Troubleshooting: Answers to some common OS X questions. Click the f.lux Mac download link. Click the zip file to expand it; Double click the 'Flux' application in your Finder window. Enter your location and wake time; Uninstalling. Go to the f.lux Settings panel (to the left of your system clock) Choose 'Quit f.lux'. Mac computers, prior to Sierra, used the HFS+ file format. In High Sierra Apple introduced a new file system called Apple File System (APFS). ExFAT or the older FAT32 are formats that can be read. PixelBOT EXTREME, Leipzig, Germany.
At WWDC today, Apple announced that its Metal API will be coming to OS X in the next version of that operating system (codenamed El Capitan). Previously, Metal had been reserved for iOS. Uptake of the API doesn’t appear to be huge — while there are certainly titles that use it, it doesn’t command the lion’s share of iOS gaming. Apple may be hoping that extending the API to OS X will help change that, and building a common graphics standard between iOS and OS X is certainly in keeping with its strategy of bringing the two platforms into alignment.
Extending Metal to OS X, however, is going to require considerable under-the-hood support from Apple, which doesn’t have the greatest track record of supporting new graphics capabilities. At present, Apple’s own developer page shows OGL support at 4.1 for OS X 10.9, which was released in 2010. Meanwhile, Khronos released the OpenGL 4.5 specification last August.
One of the last real differences between using a Mac and a PC is the video card hardware available and how the user can interface with those underlying capabilities. On the PC side of things, both AMD and Nvidia offer comprehensive control panels with extensive control over virtually every aspect of the GPU. For example, you can set clock speeds (sometimes), change profile settings (or create new ones), and alter how the computer displays video depending on whether you want to rely on the OS or the GPU for managing these tasks. Apple, in contrast, writes its own drivers for the GPU hardware that it uses — and it doesn’t expose anything close to the same level of functionality.
With Metal coming to OS X, Apple has essentially declared it wants to bring its own graphics API and functionality in-house. That means expanding Metal to more than just the Imagination Technologies’ GPUs that Apple relies on for mobile hardware. Presumably Intel, Nvidia, and AMD graphics solutions will all work within the new API, which means Apple is taking on a more complex tax than simply providing an OpenGL driver.
We know that Metal for Mac, as Apple calls the new program, is integrated into Apple’s Core Graphics and Core Animation libraries, presumably as a replacement for Core OpenGL, Apple’s Quartz windowing system interface. How this will impact gaming, and whether Apple is pushing Metal as a full-on replacement for OpenGL in the near-term future, is still unclear.
It’s more than a little interesting that Apple just standardized on AMD GPUs across both its laptops and its desktops before announcing Metal would be coming to OS X. I wouldn’t read too much into it — for example, it’s premature to conclude that previous Intel and Nvidia GPUs won’t be fully supported under the new API — but it’s possible Apple chose to standardize on a single GPU vendor across its product lines to make future support easier.
No Apple / Vulkan support?
For now, Vulkan appears to be a no-show on Mac OS X. That’s a bit surprising, given Apple’s membership in the Khronos Group, and it implies the Cupertino company would rather double down on its own custom API rather than supporting the low-level APIs of a different organization. This, in turn, could damage any push to create a truly universal graphics API.
No, OpenGL isn’t going anywhere. But the entire point of Vulkan was to create a gaming-friendly iteration of OpenGL that would match DirectX 12’s features and offer them across more platforms than just Windows. If Apple backs Metal to the exclusion of OGL, we could be facing a future where Windows-only developers target DirectX 12, iOS and OS X developers use Metal, and Linux / Windows devs rely on Vulkan.
Metal’s threading model
That’s a bit more fragmented than we’d otherwise like to see, and it could hurt the growth of Linux as an alternate gaming platform if developers can’t target it and OS X easily. Then again, there were already significant differences between the two operating systems, so this may not matter much.
Either way, Apple has a long and illustrious history of mostly ignoring OpenGL variants and shipping systems with relatively weak GPU hardware. The dual graphics solutions on the Mac Pro are impressive, but actually taking advantage of that compute horsepower is a different question. The company has always treated graphics performance and capabilities as a bit of a red-headed stepchild (despite the fact that Macs are beloved in graphics design). And it’s not clear that leaping for its own custom API is going to meaningfully change that.
Thanks for installing f.lux.
Your f.lux installer is a .zip file - it should be in your Downloads folder. Install f.lux by double-clicking it.
Once f.lux is installed and running, you should see the f.lux Preferences window appear. Here, you can enter your location and set your usual wake time. f.lux uses this information to create a custom lighting schedule for you.
You can open up Preferences any time to view and change your f.lux settings.
The f.lux menu can always be found to the left of your system clock.
f.lux Preferences
Daytime is whenever the sun is up in your location. By default, f.lux is at 6500K during the daytime, and does not change your screen’s color.
If you prefer very warm daytime colors, select Options> Expanded Daytime Settings from the f.lux menu.
Sunset is when the sun has set, but you are awake. If you are an early riser, this is also your pre-sunrise morning setting.
Sunset colors are designed to work well with normal warm white room lighting. If you usually wake up before sunrise, you might prefer a more moderate (4500K or brighter) Sunset setting.
Bedtime is the time before sleep when you’re getting ready for bed (or already in it).
The Bedtime setting changes with your wake time. It removes as much alerting light from your screen as possible so that you can feel your body growing tired. You can go to sleep anytime with f.lux - whenever you feel sleepy.
f.lux presets
The f.lux preferences window lets you change and preview settings. There are several presets you can choose from. f.lux will default to the Recommended colors preset.
Recommended colors: Use these for the first week while you get used to the change of colors and discover how you like to use f.lux.
Custom colors: Custom color control, click the time of day you want to change and then drag the slider to your preferred color temperature.
Classic f.lux: At sunset, f.lux will fade to 3400K, and turn off at sunrise. For large screens this setting is probably not strong enough to remove all alerting light.
Working late: for extreme night owls, removes solar timing and gives 14 hours of bright waking light.
Location
For most machines, f.lux can automatically detect your location with OS X Location Services.
You can also use postal codes (US only), the name of a nearby city, or map coordinates (find them on the map at justgetflux.com/map.html).
If you’ve been traveling, you might need to update your location. Make sure your computer’s internal Timezone settings are correct under System Preferences > Date & Time > Time Zone
Options
Fast transitions: 20 second fade at sunrise and sunset. When unchecked, f.lux changes gradually over one hour.
Sleep in on weekends: For people who want brighter light later on Friday and Saturday nights (and sleep in on Saturday and Sunday mornings)
Extra hour of sleep (ages 13-18): Starts Bedtime one hour earlier for teens and other people who need a little more sleep
Expanded daytime settings: Warmer daytime settings (to 1900K) for people who want to reduce eyestrain or match office lighting
Backwards alarm clock: Calculates how many hours remain until your wake time and gives reminders every thirty minutes when it gets very late
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Dim on disable: Gentle fade on disable so it hurts less to check colors
Color Effects
Darkroom: Removes 100% of blue and green light and inverts colors. Darkroom mode also preserves night vision while using a screen.
Movie mode: Lasts 2.5 hours. Preserves colors and shadow detail for watching movies with reduced alerting light.
OS X Dark theme at sunset: Uses the normal theme during the day and switches to dark theme (dock and menu bar) each night at sunset. Disabling f.lux will also disable dark theme.
Disable
For an hour: Disables f.lux for one hour and returns your screen to its normal setting.
Until sunrise: Disables f.lux until your local sunrise.
For current app: Open the app you want to disable f.lux for, then choose this option to disable f.lux whenever a particular app becomes active. You can re-enable f.lux later by opening the app and unchecking this option.
If you often check colors after dark, you might like to use the Dim On Disable setting under Options.
About f.lux
This is where to find what version you have installed, see our contact information, and get a measurement of your screen’s current brightness.
Quit f.lux
This will quit the f.lux process and remove the f.lux icon from your menubar. Always quit f.lux before uninstalling or deleting files.
Troubleshooting: Answers to some common OS X questions
Installing
- Click the f.lux Mac download link.
- Click the zip file to expand it
- Double click the 'Flux' application in your Finder window.
- Enter your location and wake time
Uninstalling
- Go to the f.lux Settings panel (to the left of your system clock)
- Choose 'Quit f.lux'
- In Finder, search for 'Flux' and select and delete the f.lux app by dragging it to the trash
Uninstalled but can’t delete files
- Open Activity Monitor and select Flux
- Choose Force Quit
- Delete f.lux app by dragging it to the trash
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Quit f.lux but the color still remains
Rebooting often fixes any problems with color tint. But if that does not help you, try the following:
- Open Activity Monitor and verify there is no 'Flux' process running
- In Finder, open System Preferences> Displays> Color
- Delete the f.lux profile
- Reboot if needed
Other video display issues
Some Macbooks were recalled for problems with video hardware. You can check if your model is on the list at: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
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Flashing
On dual-GPU machines we write an ICC profile in order to make the “switch” between video cards more seamless. In some older machines, and every so often, this doesn’t work so well. You can use gfx.io to lock to one card, or to read about how this system works and disable if you want, check out our f.lux profile + prefs article.
If you still have questions about f.lux or need more help, you can check our FAQ or ask a question in our support forum.