Facebook is officially going dark with the release of the new dark mode feature for the Messenger app, the company has announced on its blog.
Users first got a glimpse of the function as an Easter egg back in March. They simply had to send a message with a crescent moon emoji to activate it. It would trigger a shower of moons to appear, followed by a prompt to turn on Messenger's dark mode.
The social media website has since decided to add the feature full-time. To enable it, users just have to tap on their profile pictures and toggle the switch.
Dark Mode Trend
Facebook is just the latest company to jump on the dark mode bandwagon this year. Apple recently announced that it will roll out its own version of the feature for its iPhone and iPad devices. It will be available with the release of iOS 13, the company's latest operating system.
iPhone and iPad owners will be able to turn on the dark mode by accessing it through their device's Settings.
Meanwhile, Mac users who are running iPad apps via the Marzipan program will also have the option to switch on dark mode once the feature becomes available.
Microsoft, Apple's chief rival in the OS market, also came out with dark mode for its OneNote service. First images of the new dark theme were revealed by Italian tech blog Aggiornamenti Lumia.
The feature was later confirmed by Laura Butler, Microsoft's vice president for OneNote. She also hinted at a new navigation system for the app.
"Dang that's fast sleuthing! It's not even fully available in internal dogfood," Butler wrote on Twitter.
"The screenshot doesn't even have the new majorly improved naviga... oops almost spilled the beans."
Users can use a Windows 10 PC to turn on OneNote's dark mode, and the feature will also be enabled on their mobile versions for Android and iOS devices. Microsoft has already rolled out a similar function for Outlook for the web and iOS.
Google's dark theme for Mac and Windows came out along with the Chrome 73 update. Before this, the company tried out function for its Help Center and Google Play Games services. There is also a dark mode for YouTube.
Twitter joined in on the fun and released a supposed darker version of dark mode. The social media site called it "Lights Out".
Benefits Of Switching To Dark Mode
One of the most obvious advantages of enabling dark mode is power conservation. Google demonstrated how the function can help reduce battery consumption using its Pixel smartphone.
The company showed that having the handset on the highest possible brightness setting with a white background can result in a current draw of beyond 300 mA. Meanwhile, doing the same with blue, green, and red backgrounds will yield current draws of between 100 to 200 mA.
The only time such settings can produce less than 100 mA of current is if a smartphone has a black background.
Keep Productive.com listed down some of the other benefits of going dark. These include better contrast, less blue light, and less flicker on the screen. The feature can also help reduce eye fatigue and improve text readability.
Some users may also benefit from dark mode by reducing the chance of triggering photophobia, or discomfort due to being exposed to light.
