WhatsApp, how to activate night mode on Android and iPhone

Dark mode is not yet available on WhatsApp, but you can use it by activating features of Android and iOS

One of the features on which WhatApp developers are investing most of their time is night mode. Officially, the new feature is not yet available to all users: it is only present in the beta version of Android and is still in the testing phase. If, however, you feel like using WhatsApp's dark mode before the official release, you can do so on both Android and iPhone using some simple tricks. There is no official date for the release of night mode on WhatsApp yet: tests on Android are going slowly and developers have had to fix several bugs. With night mode, the colors of WhatsApp's user interface are completely changed from the current ones: black and gray take over from green. A drastic change that needs a lot of testing before release.

To use the dark mode of WhatsApp right away on your Android device you need to install the latest version of the green robot's operating system: Android Q. On the iPhone, on the other hand, you need to activate the Invert Colors feature. Here's how to do to activate night mode on WhatsApp.

What is the dark mode of WhatsApp

Night mode is a very popular feature in the last period, so much so that it has become a standard for many applications. Google and Apple have decided to introduce it by default on the next versions of their operating systems (Android Q and iOS 13) and the same is being done by the most important applications.

As you can guess from the name, dark mode changes the user interface of an application, replacing the typical colors, black and all its shades. The same will also happen on WhatsApp once the dark mode is activated: green and white will be replaced by black and gray.

The night mode has a twofold advantage: it allows decreasing the battery consumption in smartphones with OLED screens and less tiring the users' eyes, especially in the evening hours. Let's see now how to use the dark mode on WhatApp.

How to activate the night mode of WhatsApp on Android

To use the dark mode on WhatsApp right away, you need to have a smartphone with Android 10 Q installed. This is the latest version of the green robot's operating system, which is only available in Beta for the time being. Android Q is not available for all smartphones, but only for those that have joined the Beta program (in total there are about thirty).

If you are one of the lucky ones to be able to preview Android Q, you should know that among the new features there is also the dark mode that can be activated on all applications, including WhatsApp. To do this you have to go into Settings, press on Display and then on Theme. At this point select "Dark" and the interface of the smartphone will change color, replacing the light colors, different shades of black.

To ensure that the dark mode is also activated on applications and not only within the menus, you must activate the "Developer mode". To do this you need to go into the settings and press seven times on the "Build Number" item. You'll see "Developer Options" appear in the menu, including the item "Force dark mode": activate it and all applications will turn black. At this point, launch WhatsApp and check if the user interface has changed color.

How to enable dark mode of WhatsApp on iPhone

On the iPhone, it is not yet possible to test the night mode of WhatsApp, even using the beta version of iOS 13. However, there is a trick that allows you to activate a mode that changes the colors of the iPhone user interface, almost as if it were a night mode, It is "Invert colors", a feature designed for accessibility. By activating it, the colors of the smartphone and applications become darker.

"Invert colors" was introduced on Apple smartphones with the release of iOS 11: to activate it, the process is very simple. You have to press on General, then on Accessibility and among the various options you have to put a check mark next to Invert Colors. At this point you can choose whether to use the standard feature or the smart one: select the latter.

If everything went right, you'll have the dark mode active on WhatsApp before the official release.