Worried about using phone before bed? The NHS suggests putting phones, tablets and computers away for about an hour before bed. If that feels impossible, start with 30 minutes, charge your phone outside the bedroom, and let iPhone tools like Sleep Focus, Screen Time schedules and Night Shift do some of the work.
The NHS explains that blue light from screens can make it harder to fall asleep. Light is only part of it, though. Notifications can wake you, and one more video can quietly push bedtime later. For a closer look at the light side, read this guide to blue light and sleep. This page focuses on the habit itself.
A cutoff is the time your phone goes away for the night. Choose a level, stick with it for a week or two, then move up.
Level 1: 15 minutes. No phone once you are in bed. Read, stretch or breathe instead.
Level 2: 30 minutes. Phone goes on the charger 30 minutes before lights out.
Level 3: 60 minutes. The NHS suggestion. Phone is away for the whole last hour.
Make the cutoff easier by deciding what you will do instead. The NHS suggests reading something you enjoy, meditation, breathing exercises, calming music or a podcast.
Best: another room, such as the kitchen or hallway. If your phone is your alarm, a basic alarm clock solves that.
Good: across the bedroom, far enough that you have to get up to reach it.
At minimum: on silent and face down. The NHS suggests both, to avoid interruptions and reduce light, and to keep clocks out of view.
These steps match Apple Support pages at the time of writing. Menu names can change between iOS versions.
Apple's Health app lets you set a bedtime and wake-up time, and a wind-down period that can start from 15 minutes to 3 hours before bedtime. A Sleep Focus starts at the beginning of wind down and can filter out notifications and calls.
Open the Health app, tap Browse, then Sleep, then tap Sleep again.
Tap Get Started, then Continue.
Tap Sleep Goal to choose how much sleep you want.
Tap Edit below Schedule to pick days, drag to set your bedtime and wake-up time, and choose alarm options. When you finish, confirm, then tap Next and Done.
To customize the Sleep Focus, go to Settings, tap Focus, then tap Sleep. You can allow interruptions from important people.
On iOS 27 or later, Apple's guide describes Screen Time Schedules:
Go to Settings, tap Screen Time, tap Screen Time Schedule, then turn on Schedule.
Tap Add Schedule and choose the days.
Tap the time window to rename it (for example, Evening) and set its start and stop times.
Choose which Time Allowance categories are available in that window, such as Entertainment, Games or Social Media.
Under Screen Time, tap Always Allowed to keep family contacts or the Health app available.
Apple's iOS 18 guide calls a similar feature Downtime. If you see Downtime instead, go to Settings, then Screen Time, turn on App & Website Activity if needed, tap Downtime, tap Scheduled, choose Every Day or Customize Days, and set start and end times. Apple says you get a 5-minute reminder before it begins. For more detail, see this guide to Screen Time Downtime on iPhone.
Night Shift shifts your display to warmer colors after sunset. Open Control Center, touch and hold the Brightness control, then tap Night Shift. Or go to Settings, tap Display & Brightness, then Night Shift, where you can set a schedule and adjust the color temperature. By default it runs from sunset to sunrise. Night Shift changes colors, not habits, so it works best alongside a cutoff.
Swap video for audio. Start a podcast or calm music, then turn the screen off.
Move your scroll time earlier. Give yourself 20 guilt-free minutes after dinner instead of in bed.
Turn the brightness down and use Night Shift if you must read on your phone.
Move your most tempting apps off your first Home Screen page so they are not the first thing you see at night.
Do not check the phone if you wake at night. See this guide to waking up at night.
If evening scrolling is a pattern you want to break, this guide on how to stop doomscrolling goes deeper.
If you have cut back on screens and still have trouble sleeping for weeks, talk to a doctor. Get advice sooner if you snore loudly, gasp or stop breathing in your sleep, or feel sleepy while driving.
This is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.
The NHS suggests about an hour. If that is a big change, start with 15 or 30 minutes and build up.
Night Shift makes colors warmer, but health advice is still to put screens away before bed. Scrolling and notifications can keep you up regardless of screen color.
It is easy to reach for and it can light up or buzz. If it must stay nearby, the NHS suggests silent mode and face down. Charging it across the room or in another room is easier still.
Read a paper book, listen to calm music or a podcast with the screen off, try a breathing exercise, or write tomorrow's to-do list.
If you want the hour before bed to feel like your own time rather than scrolling time, Sleepward: Bedtime Routine has "Your Hour", a protected block of personal time that ends before your chosen bedtime. It also has a gradually darkening wind-down screen and a Minimal Mode with one action, one timer and one Finish button. It is free to download with optional Pro purchases, with no accounts, no ads and no analytics or tracking SDKs.
Get Sleepward free on the App Store
How to fall asleep faster and sleep better (NHS Every Mind Matters)
Set Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances in Screen Time on iPhone (Apple Support)
Set schedules with Screen Time on iPhone, iOS 18 (Apple Support)
Use Night Shift on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (Apple Support)