Dark Mode on iOS 13: All you need to know
Dark Mode is one of the most overhyped new features of iOS 13. Both the new looks and the slight positive impact it has on battery life across all iPhones with OLED displays, have been the main reasons for this excitement.
“Dark Mode is one of the most overhyped new features of iOS 13”
Apple fan community members have been jailbraking their iPhones and Dark Mode tweaks are some of the most successful in the jailbreak community. Furthermore, Android users are bragging for years that they have Dark Mode available for years as either themes or skins from many Android OEMs. We should be noting that Dark Mode is still not available at an OS level on Android. This has changed with the Android Q betas and the stable release later this year.
“Apple couldn’t make it more simple to cycle between Dark Mode and Light Mode”
Apple couldn’t make it more simple to cycle between Dark Mode and Light Mode on iOS 13 (and iPadOS as well):
go to the Control Centre and touch the appearance toggle to enable Light or Dark Mode
go to the Control Centre, 3D Touch the brightness HUD then touch the appearance toggle from there
ask Siri to enable Dark Mode or Light Mode
go to Settings, Display & Brightness and select Light or Dark Mode
from the last menu, you can program iOS 13to automatically change between Dark or Light Mode either automatically from Sunset to Sunrise or set up a custom schedule by selecting which hours the Dark Mode will be on
We had created some concepts last April and May mentioning that Dark Mode should be enabled both via Siri and the Control Centre. Not because we had any info or leaks, but due to the fact that this is the easiest way to do this. Android Q is also doing something similar. Accessing this option via the Settings menu, is mostly useful to set up a custom Light vs Dark Mode pattern. Dark Mode is great when lighting conditions are average or at night. In deject sunlights Light Mode is the way to go.
Once enabled, Dark Mode on iOS changes most white areas of iOS into a dark grey or black depending on the application. Apple has decided to follow a different approach than some of its Android rivals. Dark Mode on iOS is less intrusive than on Android, since it does not affect third party applications themselves unless the app developers choose to.
“Apple’s non-intrusive approach has been the ideal one”
Let’s elaborate further on this. Many early beta users complain about parts of iOS being left in “Light Mode” while using a certain application e.g. Instagram. The keyboard stays white tinted, despite having toggled Dark Mode on at your device. On the other hand, let’s assume that you are a developer. In this case, your application design choices are usually carefully decided and meticulously programmed based on your preferences, company policies or even raw data by measuring certain aspects of your app design (incl. colour) and how they affect users’ behaviour. If Apple was deciding for you then, we might end up having many apps with similar appearance and feel. Plus, if you are a developer, you would have someone else messing with your product. Based on the above, we believe that Apple’s non-intrusive approach has been the ideal one. Now, It’s up to the developers to decide when and what’s the best thing to do with their apps.
When it comes to battery life, the positive effect on battery life while using iOS 13 can’t be measured correctly since beta versions are not efficiency optimised; this is also the case with iOS 13 which is far behind the latest iOS 12 builds.
We had created some concepts last April and May mentioning that Dark Mode should be enabled both via Siri and the Control Centre. Accessing it via the Settings menu, is mostly useful to set up a custom Light vs Dark Mode pattern.
Still iOS 13 is in its beta phase. However, we already love it and despite the efficiency benefits it’s the looks that make it one of the most compelling features of iOS 13.
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