How to Turn on Dark Mode on Your Smartphone for Late Night Viewing
Watching smartphone videos at night is generally very annoying on your eyes, not to mention it really annoys other people in the room who might be really trying to sleep. And while a number of video players and apps now release a “dark mode” feature that inverts the colors of the interface, these features are usually hidden in settings and aren’t advertised.
In the interest of dimmer and nicer night scrolling, here’s how to turn on dark mode on your iPhone, Android, and apps:
iphone
Your iPhone already has a kind of “dark mode”. You can go to Settings> General> Accessibility> Display Customization and turn on Invert Colors. This will make the white interface black. This will also make all other colors very vivid. So this is not the best option when viewing Instagram photos as the images will look extremely saturated and overexposed.
However, Apple is looking to improve the inverted color experience with the release of iOS 11, which is currently in beta testing. The new software update will include a new feature called Smart Invert Colors, which only inverts the color of the interface, but leaves content like photos and graphics in their original format and color. Again, this feature is currently only available to beta test users, but you can enable it by going into the same settings as Invert Colors and enabling Smart Invert.
But if you haven’t installed iOS 11 yet, you can also enable Night Shift on your phone as an alternative to dimming glare. Night Shift turns the display into a warmer, more yellow part of the color spectrum and can be turned on by swiping up on the home screen and pressing Night Shift. The nice thing about this feature is that you can still rate videos and photos in their original color.
It’s very easy to get stuck scrolling through Twitter late at night – after all, that’s when people get most outspoken. But looking at a bright screen through endless scrolling can be awkward. To turn on the dark interface, go to your app’s settings and turn on night mode under Display & Sound . The white background will turn black and, frankly, it will be easier to read tweets at any time of the day.
Android video player
Don’t assume that Android users are left behind. Android Video Player also has its own dark mode for night viewing, but you need to install the latest VLC app (also available for iPhone). Just launch the app, go to settings, select ” Interface” and ” Turn on black theme.” That’s all.
Google Maps
Driving at night and bright lights are not the best combination. Therefore, if you are using Google Maps to navigate the city, it is best to enable the night color scheme. To access the dark background interface, tap the three dots in the lower right corner that appear as you travel, then select Navigation Settings and tap the Night option under the Color Scheme section.
If you fell down a rabbit hole while scrolling through Reddit, you might want to do it comfortably. Reddit has a feature that automatically turns the interface black at night. To turn it on, just go to Settings and scroll down until you see Automatic Night Theme and turn it on. A black background will make it much easier to read the latest conspiracy theories.