Google Still Hasn’t Fixed This Dark Mode Bug on Pixel
Dark mode has saved many of us from eye pain when using a smartphone at night. The difference between a black display with white text and a blinding white screen with black text is immeasurable when your phone is the only light source in the room, especially when you open your eyes for the first time in a long time.
While many Android users prefer to use dark mode all the time, others prefer it exclusively in the evening and at night. This is where the sunset to sunrise schedule comes into play: on many devices, such as Google Pixel phones, you can schedule dark mode from sunset to sunrise. After sunrise, your phone remains in light mode, so your content will be bright along with the ambient light. But after sunset, when the light starts to dim, your phone conveniently switches to dark mode. It’s the best of both worlds when it works.
As reported by 9to5Google , users are having issues with scheduled themes on Pixel devices. The problems appear to have started with the March 2025 Pixel update and remain unfixed after the April update . This can be frustrating, especially if you expect your phone to look a certain way at a certain time of day. There are a few workarounds, but they are not a permanent solution.
Workarounds for Dark Mode Bug on Pixel
Back in March, when the issue first appeared on Pixel devices, users discovered a feature that appears to be causing the glitch: manually enabling dark mode .
Typically, if you have this schedule enabled, you can still switch between topics at any time. Android will simply override this decision the next time the schedule changes. For example, if light mode turns on after sunrise but you still want dark mode, you can turn it on manually and Android will save that setting until sunrise the next day. It then switches back to light mode.
It appears that part of the error is due to this practice. If you manually enable dark mode in this situation, Android will not switch to light mode the next time the sun rises. The same thing happens in reverse: if you turn on light mode after sunset, dark mode won’t work the next sunset.
For now, one of the best workarounds is to simply leave the switch alone if you want the topic schedule to be active and automatic. It’s not the best workaround by any means, but it seems to be the most successful.
Some users have found success by setting a custom time for dark mode ( Settings > Display > Dark Theme > Schedule ) and then switching back to the “sunset to sunrise” option after that. However, others say that the error returns over time, indicating that something is broken in that particular scheduling function. You can also try setting up a night mode instead of relying on this schedule, although this will affect your phone’s functionality more than usual.