Plenty of the standout innovations of today’s digital age come from Apple. Its groundbreaking iPhone blazed a trail for the widespread adoption of smartphones, which we now use for everything from communication to entertainment.
More recently, its Vision Pro has been revolutionizing wearable technology. In the process, however, using these devices has become increasingly correlated with poor eye health.
People across all age groups are now logging excess screen time. Because of that, kids are spending less time outdoors, causing cases of myopia (nearsightedness) to skyrocket. Today, experts believe half the world’s population will have it by 2050. Adults experience similar effects. Over 69% of employees now work longer hours, spending most of their time looking at computer screens. As a result, half of the workforce has experienced eye strain.
With Apple device owners spending more time looking at screens—iPhone users alone clock an average of nearly five hours daily compared to three hours for Android users—they’re thus more vulnerable to the above issues. Fortunately, Apple’s aware of these developments. In response, it’s come out with a number of features designed to supplement the best eye care practices recommended by health professionals.
Apple devices and eye health
But how can using Apple devices worsen one’s eyesight in the first place? Like other gadgets, their screens emit blue light, which is closely associated with the development of eye strain. Though they don’t give off as much blue light as its biggest source—the sun—excess device use can still worsen visual comfort and long-term eye health. Currently, blue light glasses are the most common solution for preventing these issues. Brands like Essilor further leverage a patented Eye Protect System to selectively filter blue light while letting other wavelengths in, which helps reduce reflections while enhancing visual clarity and comfort to prevent device use-related eye strain.
Apple devices can also discourage one from going outdoors. That makes children particularly vulnerable to myopia because it forces them to prioritize near over far vision, causing their still-developing eyes to elongate. In adults with an existing myopia diagnosis, this elongation can lead to high myopia. This more severe form of nearsightedness can increase one’s likelihood of experiencing vision loss through diseases like glaucoma. As such, eye care professionals now recommend the use of atropine eye drops. These regulate how much dopamine is present in the eye, which researchers recently proved can help slow myopia progression.
Finally, using Apple devices can result in eye strain simply because of how near they are to the eyes eyes to a screen—and how long they’re kept there. Placing them too close to your face for prolonged periods locks the eye muscles in one place for longer, fatiguing them more easily. As a general rule, eye care professionals thus recommend that screens be placed anywhere between 16 to 30 inches away from the eyes. They also highly advocate the 20-20-20 rule, which involves looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. Doing so allows the eyes to maintain their ability to look at objects further away and prevent further eyeball elongation.
Though these tips and treatment options can combat excess device use, the many functionalities offered by Apple devices can distract users and make it harder to apply them in practice. To further support consumer eye health, Apple has thus come out with a number of eye-friendly features that they can simply “set and forget”—making for easier and more convenient ways to supplement the above practices.
Eye-friendly Apple features
Magnifier
Ensuring your eyes don’t have to work hard just to see what’s on a screen is a crucial eye strain prevention strategy. That’s why Apple offers the ability to enlarge the font size you use on iPhones and iPads, which can make things easier to read. However, the iOS Control Center offers another hidden feature you can take advantage of: the magnifier accessibility tool. This is essentially a digital magnifying glass that works with the camera app to enlarge the fine print on everything from menus and boxes to official forms. An additional people detection setting can tell you how far away someone or something is. Though pretty much anyone can use it, this tool can be especially useful for people with presbyopia (age-related farsightedness). This condition occurs when the eyes lose flexibility with age, making a diagnosis virtually inevitable for anyone over the age of 40. When used alongside prescription eyewear like reading glasses, the tool can thus significantly improve a presbyope’s blurred near vision to prevent eye strain.
To activate the magnifier accessibility tool, head to Settings > Accessibility > Vision > Magnifier.
Screen Distance
This relatively recent feature was first rolled out in 2023 upon the release of iOS 17 (for iPhones and iPads) and watchOS 10 (for Apple Watches). Aptly named Screen Distance, it’s specifically designed to address the growing prevalence of eye strain and myopia. The Screen Distance feature helps by detecting when you start holding your Apple device 12 inches away or less from your face for a prolonged period. It then notifies you by disrupting the user experience and filling up the screen with a warning to place your device further away. To do so, it leverages the same TrueDepth camera used by Apple’s FaceID feature. When followed alongside the 20-20-20 rule, this feature can remind you to take more breaks and ultimately reduce your chances of experiencing eye strain.
To start using this feature, go to Settings > Screen Time > Screen Distance.
Time in Daylight
Apple device users received this feature alongside Screen Distance. It was developed in line with research linking sunlight with myopia prevention. In essence, spending more time outdoors to benefit from sun exposure can both discourage excess screen time and naturally regulate dopamine levels in the eye like atropine drops can. Time in Daylight works using the ambient light, GPS, and motion sensors available on most Apple devices to tell whether you’re outside. If you aren’t, it’ll remind you to head outdoors. It can be paired with an additional Family Setup feature, which allows parents to monitor their children’s outdoor time via Apple Watch. However, Time in Daylight can be equally useful for adults looking to prevent existing myopia prescriptions from progressing further. This feature can significantly supplement the benefits of blue light glasses, as this eyewear is capable of blocking blue light from the sun and can be paired with Transitions lenses. Users who take advantage of Time in Daylight can thus prevent blue light-related eye strain both indoors and outdoors while fully benefiting from the sun’s ability to prevent myopia.
To leverage this feature, open the Health app and navigate your way to Browse > Mental Wellbeing > Time in Daylight.
