How to Set Up Dark Mode on Your Favorite Apps

How to Set Up Dark Mode on Your Favorite Apps 2023

Looking to give your eyes a break? Dark mode swaps white backgrounds for grays and blacks. Here's how to enable dark mode in all your favorite apps.
We spend a good portion of our day staring at screens. US adults looked at mobile devices for an average of 3 hours, 35 minutes per day in 2018, according to eMarketer, which predicts that time spent on mobile will surpass TV in 2019.

All that bright light streaming into your eyeballs isn't great. Blue light can disrupt sleep, confusing your brain about what time of day it is. Giving up mobile devices isn't really an option for most people, though, so many of us opt for a dark mode, which swaps white backgrounds for grays and blacks.

Not all apps offer an official dark mode; some just have night themes that only work under certain conditions. Google Maps, for instance, has a night theme while navigating, but it doesn't work in the full app. Meanwhile, Firefox, Gmail, and the Windows 10 Mail app allow for custom themes on the web, but the mobile apps aren't consistent.

If you've updated to iOS 13 or your phone actually has the Android 10 update, both mobile operating systems support system-wide dark modes. But it will only apply to supported apps, like built-in Apple apps, most of Google's apps, or third-party apps that support the theme, like Instagram.

The apps below support their own dark modes; here's how to turn it on.

AccuWeather

To turn on dark mode in AccuWeather, tap the three-dot menu and select Settings > Theme. Here, you choose between light, dark, and automatic, which will change depending on the time of day.

Amazon Kindle App

Amazon's Kindle app allows you to turn on the dark mode by navigating to More > Settings > Color Theme. Tap dark, which will darken the main app. This does not, however, change the contents of your ebooks. To do that, tap the Aa icon atop each book, tap Color, and select Black from the drop-down menu.

Castbox

Turn down the lights on your favorite podcasts with dark mode on Castbox. Tap Personal > Settings, then toggle the Dark theme switch to on.

Edge

Go dark on Microsoft's Edge browser, which is available on the web and your mobile device. In the Android app, tap the three-dot menu () in the bottom-right corner and select Settings > Appearance > Theme > Dark. On iOS, just tap the three-dot menu, select Settings and tap Dark under Theme (pictured above).

Evernote

Evernote makes it easy to turn your note-taking app dark. On Android, tap the () menu in the top-left corner and toggle the Dark Theme switch on. On iOS, tap the My Account option on the bottom-right corner and toggle Dark Theme to on.

Facebook Messenger

Dark mode for Facebook Messenger was initially launched as an Easter egg for Android phones, but it recently rolled out as a permanent feature on iOS and Android. On both OSes, simply tap your chat head icon on the top-left and toggle the switch for Dark Mode to on.

Files by Google

Google's file management app on Android has a dark mode you can activate by opening the hamburger () menu in the top-left corner and tapping Settings. Toggle the dark theme switch to on.

How to Set Up Dark Mode on Your Favorite Apps
How to Set Up Dark Mode on Your Favorite Apps



Firefox (iOS Only)

Enabling dark mode on iPhone and iPad is simple. Tap the browser's () menu and activate the Enable Night Mode switch, which will give menus and web pages a dark theme.

The Firefox Android app does not yet have a full dark mode, but it does support add-ons. Tap the menu button on the top right and select either Add-Ons or Tools > Add-Ons, depending on your version of Android, and search for a dark mode extension.

Gboard

Google's keyboard app Gboard allows you to customize the keys you type on with certain themes. There are several dark themes to choose from, which you can find by tapping the gear icon on the keyboard. Select Theme and then choose the color scheme you prefer. While there are a few darker ones, there are only two with a true blackout scheme.

Gmail (Android 10)


Gmail has long supported themes on the web; they change menus and the inbox while emails remain white. With Android 10, however, you can turn on system-wide dark mode and Gmail will obey. Or set it up manually inside the app by going to the hamburger menu () in Gmail and selecting Settings > General Settings > Theme > Dark to set the app to dark mode. 
Google Calculator

Need to crunch some numbers without straining your eyes? Open the three-dot menu () on the Google calculator app, and select Choose theme. Then tap either the default light mode, dark mode, or opt to turn it on when you need to save battery. 

Google Calendar

Tap the () menu in the top-left corner and select Settings > General > Theme. Choose between a light or dark theme, or have it change based on Battery Saver settings. 

Google Contacts

The Google Contacts app can go dark if you open the hamburger () menu and select Settings. Tap Choose theme, then select either the default light mode, dark mode, or make it determined by the device's battery status. 


Google Drive

Turn on dark mode in the Android version of Google Drive by opening the hamburger () menu and selecting Settings. Tap Choose theme, then select either the default light mode, dark mode, or make it determined by the device's battery status. 

Google Keep

Google's note-taking app has its own dark mode now. Activate it by opening the () menu and selecting Settings. Then just flip the switch for Enable Dark Theme and enjoy the new color scheme. 

Google News

The Google News app can be set to dark mode by tapping your user profile and go into Settings. From there, select Dark Theme and determine in what conditions you want the coloring change to take place. While the Google News interface will be changed, the articles you click into will remain their default coloring. 


Grammarly Keyboard

Want a dark keyboard? On Grammarly Keyboard, tap Keyboard Look and Feel and choose the dark theme to turn your keyboard black. 
Marvel Unlimited
Marvel Unlimited
Marvel Comics fans can enable dark mode in the Marvel Unlimited app. Just select the () menu and tap Settings. The menu will give you three color themes to choose from. Select between white, black, and red in order to engage the preferred theme. The app will reset and the colors will be consistent throughout.

Medium

To activate dark mode in the blogging app, tap the () menu and select Settings. Under Night mode, turn it on or set it to automatic based on the time of day.

Messages
Messages
Messages makes it easy to switch to dark mode. Just tap the three-dot menu and select Enable Dark Mode from the drop-down.

Opera
Opera
Opera has three different apps to choose from, and each includes a dark mode. In the standard Opera app, tap the O icon in the bottom right and select Settings > Appearance > Theme > Dark.

The lightweight Opera Mini gives you even more options. Tap the O icon > Settings > Theme and pick from several different color themes, including black.

Opera Touch is much simpler. Open the three-dot menu at the top right of the browser, then select Settings. Toggle the Dark theme switch to on.

Otter
Otter
The popular recording app Otter allows you to switch between a default white theme and a dark mode. Tap your user profile and go to Settings > Advanced Settings > Dark Mode before activating the switch to turn the feature on.

Outlook
Outlook
Microsoft has finally added dark mode to the Outlook app. On Android, tap the hamburger () menu and select Settings. Tap Theme and choose between Light, Dark, or Set by Battery Saver. On iOS, tap the menu on the top left, select the gear icon () on the bottom left, and toggle the Dark Mode option to on.

Periscope
Periscope
Periscope allows you to watch live video with a night theme makeover. To enable it, tap the people icon at the top of the screen and select the profile icon in the right-hand corner. Scroll down and tap Settings, then toggle Night Mode on or off.

Pinterest
Pinterest
On Android 9.0+, Pinterest will go by what your Battery Saver theme is set to by default. But for dark mode all the time, navigate to your user profile and select the Settings icon in the top-right corner. Tap Edit Settings > Set by battery saver > Dark. On iOS, you'll need the system-wide dark mode offered by iOS 13.

Pocket
Pocket
When you use Pocket to save articles for later, you're likely to return to them at night, so a dark mode makes sense here. To enable dark mode on Android, navigate to your profile, tap the three-dot icon () on the top-right and select Settings. Tap Change Theme and select Dark in the pop-up menu. On iOS (pictured), navigate to your profile, tap the gear icon () on the top-right, and tap Theme. In the pop-up menu, select Dark.

Pulse SMS
Pulse SMS
The Pulse SMS app offers many different customization options, which include multiple dark themes. Open the () menu and choose Customization settings. Tap on Theme and you can choose between several colors, including light, dark, black, and day/night. Other colored details in the app can be customized using hex color codes.

Reddit App
Reddit App
There are two ways to turn on dark mode in the Reddit app. The easiest way is to tap your user profile in the upper-left corner and select the moon icon in the bottom of the pullout menu. This will set the theme to black.

Reddit also offers several different color scheme choices, and dark mode can be found there as well. If you want to take the long way around, tap on Settings > Theme to choose between Alien Blue, Mint, Night, Pony, and Trees color schemes.

There are other theme settings that can help optimize your dark mode experience. You can also select Auto Night Mode to change things based on time of day, and AMOLED Night Mode, which removes all accent colors. A dark theme is also available for the web version by clicking your username and toggling Night Mode to on.

Shazam

On Android, Shazam will go by what your Battery Saver theme is set to by default. For dark mode all the time, navigate to your Library and tap the gear icon in the top-left corner. Choose Themes > Dark Theme.

Signal Private Messenger

Signal keeps your messages secure; make sure they look cool, too. To do this, tap your profile in the left corner, then select Appearance and Theme to swap between light and dark.

Slack

Slack
Your favorite collaboration tool now has an easy-to-enable dark mode. Open the options menu from the top-right corner of any chat, tap Settings, and scroll down to Dark Mode. Then just toggle it on (iOS) or tap to enable (Android). After you do that, here are some more tips for keeping your Slack feed organized.

Telegram SMS

In Telegram, tap the () menu and select Settings > Chat settings. Enable Auto-Night Mode and select a theme change based on time of day or select Theme > Dark to make it permanent.

Twitch

The Twitch app makes it super easy to enable dark mode. Just go to your user profile, click the gear icon () in the right-hand corner, and tap Enable Dark Mode from the drop-down menu.

Twitter

To enable dark mode on Twitter, tap your profile icon and select Settings and Privacy. Tap Display and sound > Display and sound > Dark mode, and toggle it on (iOS) or select whether you want it on, off, or set to automatic (Android). If this dark blue theme is not dark enough for you, iPhone and iPad users also have a Lights Out option than makes things black. Android users will have to make do for now.

Waze

Make Waze go dark by tapping the magnifying glass then hitting the gear icon to open the Settings menu. Tap Map Display, then choose either Night to give everything a dark theme, or Auto so the colors change between night and day.

Weather Underground

On the Weather Underground app, open the More menu, choose Settings, and select Dark Mode under Visual Style.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp doesn't have an official dark mode like the other apps here, but since it allows you to customize the wallpaper for each chat window, you can create your own dark theme to get the job done. You'll have to do it for individual conversations, but it's still possible.

Open the settings window and tap wallpaper. There will be several different options to choose from, but the simplest way to get the job done is to select Solid Color, choose black among the color pallet options, and tap Set to finalize.

Wikipedia App

To go dark on Wikipedia, tap the () menu, choose Settings, then App theme, where you can choose between light, dark, and black. You can even preview the different themes right from the menu.

YouTube

Spare your eyes as you watch video after video on YouTube. On Android, tap your profile photo up top and select Settings > General > Dark theme and toggle it on. On iOS, tap your profile photo up top and select Settings > Dark theme and toggle it on. A dark theme is also available on the web. Click your profile picture and select the Dark Theme option.

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