WhatsApp is finally releasing its own Dark Mode

I personally don’t get the appeal of “dark modes”, but apparently there are a lot of people out there who prefer using an app with a darker background, especially during low-light times when they are trying to feed their addiction to social media without disturbing their partners and end up struggling to look at their bright screens. Still, if there is a consumer demand then I guess it should be met and WhatsApp has finally completed work on their new dark mode.  

After months of beta testing on both mobile operating systems, the company has announced that its dark mode will be available for all users today. If you already have dark mode enabled at the system level on iOS 13 or Android 10, then WhatsApp will automatically switch over. Android 9 users can simply enable a new dark theme in the WhatsApp settings menu.

Facebook has tweaked its WhatsApp dark mode to ensure it lowers the brightness of a phone display. “During testing, we found that combining pure black and white creates high contrast that can lead to eye fatigue,” explained a WhatsApp spokesperson to The Verge.

So instead, you’ll notice a special dark grey background and off-white colour that lowers the brightness of the screen, cuts down the glare and improves contrast and readability.

This is a feature that many users have been wanting for a while and even though it doesn’t bother me much, it’s great that the company has finally been able to release its own dark mode. It might be a little late to the party, but hopefully that extra effort to make Whatsapp smooth on the eyes and use as little light as possible has proven worth it. And perhaps aid the sleep of their partners too.

Last Updated: March 4, 2020