Google has been promising a darkened YouTube theme since last year and now it seems to be delivering for some users on Android. For clarity, the mode is already available on the web and competing platforms but this appears to be the first time it is launching for the Android app. Now, some users are reportedly waking up to find the mode enabled and ready to go via a toggle in the app’s general settings. That means users who prefer the white theme can switch the toggle off to return to the previous look. With the switch turned on, the result is a clean dark-gray and black layout. There’s no change to the button, links, or user interface beyond that, so it’s an arbitrary change that won’t change functionality or anything else really. At the same time, it’s something that users have been asking after for a long time and does provide users with more options.
With that said, the feature also seems to sync across all devices on which the application is being used. At least one Reddit user claims to have never toggled the setting in-app. Instead, the theme was turned on in the web variant of YouTube and automatically turned on in the application. So it may be the case that users will be able to set the theme to their preference and have that reflected on the web, iOS, or wherever else the dark mode theme is available without taking any further action.
This isn’t the first time a rollout or test rollout has occurred of this or other features has occurred and some users are understandably skeptical about whether or not they’ll see the dark theme for themselves. However, this doesn’t appear to be another test run for the search giant’s media division. Instead, for now, this seems to be a staged rollout. While there’s been no announcement or indication regarding whether this is a regional release or global, that means it could take days, weeks, or even months to hit every Android device. So users will need to be a bit patient but the feature should arrive sooner rather than later.
