How to activate dark mode on Android smartphones

To activate dark mode on the various versions of Android you need to know some little tricks. Here's how to do it

Smartphones with Android 10 are still few, as well as users who can activate the dark mode present natively in the new operating system. Those who have an Android 9 or earlier smartphone, however, don't despair, there are methods to activate dark mode on their smartphone as well.

Everyone wants dark mode because it's more relaxing when it's dark and, above all, because it saves a lot of energy if the smartphone has an OLED screen: a recent test showed that, with dark mode activated all day, the battery of an iPhone XS lasts up to 30% longer. The same is true on Android smartphones as well, percentage point more or less. So here's how to activate dark mode on Android 10, Android 9 and, thanks to third-party apps, even on Android 8 or earlier. If you activate dark mode via an app, not all other apps you have installed on your phone will be able to be darkened automatically, but that's better than nothing.

How to activate dark mode on Android 10

Android 10 has native dark mode, which you activate from the screen settings. Activating it is super easy: just go to Settings > Display and enable the "Dark Theme" toggle. Unfortunately, you can't set a time to automatically enable/disable dark mode on Android 10.

How to enable dark mode on Android 9

Android 9 has a dark mode, albeit not 100% complete, but it's hidden. To activate it, you need to turn on the developer settings by going to Settings > About Phone and tap seven times on "Build Number". At this point, within the developer options, we'll find the possibility of activating the dark mode (which will be defined as "Night Mode"): either "Always on" or "On by time and day".

How to activate dark mode on Android 8 and earlier

On Android 8 and earlier there is no way to activate dark mode at the OS level. However, there are third-party apps that can simulate it. The performance is not identical to that of Android 10, but if dark mode is an important feature for us, it's worth trying at least two apps: the first is SystemUI Tuner, the second is Dark Mode.

SystemUI Tuner, actually, is a pretty comprehensive app (and not very easy to use) that will allow us to customize many aspects of Android. Dark Mode, on the other hand, only serves to activate night mode, day mode or switch between them automatically.