Google’s battery-saving Dark theme for Android is finally available for its very own Gmail app following last week’s launch of Android 10 for Pixel phones. The company has been promising wider support for this battery-saving mode for a long time, but some apps including Gmail appeared to be lacking the option even after the release of Android Q.
The Dark theme being offered by Google is not only great for conserving your phone’s battery life, it’s also easy on the eyes as compared to the regular color scheme which uses white or light backgrounds. Light backgrounds are fine in brightly lit environs, but can cause eye strain when you’re scrolling through your phone at night or in a poorly lit place.
Those who can’t see the darker colors even though they’ve updated to Android 10, can check if it’s accessible by opening the Gmail app, clicking on the ‘hamburger’ icon, going to General Settings and scanning for it in the Theme header. If it’s not available, install the latest version 2019.08.18.267 of the Gmail app from Google Play Store.
If you still cannot see the Dark mode option for Gmail in spite of having tried the steps mentioned above, there’s a useful thread on Reddit which will allow you to coax the theme out of hiding – providing you’re willing to root your phone.
In case you can’t yet update to Android 10, you can go to the Accessibility option in Settings on your Android device and opt for system-wide color inversion. A similar effect is present for iOS users too under Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations.