Facebook dark mode is a new look for the social network that changes its regular bright, white interface with shades of black and gray. Although it is a small change, but a significant one. All of us have been waiting months for the Facebook dark mode, but ultimately the social network’s new look has already arrived on desktops and smartphones. This gives a smarter and stylish way of browsing through your News Feed. Want to know more about this feature? This guide on what is a dark mode on Facebook will help you understand about this mode.
What is Dark Mode in Facebook?
Dark mode in Facebook is not just about the looks, though. While the jury is out on whether reducing the blue light actually helps you get a better sleep at night, a dark interface certainly lessens the glare when you are using this app in dark. This makes it more comfortable.
Dark mode is also beneficial for your phone’s battery also. Google researchers have found that pixel color has a direct effect on the power draw, with black pixels utilizing significantly less energy compared to the white ones. This is mainly true for devices that come with AMOLED screens. In these types of screens, pure black pixels are switched off. Swapping the white, bright interface of Facebook to something darker could thus help your smartphones last longer.
Pros and Cons of Dark Mode
Pros
- Dark mode saves energy, mainly if the device uses an AMOLED or OLED screen
- While a dark text on a white background is great as far as readability is concerned, dark mode is the best for reducing eye strain
- It minimizes flickering and blue lights
Cons
- In bright light conditions, text looks washed out, which in turn increases eye fatigue
- Long content pieces are difficult to read in Dark Mode
With these in mind, here is how to experience the dark mode in Facebook on mobile devices and desktop.
Facebook Dark Mode for Desktop
Facebook has been working on its new design for its desktop version for several months, with an optional dark mode. They announced that Facebook will be rolling out to the majority of the population in the future. When you receive the update about the dark mode, you should notice a prompt at the top of your screen asking if you want to try this new look of Facebook. Once you say yes and accept it, you can switch to the dark mode available at the settings menu.
If you are still waiting to get the new design, you can make use of Google Chrome to “force dark mode” on Facebook. This is not as same as the official dark mode, but it does have few similarities. Now, you have to type chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark in the address bar and change the first drop down from “Default” to “Enabled.” Once done, you will be asked to re-launch the browser and install any updates automatically.
Once Chrome re-opens, you will notice that every website you visit, including Facebook will have inverted colors where required. It does not look perfect, but overall it works well.
To go back to the earlier settings, simply visit chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark and change the setting again to “Default.” Now as you have got an idea on what is a dark mode in Facebook, let us see how this mode is useful in various devices.
Dark Mode for Android and iOS
Facebook also tested a new design for Android, which also provides a dark mode option. This feature is available to few testers who are chosen randomly. Facebook’s dark mode for mobile seems to be very much in progress, and some people who have managed to catch a glimpse of it have reported that it seems to be incomplete switching between the light and dark modes random.
There is no news of Facebook dark mode for iOS, but we would be surprised if it is going to take more time, as these two apps have almost the same assets. As of now, you can experience the dark side on your tablet or phone using Google Chrome. Type chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark in the address bar and change the flags, “Android web content dark mode” and change the ” Android Chrome UI dark mode” to “Enabled.” Once completed, log into Facebook using Chrome and enjoy this new dark look.
Facebook Messenger already has a dark mode feature. In order to activate it, just click on your profile picture and then switch on the “Dark mode.” Now after understanding what is dark mode in Facebook, let’s see its benefits.
Benefits of Dark Mode
- Well-being- Everyone reading this can relate to being inside a room where the lights are turned off and you have this white screen with you. But it is not only dry and painful eyes that we suffer from looking at the bright blue screens for the whole day. Exposure to bright lights also suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone required for sleep. This is also one of the reasons why car dashboards are blue on color- to warn us. Dark mode on Facebook some with many health benefits. One among them is it reduces eye strain.
- Saves battery- Dark mode apps can improve the battery life of your smartphone. Google has confirmed that using a dark mode on the OLED screens has been a huge assistance for battery life. For instance, at 50% brightness, the dark mode interface in the YouTube app saves nearly 15% screen energy when compared to a plain white background. At a 100% screen brightness, the dark interface saves a whopping 60% of the screen energy.
While the OLED screens are generally used by Android devices, lately there has been some great news for the iPhone users too. Apple had assured us to drop all the LCD screens by 2020 and provide all future generation tools with OLED screens. As both Android and iOS should attain the native dark mode later in this year, it seems to be promising upgrade to the battery life of our phones.
- Dark mode looks amazing
Let us be honest, dark mode looks great. While most of the products are going for that same old look with text on a white background, the dark feature on Facebook offers something different. It also offers great opportunities for presenting different graphic content like dashboards, photos, graphs, and pictures.
When should we use Dark Mode?
However, everything about the dark mode is not good. For instance, when you use a device in a room that has enough light or direct sunlight, you will find it difficult to read texts that are written on dark backgrounds. So, do not use a dark mode when you use your app mostly during the day, but this is exceptional.
This is why most of the people believe that an automatic switch from sunset to sunrise is an important feature that must be inbuilt on Facebook. By using this automatic switch, users don’t have to keep switching multiple times, which is a great usability.
Other than Facebook, this feature is present in many other apps and services. Few of them include Google Dark Mode, Android Q Dark Mode, macOS 10.14 dark mode.