Latest WhatsApp beta gives us a first look at its dark mode

Dark mode fans, rejoice — even though dark mode is not officially available in the latest WhatsApp beta, WABetaInfo worked some magic and got some hands-on time with the new UI mode. We’ve heard rumors of WhatsApp’s dark mode since September 2018.

Of note is that WhatsApp’s dark mode doesn’t use an absolute black. What you see in the screenshots below is a very dark grey, which is actually easier on the eyes than an absolute black. Because the contrast between gray and white isn’t as stark as the contrast between black and white, your eyes will more easily adjust to the gray background.

Using a dark gray color also offers the benefit of better readability. When an app uses absolute black, text scrolling and quick movements might look jittery on OLED displays due to pixels turning on and off. With dark gray, every pixel is on and you don’t see nearly as much jitter when scrolling.

Unfortunately, WhatsApp’s dark mode is only observable within its settings menu. That means we might not see a WhatsApp dark mode for some time, especially since there isn’t an official way to activate it in the latest beta version.

Beta version 2.19.82 of WhatsApp is now available on the Google Play Store. You can go here to sign up for the beta.