Spending most of our day in front of computer screens at work, coupled with a strenuous lifestyle can be damaging to our eyes. The time spent staring at the laptop screens can tire our eyes and make them sore and do long term damage to our vision. It can also cause issues while sleeping. An overexposure to them can be nerve-racking, unhealthy and doctors advise short breaks in between as well. There are a few apps and extensions that are recommended to mitigate the damage that can be inflicted on our eyesight by computer and smartphone screens.

F.lux (Windows & Mac)

F.lux is one of the most popular apps out there which helps to manage the brightness levels of your monitor. It can be trained to make your computer screen look like the room you are in. Not only does it adjust the tint, but the brightness and glow levels of the monitor as well depending on the time of the day. Just fine tune f.lux the way you want, and voila it will manage the rest automatically. Download here: https://justgetflux.com

Reduce computer eye strain with these apps and extensions

Eye Pro (Windows)

This is a light weight app that aims at reducing eye fatigue while spending long hours in front of the computer screen. Aside from reducing strain, it also prompts users to blink their eyes frequently as research suggests that it tends to lower down while looking at the computer screen, which contributes to more soreness. Eye Pro suggests two types of breaks: short and long ones. Short eye rests advise you to frequently blink your eyes to ensure that they remain mosturised properly. Besides this, there are other tips and conducive exercises for your eyes and how to avoid the wear and tear happening on a daily basis. Download here: http://eye-pro.software.informer.com

Protect Your Vision (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)

Protect your vision is a free website for popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Safari. It allows you to reduce eye strain and protect your eyes naturally. It has certain modes that can be configured to ensure that you get a break from the computer screen, along with desktop notifications. It beeps when the break time comes, blacks out the screen for those few minutes when you need to rest your eyes. It can be easily customised to your own preference, and it suggests eye exercises to do during break time. Download here: http://www.protectyourvision.org

Screen Shader (Chrome)

Screen Shader is an extension for the Chrome browser that automatically changes the colour of your screen to match with daylight cycles in your time-zone. It is well known that displays on laptops, smartphones produce white and blue light which can interfere with your sleep cycle and irritate the eyes too. It has a variety of options including custom day and night shade, colours, full-screen mode, increased contrast, darkening modes, etc. Download here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/screen-shader/fmlboobidmkelggdainpknloccojpppi

The writer is a freelance columnist with diversified interests in Technology, Finance & History. He tweets@MohammadFarooq_

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, April 10th, 2016