Dark mode is a feature that WhatsApp users have been crying for, and have been patiently waiting for the chat app to add support for it since September last year.
In the year-long wait, dark modes have become more and more popular.
Recently, pretty much every single app out there is introducing some kind of dark mode to the equation. The main reason behind this is that users tend to demand it because the logic behind dark mode has to do with the impact that the light of your smartphone can potentially end up making it difficult for you to sleep at night. After which you might not wake up feeling all so fresh when you finally do sleep. This is something that can have a pretty serious impact on your health if it continues for an extended period of time.
Apple improved its operating system in iOS 13 to include a system-wide dark mode, Google launched Android 10 which supports it, and just recently we saw that Google is also rolling out dark mode for its Gmail app on iOS and Android.
Additionally, Instagram which just like WhatsApp is a Facebook-owned app, recently got a dark mode makeover. WhatsApp has lagged behind a lot of other platforms on the internet when it comes to dark mode.
Undoubtedly, WhatsApp will eventually end up offering its users a dark mode, but so far the platform has failed to provide its users with the kind of experience they have been asking for.
However, it seems like the wait might finally be coming to an end. According to WABetaInfo, which specializes in analysing WhatsApp beta releases, the app’s developers are currently working on a dark mode for its iOS and Android apps and optimizing the new design before its release.
A recent development has revealed that WhatsApp’s sticker and emoji menus have been updated with dark backgrounds, and developers have been hard at work adapting the app’s signature message bubbles to suit the new look.
It also looks like the new colour scheme will be mainly dark blue rather than black or grey, and will be activated automatically if you’ve selected your phone’s system-wide dark mode.
The Whatsapp team is also working on a dark splash screen. With the Splash Screen feature, the app’s splash screen is also expected to be darkened, which will avoid the problem some apps have where a person using the dark theme is startled by an unexpected burst of white light. This will be available on Android and iOS platforms.
While, in another update the Facebook-owned app is also testing an improved UI for Date and Event Bubbles, making them suitable for dark theme!
It is currently unknown why WhatsApp is taking so long to provide users with a feature that they have been requesting for quite a long period of time,
We all thought that dark mode would come with the next update, but considering that even self-destructing messages haven’t made it to our apps yet, a feature that was announced before dark mode; it is probably not wrong to think that it’s going to be quite some time before we are able to use such a mode on WhatsApp. Although, once the feature is introduced it is likely to be highly well received by the various people that have been eagerly anticipating it all this time.