Dark mode scheduling may come to Android soon

The system-wide dark mode available in Android 10 may receive a scheduling option so you can have it activate automatically in the evenings. Right now enabling the feature is a binary choice: either on or off.

Android already features a Night Light mode that can be scheduled and reduces the amount of blue light emitted by your phone to better match your surroundings. But it creates a yellowish hue that some (read: myself) might not like.

Google weighs in with a vague comment — Over on Google’s official issue tracker, a company employee recently left a comment regarding dark mode (called “Dark Theme” on Android) scheduling, stating that, “it will become available in a future Android release.” The feature was available in beta builds of Android 10 but didn’t make it to the final release.

Engineers at Google have suggested the removal of dark mode scheduling was due to issues with apps abruptly restarting if they were in use when dark mode was activated. Presumably, that’s been fixed.

Dark mode is a popular feature that arrived in recent versions of Android and iOS, but it’s not perfect. Some apps from independent developers just don’t support dark themes by default, for instance, meaning you’ll get the jarring experience of opening an app only to be blinded by bright colors. Dark mode is aesthetically pleasing on new smartphones with OLED screens that can show “true” blacks, and it’s been found to improve battery life somewhat.