After months of speculation and hints, WhatsApp’s dark mode has finally arrived for beta testing on Android, and I’ve been using it full-time since its arrival. It’s pretty nice, and it’s certainly easier on the eyes at night than the bright green and white, but there’s just one problem: It’s still not dark enough.
First, there’s the app’s main background. Rather than black, it’s a dark greenish-gray. It’s all simple and tasteful, but on an AMOLED display, you really want the background to be completely black so those pixels are turned off and don’t drain your battery.
Yes, a truly black background would mean missing out
On WhatsApp’s fun wallpaper (look closely – can you see it?) but it’s a small price to pay. Even if you go into the app’s wallpaper settings and choose ‘solid colour’, the darkest sample isn’t Taiwan WhatsApp Number List actually black. If you want a truly black background, you’ll have to create a black image and set it as your wallpaper. It’s quite a hassle.
Speech bubbles are much brighter in WhatsApp’s light mode than the new dark version; an issue that could be fixed by a proper black background
Then there’s the text, which is mostly bright white and therefore a little hard on the eyes. A more subtle tint would be easier to look at and wouldn’t make me lower the brightness of the entire screen to reduce contrast.
This is something I prefer to avoid because the color of the message bubbles is extremely similar to the background. Lower the overall brightness and you can’t see them at all. The speech bubbles in light mode are much clearer to see, making it easier to follow the conversation. A black background would bump the contrast up a notch without any other changes.
Then there are the emoji. Open the menu and squint as WhatsApp Number Database they slide into view in all their bright yellow glory. It would be less dazzling if they had been reworked in a different hue for dark mode—a pleasant shade of blue, perhaps. Yes, it would have been a lot of work, but dark mode has been a long time coming. What could be longer?
Emoji in dark mode WhatsApp
WhatsApp emoji are still a vibrant yellow shade in dark mode
However, all this grumbling. WhatsApp dark Bulk Database mode is still in beta testing. So there’s a chance it could change significantly before it starts rolling out properly.
Let’s also not forget that the APK files include menu options that suggest it might eventually be possible to choose between two different dark modes, including one specifically designed for AMOLED displays. Hopefully this will tone down some of the bolder colors as well.
