Why iOS & OSX should have a Night Theme

[Mac-lover3]

Hello everyone I know that there are several threads about this but they are all mixed with other stuff about features, etc.

At WWDC (2014) Apple introduced a "Dark Mode" for Yosemite. I think this is a good step but they have to move it all across the system. Mail, Messages, etc this could be all done quite easily. I like the new UI of OSX and iOS both in dark areas and at night the screen is just way to bright therefor there should be Dark Theme. For certain apps this is already done I think about iBooks. So hopefully this will be one of the few new features that they will introduce at WWDC '15.

 

[C DM]

I think most agree that the option should be there.

Curious, any particular reason this was set up as a wiki thread?

 

[sanke1]

I want this mode... NOW!!!!!

 

[Mac-lover3]

I think most agree that the option should be there.

Curious, any particular reason this was set up as a wiki thread?

Owh no it wasn't meant to be a Wiki post..

 

[Ultra AleM]

I have a theory about iOS being white. Apple does not use an OLED display, so battery life does not improve if blacks are frequently used. The direct competitor of Apple - Samsung - uses Oled displays. Samsung wants to resemble Apple, to sell more. In fact, the new Galaxy S6 has a lot of white into the interface. This reduces battery life on Galaxy phones.

 

[C DM]

I have a theory about iOS being white. Apple does not use an OLED display, so battery life does not improve if blacks are frequently used. The direct competitor of Apple - Samsung - uses Oled displays. Samsung wants to resemble Apple, to sell more. In fact, the new Galaxy S6 has a lot of white into the interface. This reduces battery life on Galaxy phones.

Seems like it wouldn't reduce it really as much as it would basically not save as much of it as potentially could be saved with an overall dark interface (basically in addition to normal battery life).

 

[FSMBP]

I have a theory about iOS being white. Apple does not use an OLED display, so battery life does not improve if blacks are frequently used. The direct competitor of Apple - Samsung - uses Oled displays. Samsung wants to resemble Apple, to sell more. In fact, the new Galaxy S6 has a lot of white into the interface. This reduces battery life on Galaxy phones.

Seems like it wouldn't reduce it really as much as it would basically not save as much of it as potentially could be saved with an overall dark interface (basically in addition to normal battery life).

Clearly Apple will move to OLED displays for all mobile devices. My prediction is that when they do, iOS will have a 'dark mode' as it will save battery life (simple explanation: OLEDs don't have to be "on" to display black).

 

[iamMacPerson]

Clearly Apple will move to OLED displays for all mobile devices. My prediction is that when they do, iOS will have a 'dark mode' as it will save battery life (simple explanation: OLEDs don't have to be "on" to display black).

They have already done this on the Watch so I see it happening to iOS. If they move to OLED for the iPhones that would be nice as well. I guess we'll find out in a few months!

 

[KALLT]

This is one thing I really liked in BlackBerry 10. They support both LCD and OLED screens and also support dark and bright UI components, with a very easy implementation for developers. It makes such a huge difference in some apps.

I personally cannot use OS X without the dark mode anymore. It is just so much more pleasant to the eyes, especially with the overall brighter window chromes and white toolbar buttons. I also find that it works well with the f.lux app.

 

[Antoni Nygaard]

How is is the UI images working? Isn't there lot of UI images that are going to be duplicated in the system because it has to be black when it has to switch to a dark theme and then with two themes it taking up a lot more space on your phone?

 

[XTheLancerX]

How is is the UI images working? Isn't there lot of UI images that are going to be duplicated in the system because it has to be black when it has to switch to a dark theme and then with two themes it taking up a lot more space on your phone?

No, there a much more efficient ways to go about that, I'm sure. I'm no software developer, but it seems like they could tell the system when to use different values for the blurring for example, to make it blur with a dark tone rather than a bright one. Same thing for blacks and whites I'm assuming in UI areas? No need to double the file size of the OS relating to UI. Yeah the size may increase a bit just for the extra instructions but not too much, I don't think. Probably thinking about this entirely incorrectly though because I've never written a line of code in my life.

Anyway. I really want dark mode as well. iOS 7 design is cool and all, but it's too intense. In those attached screen shots, it was a breath of fresh air just seeing those. Now, if it was actually executed, it would be amazing. I love the look of dark mode in OS X Yosemite. If they could take some design cues for OS X and apply them to iOS, it would be great. The ever so slightly.. Almost convex icons. And the drop shadows when windows are over top each other... It looks amazing imo.

 

[The Doctor11]

iOS REALLY needs a dark mode!

 

[dictoresno]

i would love this as well.

for any app that has a dark mode, like twitterrific, tweetbot and tapatalk, i find myself using it 24/7 vs regular light modes. i think it makes the app look that much nicer, especially at night. ive even switched to the blackout swype keyboard. if ios offered a dark mode, i would love that. i think it would offer a nice contrast to the color palette of ios 8.

 

[Paradoxally]

Jailbroken iOS has had this since iOS 7...it's called Eclipse, or Nightmode. It's high time Apple implemented this.

Things I'd love to see in iOS 9:

- Native f.lux built into the OS (this is a requirement, I cannot stand a blue screen at night at 7300k when it should be about 4800k or lower - it affects sleeping patterns) without needing to JB;

- Night mode to get rid of the horrid white (I have a space grey iPhone, I don't want or need white themes on my apps, Apple...photos app is white? Seriously?)

- Stability and performance improvements

I don't even ask for anything more, just those 3 things. It's a struggle having a device on 8.3 and not being able to jailbreak to get basic features such as f.lux working.

 

[maflynn]

Owh no it wasn't meant to be a Wiki post..

I removed the wiki flag, though the text saying its a wiki is still there for some reason

 

[warden]

I think there'll be a dark mode once the screen/body distinction on the iPhone has gone. With the Watch, you effectively can't tell where the screen stops and the 'bezel' or body of the device begins. iOS 7 laid the groundwork for this same effect with the iPhone, I think. The white iPhone will lose the black border around the screen, and the display and body of the phone will become one. The black iPhone will presumably have a dark 'theme' to produce the same effect, like the Watch.

 

[Paradoxally]

I think there'll be a dark mode once the screen/body distinction on the iPhone has gone. With the Watch, you effectively can't tell where the screen stops and the 'bezel' or body of the device begins.

And with the Space Grey iPhone, you don't really notice the bezels anyway. Hence a dark theme would go great on those. I stopped buying white iPhones after the 5 because I hate large white bezels. The 5/5S was the last phone where it was acceptable to me because of the small form factor.

 

[GreyOS]

do OLED screens use less energy when displaying dark-but-not-black colours? I understand with pure black the backlight can turn off but do dark greys help?

I think using too much black in a UI would be bad. a mix of darker greys and frosting and so on looks good. wondering if that saves battery on OLED

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And with the Space Grey iPhone, you don't really notice the bezels anyway. Hence a dark theme would go great on those. I stopped buying white iPhones after the 5 because I hate large white bezels. The 5/5S was the last phone where it was acceptable to me because of the small form factor.

interesting, my first white was iPhone 6 because the space grey that sticks out on the sides of the black was too distracting for me. the white and silver blend better than the black and space grey imo. but yes I know the screen edge doesn't blend as well

 

[XTheLancerX]

do OLED screens use less energy when displaying dark-but-not-black colours? I understand with pure black the backlight can turn off but do dark greys help?

I think using too much black in a UI would be bad. a mix of darker greys and frosting and so on looks good. wondering if that saves battery on OLED

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interesting, my first white was iPhone 6 because the space grey that sticks out on the sides of the black was too distracting for me. the white and silver blend better than the black and space grey imo. but yes I know the screen edge doesn't blend as well

With OLED there is no "back light" turning off when there are blacks, the pixel itself turns off. They are self-illuminating pixels and they use no backlight.

Anyway, I'm not sure if dark grays would still be good for energy. I think it would, as it seems I've heard that blue for example uses the most energy for those types of display. Makes it seem that every color uses a different amount, and that things smoothly go down in energy use the darker the color gets.

But I can agree that if everything was jet black it would look too dark.

 

[GreyOS]

Why iOS & OSX should have a Night Theme

With OLED there is no "back light" turning off when there are blacks, the pixel itself turns off. They are self-illuminating pixels and they use no backlight.



Anyway, I'm not sure if dark grays would still be good for energy. I think it would, as it seems I've heard that blue for example uses the most energy for those types of display. Makes it seem that every color uses a different amount, and that things smoothly go down in energy use the darker the color gets.



But I can agree that if everything was jet black it would look too dark.

cheers for technical correction, and yeah if they are self illuminating it seems very plausible that different colours use different energy like you say. thanks

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hmm this seems to suggest that non-black dark colours may save some energy but not nearly as much as black? so I wonder how much a dark grey UI like OP's would actually save battery? nonetheless I love it aesthetically!

"So theoretically, black pixels save you a lot of power because those pixels can be turned completely off. However, people sometimes make the mistake of thinking this is a function of brightness—that dark colors like gray are similarly efficient. There is a relationship between brightness and power, but to really save juice you need a true black (as defined by the #000000 hex value). Anything else, and the pixel is on."

http://www.greenbot.com/article/283...interface-really-save-on-amoled-displays.html

 

[richwoodrocket]

The apple watch has an AMOLED screen... Not sure if this means the amoled is coming to the iPhone. If it did, that would be awesome, and another reason for Apple to include a black theme.
Invert colors works pretty good for now though.

 

[jetjaguar]

i really hope they add a night mode ... IMDB app has a night mode that I use all the time

 

[Mac-lover3]

The apple watch has an AMOLED screen... Not sure if this means the amoled is coming to the iPhone. If it did, that would be awesome, and another reason for Apple to include a black theme.
Invert colors works pretty good for now though.

It works great for texting (SMS, Facebook, Whatsapp) but if you start doing a web search it's just awful..

 

[lexvo]

i would love this as well.

for any app that has a dark mode, like twitterrific, tweetbot and tapatalk, i find myself using it 24/7 vs regular light modes.

Me too, I would like a dark mode for whole iOS.

 

[Yun0]

that dark is beautiful, my only wish for ios 9