Dark mode has proven to be quite popular with smartphone users. In response to this growing demand for shadowy themes, a large number of apps now include native dark modes. Google has also introduced its official system-wide dark mode in Android 10 that, when enabled, darkens all supported apps. Even so, there are still apps out there that don’t integrate this feature.
Fortunately, there’s a way to force dark mode on all the apps on your device, even those which are yet to offer a dark mode option of their own. You don’t even have to access apps individually to turn dark mode on for each. Instead, you’ll be able to simply flip on a switch and turn the lights out for all your apps.
Why Get Dark Mode on Your Device
Dark mode features a design that reduces light emitted by a screen while maintaining the minimum color contrast ratio required for readability. It brings significant advantages for its users including reducing eye strain in low light conditions, providing comfort for use in dark environments, and saving battery power.
Of course, it’s not all advantages with dark mode. As with everything in this world, going dark on your phone also has its fair share of downsides, such as inducing eye strain. This can happen in certain environments, like a well-lit room, when using dark mode is not recommended, since it can make reading text harder. If you want to understand dark mode better, we recommend you check out our previous article that details the matter further.
Ultimately, making the leap from light to dark mode boils down to personal preference. So if you’ve decided that you’re going to follow the dark path, let us show you how you can enable dark mode for all your apps that you currently have on your Android.
How to Force Dark Mode on All Your Android Apps
Before we get started, there are a few things you need to check first. For starters, you need to have Android 10 running on your device for the technique to work. Next, you’ll have to turn Developer Mode on. If you haven’t done so before, the steps for doing so follow .
1. Go to Developer options on your device.
2. You’ll be presented with a menu of features and options. Search for “dark” with the search function at the top of the display.
3. A number of options will appear, but you should select the “override force-dark.”
4. You’ll be taken to the section housing this feature.
5. Turn the “Override force-dark” toggle on.
6. The feature should take effect.
Now it’s time to check out the effect of what you just did. Find one of your installed apps that does not have a dark mode feature yet. For example, the Uber app. As you can see, it looks to be in dark mode.
You’ll have to check to see if the forced dark mode looks good on the other apps that are yet to natively embrace the shadows. Chances are that some won’t, so in that case you’ll need to wait for the official release.
Keep in mind that this method may come with additional limitations. For example, in WhatsApp we noticed some images (contact avatars) were affected by color inversion, but it only applied to black & white images.
If you’re looking to do things the regular way, here are the methods for turning dark mode on for some popular apps including YouTube, WhatsApp and Google Docs.
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