WhatsApp has announced the DarkMode feature by tweeting through its official Twitter account. Photo courtesy WhatsApp
Instant messaging app WhatsApp has finally released the DarkMode feature for its users. It has been rolled out on iOS and Android platforms. Gradually this update will be available to all users. The testing of this feature was going on for the last several months. Recently, the company also released its logo. The color of this logo is black. The company was informed about the new logo on its official Twitter account. At the same time, the company has given information about the Dark Mode feature from its Twitter account and blog post.
WhatsApp announced on Twitter:
WhatsApp has announced this feature by tweeting through its official Twitter account. The company finally took it to Twitter. Dark mode on WhatsApp. Wrote #DarkMode. Also posted a 59-second video. In this, people are seen using the phone in the dark. The company has given this information in its blog post as well.
Users have been waiting for this feature for a long time. In this mode, the background of the app will be black. This will not affect the eyes of the people too much. When using the phone at night, its light affects the eyes of the people. This feature has been introduced in many colors, not just Black. If your phone already has Dark Mode feature enabled with iOS 13 or Android 10 software then WhatsApp will automatically switch itself to this feature. But if you are using Android 9 then you have to follow the following steps to use the feature.
Enable dark mode in Android 9:
- After updating WhatsApp to the latest version, open the app
- Go to Settings, followed by a tap on Chats
- Now, you will see here Theme option here, tap on it
- Choose Dark from the menu and tap OK
- You have set the dark theme on your smartphone running Android 9 or lower
The dark mode comes in different shades for Android and iOS – it is purely dark on iOS 13 while Android 10 has a dark grey shade. Facebook’s WhatsApp has noted that it spent quite some time researching and experimenting by directing its focus on two major areas for dark mode readability and information hierarchy. The first one essentially ensures the contents are readable by matching the theme of the app with system defaults on both Android and iOS. The second area is mostly about different elements in the app that have their distinguished colors to make information stand out.
WhatsApp notes that its primary focus was reducing eye-strain in low light environments. That’s why, unlike some other apps, the dark areas aren’t quite pitch black. During testing, the company found the contrast of pure black and white can lead to eye fatigue, so it’s using a dark grey background instead. It also used colors and other design elements “to make sure the most important information stands out.”
If you have Android 10 or iOS 13 on your smartphone, darkmode will be automatically applied as per system settings. This means if you have set the dark theme on your device, WhatsApp will respect that and apply dark mode automatically.
