Why 2019 was the year of Dark Mode

"You want it darker?" the late Leonard Cohen asked on the title track of his ominous final album, released just weeks before Trump's election in November 2016. Indeed, the world did seem to want it darker. Not just in the metaphorical sense of a global wave of authoritarianism and ignorance, but literally darker — on the screens in our pockets, bags, and on our desks. Back then, apps were just beginning to offer Dark Mode, where bright pixels were shunned in favor of a black background, supposedly easier on the eyes. 

Fast forward to 2019 — and as the political darkness grew to impeachable proportions, the trickle of Dark Mode apps became a flood. Apple's iOS 13 turned millions of iPhones dark at once. Android Q did the same for the Dark Side of the mobile world (sorry not sorry, Android users). Gmail, Slack, Soundcloud, the mobile version of Microsoft Office, and Google Chrome all went dark this year. Mac OS offered a la carte Dark Mode in 2018, then enabled Dark Mode across the board in its 2019 edition. Twitter, not content with being somewhat dark (gray-blue) in 2018, went full dark in 2019.  

Facebook was relatively slow to get Dark Mode religion, but it is now converting quickly. A "secret" feature to enable Dark Mode in Messenger chats by typing a moon emoji, released in the spring, turned into fully-fledged Dark Mode in the fall. By that time, Facebook was testing Dark Mode on Android; by December the option had spread to WhatsApp on Android. And Instagram's Dark Mode, released in October, was probably the greatest victory for the low-light feature in 2019. 

All in all, some 92 popular apps and services now offer Dark Mode, according to this exhaustive list. And this seems to suit our mood just fine, as if the entire world is entering a goth phase all at once. 

Now, not to sound like a hipster goth or anything, but I was way out ahead of this trend. My first user review on the Mac app store, in 2016, slams early Dark Mode adopter Simplenote — not for the background, but because an update had made its font too bright. I switched to rival writing app Ulysses because I could customize cool blue text on a black background. 

I stuck with Spotify, and resisted Apple Music's rival streaming service, entirely because of Spotify's green-on-black theme. (Apple Music started offering Dark Mode this year, a factor that certainly increases the chances of my switching.) 

In short, I detested white screens the way a vampire detests sunlight. Reading news late at night on an iPad, I would frequently use the polarization setting to darken the screen, even though it turned photos into negatives, until the iPad OS itself went dark this year. The result was as soothing as sunglasses on a summer morning. 

We've reached the point where Dark Mode is so ubiquitous, apps that don't have it seem like they're shining a flashlight in your eyes by comparison. The Wall Street Journal called for Dark Mode everywhere earlier this year; critics were quick to point out that the Journal's own app does not offer it. Dark Mode shaming is becoming a thing on the individual level too, as this angry e-sports star who suddenly found himself in a minority attests:

Why is this happening now, in 2019? Perhaps it's mere fashion, an instinctive reflection of the direction the world seems to be taking. Social media is full of talk about us living in "the darkest timeline." A recent New York Times story on the apocalyptic state of Hong Kong post-protests was titled "Living in Dark Mode." Large swathes of northern California went into literal dark mode this fall when PG&E, a dark and dangerous utility, turned off our power to prevent forest fires sparking due to its neglected equipment. 

But it's more likely that we've just spent too many years of the smartphone age being blinded by the light — especially as phone screens grow larger with each new model. If you've ever been driven into a psychotic rage in a theater by someone in the row in front pulling out an extra-large, too-bright screen, evidently thinking they're being discreet, I can assure you you're not alone. And I doubt my wife and I are the only couple in which one of us goes to sleep before the other while accusing them of a very 21st century faux pas: "you're reading too brightly."

Not only is Dark Mode more considerate of others and less likely to lead to divorce, it could help us get more sleep by blocking some of the harmful blue LED light that keeps us awake at night. And while you're recharging your personal battery more, your phone battery is draining less. According to a session at Google I/O this year, Android Q’s Dark theme "can reduce battery consumption on some apps by up to 60 percent" on newer OLED and AMOLED screens. 

Which is not to say Dark Mode is right for everyone. This Quora thread contains a fierce debate on the question of whether Dark Mode actually increases eye strain, especially if you wear glasses or have astigmatism. "Dark Mode gave me headaches and nausea with alarmingly high certainty," said one glasses-wearing user. One 1980 research paper, quoted in this 2008 blog post, claims black-on-white text is 26 percent more readable than white-on-black — though that paper used 1980s screens, so an updated study is needed. 

My commitment to Dark Mode certainly comes with some trade-offs. If I'm outside in bright midday light and need to check my mail, this often involves finding a patch of shade or awkwardly angling my body so it comes between the screen and the sun. Does that mean I will switch to light mode during the daytime, enabling an automatic hybrid mode that Apple has designed for this purpose? It does not. Because once you decide you want it darker, you never go back. Neither will the tech world.