Google has slowly but surely been bringing a dark mode to all of its apps ahead of a system-wide dark mode for Android 10 — and the next app to get the feature is Google Pay.
Previously, Google rolled out dark mode to a number of apps — including Android Messages, Google News, Google Photos, and the Google Files app. Even smaller, lesser-used apps like Gallery Go have been getting the treatment.
Dark mode for Google Pay is rolling out as part of the latest update to the app, and was first spotted by Android Police. Unlike some of the other apps that have gotten the feature, Google Pay’s dark mode is switched on based on the system theme — so when you have dark mode enabled system-wide in Android 10, dark mode will be enabled in Google Pay. We wouldn’t be surprised to see all of Google’s apps follow the system theme, or at least have an option to.
Dark modes have become a whole lot more popular over the past year or so — and not just on Android. Apple has pushed out a dark mode for the Mac, and is now beta testing a new dark mode for the iPhone. As mentioned, Google has been pushing dark modes for individual apps, but will roll out a system-wide dark mode as part of Android 10.
There are a few good reasons why you might want a dark mode on your device. Beyond the fact that some apps just look better in a dark mode, it’s also better for your eyes. There’s also the fact that dark modes can help save battery life. OLED displays work a little differently than LED displays in that they light up individual pixels instead of the display all at once — so when something on the display is black, the display simply doesn’t light up those pixels. This means battery life can be saved — and that blacks are deeper, making for more contrast on the display.
There are a few apps that don’t yet have dark mode in Android. Notably, Gmail and the Google Play Store have yet to get an update with dark mode — though they might get the update in the near future considering the fact that we expect to see Android 10 released to the public on September 3.
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