WhatsApp dark mode: what do we think?

Keeping eye comfort in mind, many apps today offering feature to view content in dark mode. This is also known as high contrast mode for many years. In the recent past, WhatsApp has also introduced dark mode.

What is dark mode?

Dark Mode is a supplemental mode that can be used to display mostly dark surfaces on the UI. The design reduces the light emitted by device screens while maintaining the minimum color contrast ratios required for readability. The advantages of Dark Mode are, it enhances visual ergonomics by reducing eye strain, facilitating screens to adjust according to current light conditions and providing comfort of use at night or in dark environments.

Additionally, it conserves battery power, thereby enabling device usage for longer periods without charging. Usually, the Dark Mode theme can be turned off or on using a prominently displayed toggle icon on the screen. Alternatively, it is placed in the menu options or within the app’s settings.

While dark text on light background is always better for readability, light text on dark background reduces eye strain. At the same time, with dark mode, it may be difficult to read long content.

How to enable dark mode on WhatsApp?

Go to Settings -> Chat -> Themes -> Select Dark (Default theme is light).

When dark mode was introduced, text color was a sort of gray which got fixed to white in later updates. Still one issue though is links are displayed in blue and that is something difficult to read.

There are many other apps that offer dark mode including Google, Twitter, YouTube etc.,