Dark Mode — Necessary or Just Another Feature

From preferred operating systems Android and Apple to bigwig apps like Instagram and WhatsApp, everyone seems to have jumped on the ‘Dark Mode’ bandwagon; it happens to be one of the simplest UI supplement features that pretty much everyone seems to love. But is it worth the hype? Or are there some disadvantages to this display feature?

Fun fact, computer screens originally used dark mode, because of the capacities of the cathode-ray tubes used several decades ago. But in order to encourage more people to use computers, interfaces were gradually adapted to resemble paper, something a common man is familiar with…i.e. black text on white paper.

What is Dark Mode?

We all are aware that Dark mode is a display setting for user interfaces such as smartphones. t means that, instead of the default dark text showing up against a light screen (known as ‘light mode’), a light colour text (white or grey) is presented against a dark or black screen. Light mode, however, is the default setting for most phones and apps. Dark mode can also be known as:

• black mode
• dark theme
• night mode
• light-on-dark

The idea behind dark mode is that it reduces the light emitted by device screens while maintaining the minimum colour contrast ratios required for readability.

Both iPhones and Android handsets offer system-wide dark modes. However, you will still need to set up dark mode on some individual apps.

Some PC operating systems offer dark mode too, enabling you to set it up on your desktop or laptop.

So, the big question: is it time to go to the dark side?

Let’s first discuss the pros of turning all your devices to dark mode.

Numero uno reasoning given (something of a scientific advantage) is that it saves energy in OLED or AMOLED displays. OLED panels have individual pixels which get lit. When using dark mode, the display’s power requirements are lower as compared to bright/white mode, as all pixels are turned on, since the display demands that much more power.

On average, people spend about 4.7 hours on their devices. This leads to ‘digital eye strain’, which is caused due to this intense screen usage. Dark mode helps in reducing digital eye strain, while also increasing overall legibility of the screen display.

Besides being sleek and stylish, dark mode also helps in drastically reducing blue light and cut glares. Blue light can suppress melatonin secretion, a hormone necessary for getting proper sleep at night, and dark mode helps in combating this particular issue.

While there’s no denying the benefits of dark mode, there are a few cons that might not work in its favour. For those who are still using LCD screen phones, the dark mode won’t do any justice and will in fact, drain more battery power.

The second disadvantage, although not a glaring one — it can be challenging to read long form content in dark mode, as it causes severe eye strain. The third and final con, dark mode is not the optimal choice when it comes to reading text in a well-lit or sunny surrounding, as the text would appear washed out.

The debate on this topic is purely subjective; so let’s continue on our experiment and see where it takes each one of us.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all the above makes Dark Mode a great new addition to the functionality of a user interface and the user has the final decision if joining the dark side or remaining in the old reliable light mode.

All in all, there are clearly two main factors that played a key role in helping the Dark Mode become a global phenomenon. From the large companies side, Dark Mode is a simple and cheap feature that allows the increase of battery time without modifying the hardware itself. From the user’s point of view, Dark Mode increases comfort in conditions with low lighting. Especially today, in times when people spend large amount of time in front of screens, the Dark Mode is considered as a great cure for the eyes, that looks good as well at the same time.

Originally published at https://www.onething.design on Sept 26, 2022