What’s with the dark themes?

Some may have noticed the rising trend of dark themed applications and websites. This is not just your imagination. Dark themes are the latest design fad that regularly changes up every so often. Right now, flat, simple designs are in, as well as dark themes. macOS added dark theme to their entire OS, built in system apps included. Microsoft and many other vendors, including Android, and third-party applications implement dark modes into all their apps. There are extensions like “Dark Reader” that specifically render websites in dark mode. My website is entirely dark themed.

Why dark themes?

1. Choice is good.

2. It looks great.

3. Normal, white/blue light emitted from the screen keeps you awake (suppresses melatonin)

4. Eyestrain

5. Google confirmed that using dark mode on an OLED screen is a huge help for battery life. Dark mode interface in the YouTube app saves about 15% battery vs not using it on 50% screen brightness. If you use 100% screen brightness (the hell, are you on the sun or something?) then it saves a massive 60% of battery life

6. It’s easier for long periods of staring at the same image in specific

Let me point this out just for myself real quick, I cannot code on a white background. I need to look at the code for hours and hours at a time, my eyeballs would sear if I continued staring at a white background. Here’s a comparison of dark mode vs light mode from one of my favorite script editors.

Dark theme of IDE
Light mode of IDE

Plus, dark mode on an OLED screen blends into the bezels(?) so well, it looks practically magical. It’s possible to forget you have a camera cutout or notch if you choose the right wallpaper.


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Published 2019-10-15 01:42:49

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