Following the launch of Android 10 last week, many users have been waiting for all of Google’s apps to offer dark mode.
The company teased the dark-themed Gmail app along with others on the Android website when Android 10 launched Sept. 3. But Reddit users were among the first to note that the app had been changed via a server-side update, XDADevelopers reported.
A catch to this is that this is for the Android version of the app only, and you’ll need to be running Android 10. Android 10 will make its way to other Android phones besides the Google Pixel later this year.
Although Android 10 has its own system-wide dark mode, Google had also planned to put up dark mode options for its first-party apps, though dark modes for some features like Gmail and the Google Play Store weren’t ready in time for the Android 10 release. But one week after the launch of Android 10, the latter is finally getting its promised dark theme update.
Similar to other Google apps in recent months, there are three theme options in Gmail: Light, Dark, and System default. The dark theme is pretty straightforward, with the email client adopting a dark grey for the background and navigation drawer.
A red accent color is still leveraged in that latter part of the UI to note what inbox you’re viewing. Other elements like the search bar use a lighter shade of grey to provide a better visual distinction.
Avatars, labels, and other colors in the inbox view have been appropriately tweaked to be less bright and more muted. A similar treatment is applied for all icons and buttons throughout the Android app.
Gmail’s dark theme also extends to the compose screen and messages. While the body of an email leverages white text, signatures can be harder to see.
Version 2019.08.18.267044774 of Gmail is required with that release and it’s now widely available via the Play Store, which is still very white!
Why we might not have seen a similar dark mode roll out for the Play Store app yet might have to do with the interface that relies in large part on the presence of all the app icons, but that’s just a guess as to why that one still hasn’t arrived. Nonetheless, it is positively welcome to see another key app adjust and offer users the choice of an option that’s easier on the eyes.
Considering that Android 10 came with a system-wide dark mode, we’re also now a week out from the release of iOS 13 which will certainly bring a system-wide dark mode to iOS devices. That’s something Apple teased earlier this year in its iOS walkthrough.