Dark Mode – What is it and why do we need it?

Black text is typically displayed on a white background in the default display setting of many consumer electronics. However, a different display technology known as “dark mode” has recently received a lot of attention.

On many devices and online platforms, dark mode—also referred to as night mode, light-on-dark mode, black mode, or dark theme—is increasingly popular.

What Is Dark Mode?

Users can enable dark mode on most devices to change the default settings of black text on a white background. The gadget essentially reverses the colors and shows black text on a white background.

To lower the amount of light emitted on the screen while preserving the lowest colour contrast ratios, people utilize dark mode on their gadgets. To keep the text on the screen readable, these ratios must be kept constant.

It is an additional mode that can be used to display mostly dark surfaces on the UI. The design reduces light emitted from device screens while maintaining the minimum color contrast ratios required for readability. The benefits of Dark Mode are that it improves visual ergonomics by reducing eye strain, makes it easier to adjust displays to current lighting conditions, and provides comfortable use at night or in dark environments. It also saves battery power, allowing the device to be used for long periods of time without recharging. Usually, the dark mode theme can be toggled on or off with a highly visible toggle icon on the screen. Alternatively, it is placed in the menu options or in the application settings.

What are the pros and cons of a dark mode?

Advantages of Dark Mode

The advantages of dark mode will be discussed below. What makes dark mode superior? Let’s investigate.

Enhanced Battery Life

According to a Purdue University study, moving from light to dark mode at 100% brightness will help your devices’ batteries last between 39 and 47% longer.

Remember that the amount of battery life you’ll save when utilizing dark mode on your phone may vary depending on how you use it on a regular basis.

It Has a Nice Look to It

Most people would concur that black writing on a white backdrop is less appealing than dark mode. White lettering on a black backdrop is monotonous and overdone. A more aesthetically pleasing option is dark mode.

 When using dark mode, colors appear to stand out more. Additionally, reading with a dark mode display might make it easier for you to remember what you read. Still, more study on this particular subject is required.

Could lessen eye strain

More tech businesses and app developers are providing a dark mode option to ease eye strain after spending a lot of time staring at your device’s screen. You know the feeling after an hour of scrolling through social media: your eyes are dry, itchy, or uncomfortable, and you could even feel a headache coming on.

Regulates Exposure to Blue Light

According to a study from Harvard Medical School, blue light can interfere with your sleep patterns. Furthermore, according to Harvard University studies, prolonged exposure to blue light may increase the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and obesity.

In one study, Harvard researchers discovered that blue light inhibits the release of melatonin, which has an immediate effect on a person’s capacity for sleep. According to the study, blue light exposure decreases melatonin production for roughly twice as long as green light exposure.

Dark Mode: Why Is It Better?

The dark mode is often preferred by users over conventional display settings, yet this is still a question of personal opinion. 

It also saves energy, especially if the device uses an OLED or AMOLED screen.

While the dark text on a white background is best for readability, dark mode (light text on a dark background) is better for reducing eye strain in low light conditions.

Since most of the screen is dark, screen glare is reduced, minimizing flickering and blue light.

You can improve sleep quality, cut back on blue light exposure, and conserve battery life.

Disadvantages:

Dark themes aren’t always better for eye strain. In bright light, text appears washed out, which increases eye strain. Long content or text is harder to read in dark mode.

List of apps and services in dark mode

Google dark mode

chrome dark mode

For several years, users have been waiting for dark themes for Google services and apps, but it’s only recently that dark mode has been included in many apps, including Chrome, Calendar, and YouTube. In May 2019, Google introduced dark mode for several apps with the 5/22 update. Google Keep, which many Android users use for notes, offers the option to enable a dark theme as a toggle icon in app settings. Instead of black, the app uses dark shades of gray. In the case of Google Drive, the dark theme does not cover all versions of the operating system. The recent update works well on Android Q, where users can switch between dark and light modes based on system settings. On Android Pie, feedback varies from user to user. This sometimes works on devices that have dark mode settings enabled.

Currently, dark themes on Google Drive are not available for iOS and desktop clients, but it may change soon. Calendar is another Google app that offers dark mode as an in-app setting for Android Nougat and newer. As with other Google apps, the background color is dark gray rather than black.

When it comes to Google Chrome, the dark theme is available on both macOS and Windows. On macOS devices running Chrome version 73 or earlier, the appearance of the browser can be changed by switching between light and dark modes. For Windows users, version 74 has the Dark Mode feature which also matches the system design. However, the feature doesn’t always work as expected. For Android users, a recent Canary update introduced it as a flag that can be enabled to switch themes. It’s only a matter of time before Chrome presents dark pages on Android devices.

Version 7.6 of Google’s Calculator app allows the theme as a three-dot option with an in-app overflow menu. In addition to the light and dark themes, users can choose to “set battery saver”. Most recently, Google launched the Dark Mode theme in its Online Help Center to cover its vast library of troubleshooting and tutorial pages. Again, the background uses dark gray, rather than pure black, with blue for hyperlinks and white for text. To enable the dark theme, users can scroll to the bottom of the page and use the toggle icon on the right.

After months of testing, the dark mode has also been added to the Google Discover feed. However, it is not a manual option and works on the system’s night mode settings. The Google Play Games app also offers the dark theme in its latest update, but unlike night mode which works with other apps, the user has to set it manually.

As for the Google Phone app, it comes with dark mode in its latest update, and the theme extends to all areas of the interface, from contacts to dialer, menu, and history. The manual switch to enable dark mode is under the display options in settings.

One notable feature is that it syncs Google Phone and Google Contacts for dark mode settings. If the user activates it on one, the other will automatically switch to him. For the Google Contacts app, you need to update to the latest version to get the dark mode option. It is present as an on / off button in the side menu. Alternatively, it can be enabled from developer options.

YouTube is the app that leads the trend of dark mode in Google’s offerings. While it has been available on the web and on the iOS app for a few months now, it has recently arrived on Android. Similarly, Google News introduced the dark theme to make it easier for users to read content in the evening or at night in low light conditions. The app offers the option to always activate dark mode, automatically at night or when the device is in battery saver mode.

Another dark mode app is Google Maps. However, instead of an app-wide display change, the dark theme only extends to the navigation part. Users have the option to stay on the dark theme all day.

When developing an app with the Dark Mode feature support, it’s essential to understand the requirements as well as the user interactions with the app. From creating inheritance features between day and night themes to default themes enabled by system-controlled flags, our Mobile A Los Angeles-based app development company has years of experience creating iOS and Android apps, including creating themes with Dark Mode functionality.