YouTube is adding a dark mode to its mobile apps, allowing users to change the regular, white YouTube UI with a sleeker and darker one, dominated by black and grey tones. YouTube first rolled out a dark mode to its desktop version last year and it’s proved to be widely popular among users. The company says the dark mode has been one of the most highly requested features for its mobile apps, so it’s ready to comply and give users what they want. The new dark mode has already started reaching the iOS version of the app, and YouTube announced on Twitter that the rollout should be completed in the next few days. There’s still no official date for when the dark mode will hit Android as well, but it’s said to be coming soon.
With the dark mode enabled, YouTube is easier on the eyes, especially for those who like to watch videos at night, given how a bright screen could be tough to look at in a dark room and cause eye strain. Various companies offer night modes or reading modes, but such solutions often just reduce the screen brightness without altering the color scheme of their UIs. So far, YouTube’s mobile apps have always had a white theme, with no option to change it. The dark mode adds more diversity, and it can be easily enabled in the app’s settings. To do so, users simply need to tap the account icon, head over to settings, and select the new dark mode.
In addition to lending a sleeker look to the app and making it easier on the eyes, the dark mode might also help save battery life on devices equipped with OLED panels whose black pixels remain unlit, i.e. don’t draw any power. The mobile version of the dark mode appears to be identical to the desktop variant of the service in terms of the color scheme it uses.