This post was published 6 years, 8 months ago. Due to the rapidly evolving world of technology, some material it contains may no longer be applicable.
Ever since Google teased the introduction of a dark UI mode back in the Marshmallow beta, I’ve hoped it would eventually see the light of day in a stable Android release. With Android apps becoming whiter and brighter by the day, the desire for a dark mode among Android fans is only growing. Could Android P finally be the release it goes live?
We moved one step closer in 8.1, with the notifications and quick-settings changing colour based on your wallpaper. That’s a far cry from a system-wide dark mode though. However, something I’ve discovered in the latest P beta is getting my hopes up!
Take a dive into Developer Options and (right next to demo mode) you’ll find an option not-so-subtly named “night mode”. It offers three options: automatic, always on and always off. Perfect! Except that currently, changing this setting currently does absolutely nothing as far as I can see.
However, don’t write it off yet. We still have several more preview releases to go before P goes stable. There’s still plenty of time for it to be activated. Of course, there is an equal chance that Google will just remove it again, but I’m a glass half full kinda guy.
What do you think? Could Google finally be adding a dark mode, or are they just messing with us again?
