rest.
Settings and features galore
Your phone doesn’t need to ruin your sleep
It’s 2026 and smartphones have been around for a long time.
As a result, the majority of popular devices are equipped with features and settings designed to solve virtually all the problems that are caused by over-usage, in hopes of keeping people coming back for more.
If you think your smartphone is ruining your sleep, draining your battery, or causing any other kind of serious strife in your life, there is a very good chance that you’re just a few clicks away from solving that problem with a new feature or setting.
