Slowly but surely, Google is getting all dark and moody. They’ve been adding dark mode options to a lot of their apps, either in beta or as a test, and some have rolled it out officially. Now the latest app to officially push all that white space away is one that is constantly used: Gmail. Unfortunately, it looks like only a small percentage of users will be able to enjoy this though as the announcement says it’s only available for devices running on Android 10.
With the rollout of Android 10 and its system-wide dark mode option, we can expect apps to roll out the full black carpet for their products. Gmail is of course one of the apps we use constantly on our phones, even when you’re lying in bed and about to sleep. So having a dark mode will help not just our eyes from straining too much but also the people who are in that dark room with us and may have been blinded by all that white from your email app.
Unfortunately, it looks like only those devices that already have Android 10 will be able to enjoy the Gmail dark mode. According to a spokesperson on Twitter, those with compatible devices should see “an option to enable it in settings” although he did include the word “soon” so it may not be live yet for these users. They’re also asking for feedback regarding how the dark mode looks like.
Hi there. We've started rolling out dark mode for Gmail in the latest update. You should see an option to enable it if you have iOS 11+/Android 10+ soon. Also, you can submit feedback regarding the mark as read option: Gmail app > Help & feedback > Send Feedback? Appreciate it!
— Gmail (@gmail) October 9, 2019
Gmail is just the latest product to get a dark mode option. We’ve seen apps like Google Play Store, Voice, Fi, Duo, YouTube, Android Messages, and Google Assistant all get the dark treatment. And as Android 10 continues to roll out to users over the next few months, expect also other non-Google apps to start rolling out their dark mode versions as well.
For now, if you’re not yet on Android 10, you’ll have to make do with the blinding white of the Gmail app. At least you know that soon you will have dark mode although when that will be is still up in the air.