Why You Probably Should Be Using Dark Mode On Your Android Phone

There’s a subtle difference between the dark mode and night mode settings on your phone. With dark mode, all of the background elements and blank spaces that would otherwise appear white on the screen are turned black. Wherever applicable, the text color scheme is also inverted — that is, black text turns white against a dark background. In some apps, the colorful design elements are also tweaked to adopt a uniform black and white look. The contrasty approach is more aesthetically pleasing and reduces optical strain, plus it also saves some precious battery juice, too, if your phone has an OLED screen.

Night mode, or night light mode, doesn’t go all-in on the black-and-white aesthetics. Instead, this mode gives a slightly reddish or yellowish tinge to the screen, and also tones down the brightness slowly to provide a more comfortable viewing experience. The feature can be enabled manually or also set to activate automatically based on a fixed schedule, such as an hour before you typically go to bed.

On Google’s Pixel phones, Night Light can automatically kick into action based on sunset and sunrise timings in your location. You can access the feature by pulling down on the quick access tiles section and tapping on the Night Light button. On Samsung phones, this feature is called Eye Comfort Shield and can be enabled from the same spot. On iPhones, this is called Night Shift and can be enabled by tapping Settings, Display & Brightness, and then Night Shift.