Apple files generic trademark application, hints at Night Shift for Mac and Watch

Apple has filed for a trademark for Night Shift mode. Some have interpreted this move as a hint at bringing the feature to other devices. Apple filed for the Night Shift trademark in the US and Hong Kong. Night Shift is a feature that uses geolocation and clock timing to automatically make the colours on the screen warmer, to improve the experience on a device after evening. Apple claims that the soothing colours harmonize with circadian rhythms of the human body allowing for better sleep. The trademark filing was reported by Patently Apple. The filing mentions a vast number of devices on which Night Shift can be used. These include, docks, microchips, hemline makers, egg-candlers, voting machines and electrified fences. Apple is obviously casting a net as wide as possible, including a number of devices that obviously cannot benefit from the implementation of such a feature. Perhaps it is to obfuscate their true intentions. Buried in a pile of devices that the feature is not likely to be used on, are a few that Apple can implement them on. These include, laptops, smartwatches, televisions and cars. The Next Web uses the trademark application to speculate that the Night Shift feature may be headed to the Apple Watch and the Macbook. F.lux is available on the Mac, and is a third party software that works in a manner similar to Night Shift. Apple has shown some indication of this when it stopped an app called F.lux from releasing on the iPhone, then released their own version of essentially the same functionality with the Night Shift feature. 9to5mac calls out Patently Apple for using misleading language in their report of the trademark application. According to 9to5Mac, the trademark application by itself gives no indication of Apple’s plans either way. The wording used is just standard trademark wording, and not that Apple has used specifically for Night Shift. The report in 9to5mac also notes that the Night Shift mode may have a limited benefit.