All of the main operating systems – Android, iPhone, Windows, and macOS – now support dark themes, which display light text against a black background. It looks great, and can help improve the experience when you spend a lot of time looking at your phone. We can confidently state that dark mode is here to remain. We’ll go into when you should use dark mode and what the advantages are.
How to activate Dark mode
iPhone
Navigate to settings > display & brightness
To use dark mode, select “dark”.
You can also enable dark mode from the control centre. Open the control panel, choose brightness control, and then tap dark to toggle it on or off.
Android
Go to settings > display
Select advanced
tap the toggle to switch between light and dark mode.
On Samsung Android phones
Go to settings > display
Dark mode is called “night mode”.
Schedule Dark mode to turn on at night
Dark mode is useful in low-light situations but less so throughout the day. Here’s how you should use light mode during the day and dark mode at night..
iPhone
Go to Settings > Display & Brightness and choose Automatic.
Android
Android doesn’t support Dark mode scheduling out of the box, but your phone manufacturer may have added it to their version of Android.
If your phone doesn’t support scheduling then don’t worry, there are several third party apps that can perform this handy task. We recommend Automatic Dark Theme by Cannic apps.
Pros of dark mode
- Dark mode emits less ‘blue light’, which strains your eyes and can keep you awake if you use it before you go to bed.
- You can use it in bed without distracting your companion or at the movies without disturbing anyone.
- Dark colours use less electricity, so using Dark mode will extend the life of your phone’s batteries.
- It can help reduce eye pressure and dry eyes under low-light environments.
- According to certain experts, dark mode can benefit people with light sensitivity or other sight issues.
Cons
- In a well-lit, bright space, light text on a dark backdrop may be harder to read.
- It may be difficult to read long pieces of material or text in dark mode.
- Some apps have implemented Dark mode better than others.
- The battery benefits don’t apply to older phones with an lcd screen – just newer OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens.
What is dark mode?
Dark mode is not a modern concept. Because of the capabilities of the CRT monitors used in the 80s and 90s, computer displays originally used bright text on a black background, just like dark mode today. However, in order to appeal to non-programmers interfaces were increasingly changed to imitate paper – i.e. black text on a white background.
The research behind dark mode is indeed a little murky, with several differing opinions and facts about its benefits. Some researchers believe that reading text on a dark backdrop is smoother and healthier because it decreases eye pressure. There is still some discussion on how much dark mode will extend the life of your smartphone’s battery, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Many mobile users find dark mode to be more aesthetically pleasing. A lot of apps now include their own version of Dark mode, and some apps, most notably Spotify, have long used a dark colour palette.