Whenever I go to the eye doctor, they always ask what I do for a living. When I say that I’m a writer, and I spend most of my day starting at a screen, the doc always clucks his tongue. We all know that computer screens are bad for our eyes, but most of us just don’t know what to do about it– cutting back on time in front of various screens just isn’t an option we can (or want) to consider. However, if you want to try and make the best of a bad situation, a Mac app called Dimmer Than Dim may provide some relief for computer-related eye strain.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Dimmer Than Dim is a very simple Mac app that aims to reduce eye strain in its user base. The core idea behind Dimmer Than Dim is that the app “breaks” the default limits of the Mac’s brightness settings.

Pros

• Makes your Mac’s screen darker and dimmer than is normally possible
• You can continuously adjust the brightness settings
• Extremely small and simple app

Cons

• Dimmer Than Dim would offer a more cohesive user experience if you didn’t have to toggle between the “dim settings” in the app, and the built-in dimmer settings
• No guidelines are offered to users on how to select the right monitor brightness for their environment. Some advice to that effect based on the expertise from eye care professionals would really take this app to the next level

Discussion

Finding the right brightness setting is a really tricky business. If the screen is too bright, the glare can make your eyes feel dry, tired, or just plain bleary. Then again, if the screen is set too dim, then your eyes can be strained from squinting at the screen.

I really appreciate that Dimmer Than Dim is so simple to use, and it offers a visible, marked difference in terms of the dimmest settings. It really is obvious how much dimmer Dimmer Than Dim can get, compared to Apple’s native brightness parameters for the Mac.

I do really wish that Dimmer Than Dim would integrate with the Mac’s native brightness controls. As it stands now, you have to toggle back and forth between the two to find the setting that’s right for you. And if you’re in a room that has a lot of natural, changing light over the course of the day, toggling between those settings is a pain.

One thing I think this app could really benefit from is some built-in advice from eye care professionals. I know I could certainly benefit from some tips on what brightness setting is best for various light environments. A feature that could make this app truly amazing would be something that could automatically determine the optimum dimmer setting for the monitor, perhaps by using your Mac’s camera to judge light levels.

Conclusion and download link

If you want to have more control over your computer screen’s brightness levels, Dimmer Than Dim is a surprisingly bright idea. It’s a very simple app, with no frills, and no bells, and no whistles. Still, if you like to work on a screen that is as dim as possible, this is the app for you.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.0

Requires OS X 10.6 or later

Download size: 0.1 MB

Dimmer Than Dim on Apple App Store