Why I Suspect Dark Mode is Coming

[Saturnine]

Apple were widely expected to be bringing a dark-mode to iOS 10 but did not announce one at the keynote on Monday. They have introduced a dark-mode for tvOS, and macOS has had one (sort of) for a couple of years - but nothing on iOS ... yet.

There has been talk of a dark-mode coming in iOS in order to take advantage of the battery-life savings coming in a future OLED-based iPhone display, perhaps next year but I think one may well be introduced sooner.

We see that the revamped Clock app in iOS 10 now sports a dark theme, similar to the Watch app. On Monday night I opened up the iBooks app for the first time after upgrading and was surprised to see it was also dark. While the UI elements were the same the usually-white bottom portion was now dark. When I quit and reopened the app, the dark theme was gone, replaced by the usual look of iOS 9. Since that time it has alternated between dark and light with no apparent pattern. Is this a sign of something in the works?

Another place I see a potential change coming is in the new Messages app. If you send one of the new rich messages and opt to include the shooting star background, the "theme" becomes dark while the animation is being shown. This includes the keyboard and autocomplete bars, proving that the graphical assets needed to provide a dark-mode in iOS are already there - at least within the Messages app.

I don't know if Apple intends to include a dark mode in iOS or ever but these are a few small hints at what *might* be coming.

 

[lagwagon]

Dark mode in iBooks has been around since at least iOS 9. It's based off the ambient light sensor.

tvOS getting dark mode though is a good sign we could see it in iOS at some point in either iOS 10's life cycle or in iOS 11. Since tvOS is pretty much a reskinned iOS.

 

[Saturnine]

Something must have been wrong with my ambient light sensor under iOS 9 because I use it very, very often and have never seen it dark before!

 

[venividivigor]

No there's no dark mode in the works, that feature in iBooks has been there since iOS 7, the new dark mode design in the clock app is suppose to match the Apple Watch clock apps, but also because people use it at night.

The "dark mode" in Apple TV just darkens the home screens background, and so does the menu bar and dock in OS X, but there can't really be a dark mode in iOS. There's nothing to darken there, each app has its own design, so what would you even expect from a dark mode.

 

[lagwagon]

Something must have been wrong with my ambient light sensor under iOS 9 because I use it very, very often and have never seen it dark before!

I was getting dark mode in iBooks quite often throughout the entire lifetime of iOS 9. It's definitely not new to iOS 10.

 

[Threejw]

Everything is so white, i thought that they will introduce a black theme too. Aka dark mode but they didnt... It was very anti-climactic.
Now that alot of things (wedges and notifications) arn't edge to edge, it does make it seem like then next iphone will have edge to edge glass ..the new UI is made for that..

 

[C DM]

No there's no dark mode in the works, that feature in iBooks has been there since iOS 7, the new dark mode design in the clock app is suppose to match the Apple Watch clock apps, but also because people use it at night.

The "dark mode" in Apple TV just darkens the home screens background, and so does the menu bar and dock in OS X, but there can't really be a dark mode in iOS. There's nothing to darken there, each app has its own design, so what would you even expect from a dark mode.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/enough-with-dark-mode-it-isnt-possible.1977922/#post-23021487

 

[ajiuo]

I think dark mode will come in ios11 for the oled display.

 

[stulaw11]

I think IF the rumor is even true and they go OLED in 2017 that it may change the UI design. Obviously with OLED more black makes a big power difference to squeeze even more out.

Right now a dark mode simply offers no measurable benefit to the device versus the work to perfect it; and as stated every dev codes their own app. There is no system wide way to darken every 3rd party made app correctly. Everyone wants to point out the jailbreak tweak Eclipse, but that is FAR from something you want to release to the public by a major company. There are major issues when trying to blanket darken all 3rd party apps obviously.

 

[WiseAJ]

Dark Mode will be in iOS 10, but as a feature available only for the new iPhone.

 

[stulaw11]

Dark Mode will be in iOS 10, but as a feature available only for the new iPhone.

That makes no sense as the iphone this fall wont be OLED so there is no hardware benefit to dark or light on LCD.

My guess is they are starting to embed the code to layout the framework for iOS11 and next year's iphone.

 

[WiseAJ]

That makes no sense as the iphone this fall wont be OLED so there is no hardware benefit to dark or light on LCD.

My guess is they are starting to embed the code to layout the framework for iOS11 and next year's iphone.

It was a joke. The new iPhone is going to have to have something exclusive to entice people to upgrade, why not dark mode.

But yes they probably are beginning to prepare for it to be in iOS 11, primarily as a benefit for the OLED iPhone. I see no reason why it wouldn't also be available on older devices though.

 

[AbSoluTc]

May I ask why everyone is so enamored with dark mode?

 

[gluckett]

May I ask why everyone is so enamored with dark mode?

Just personal preference for me, but the brightness of all the white hurts my eyes - dark mode is much easier on them.

 

[Cryates]

May I ask why everyone is so enamored with dark mode?

It all boils down to personal preference and style. I guess eyes and general health play a factor as well, but for me it's all about what I prefer, and I generally prefer a darker scheme to anything I come across.

 

[WiseAJ]

May I ask why everyone is so enamored with dark mode?

I have a dark dark soul and I want my phone's OS to match it. Also the phone itself, hence why I keep it in an all black case (space grey is too light)

 

[lagwagon]

I would be happy if all Dark Mode did was similar to Yosemite - Sierra. Darken the Dock, Status Bar and perhaps as well the new notification windows.

 

[KieranDotW]

I have a dark dark soul and I want my phone's OS to match it. Also the phone itself, hence why I keep it in an all black case (space grey is too light)

I know you're joking, but at risk of starting an argument I see an obsessive sentiment in favor of dark/black color ways in general around here. Hence why the jet black iP7 and Space Gray MBP sold so well – people just like the dark aesthetic.

Personally, I'm happy with all silver and white devices so I probably wouldn't use a dark mode if it was introduced, but I guess it's nice to have the option for those who would.

 

[Zaft]

May I ask why everyone is so enamored with dark mode?

Its much easier on the eyes at night time.

 

[Mlrollin91]

Its much easier on the eyes at night time.

I think thats subjective though. When I am using a dark interface, I feel like I need to turn the brightness up higher to read it. Discord has a rather dark interface, but its not all that legible at low light levels. It is much easier to use the triple-click zoom trick + NightShift IMO.

 

[Zaft]

I think thats subjective though. When I am using a dark interface, I feel like I need to turn the brightness up higher to read it. Discord has a rather dark interface, but its not all that legible at low light levels. It is much easier to use the triple-click zoom trick + NightShift IMO.

Depends on the app and how its implemented. Twitter app does a good job, as does IMDB.