
Do You Really Need Dark Mode? - occamschainsaw
https://www.wired.com/story/do-you-need-dark-mode/
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ToFab123
I live in a tropical jungle and, at night time, dark themes significantly
reduces the number of insects attracted by the light emitted from the screen.
Using a light theme app is like sitting under a flashlight which attracts all
insects. A dark theme makes it possible for me to sit outside on my balcony at
night time. So yes, I really need dark mode.

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mindslight
If I could go back in time and kill one person to change the course of
history, it would be whomever was responsible for popularizing bright
backgrounds on emissive displays (ie full on).

For programming, it's not about how well you can perceive text, but about
keeping your brain from entering the "I'm outside, let's perform physical
activity" mode. Similarly, everyone wants to avoid this mode at night (eg
Redshift).

Even visual art apps, which benefit from a well-defined whitepoint, default to
a neutral grey rather than blinding white. If you enjoy flooding your eyes
with light, you can always mount a spot light or even a strobe light above
your monitor.

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yoz-y
A lot of people actually prefer reading black text on white background because
paper works like that. Personally I do too. For writing prose and reading
articles or blogs I prefer a light (but not pure white) background and black
text. If you want the same legibility with white on black text you need to
make the text bolder but this is rarely done.

For coding I always use light text on dark background because dark background
makes the syntax coloring more useful as more colors are available.

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jrootabega
All good and impartial points. Another is that dark background and light text
leads to distracting retinal afterimages. But it can be mitigated by
understating the contrast: making the black dark gray and the colors muted

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gnicholas
> _dark mode is often billed as an accessibility feature—but the research hasn
> 't been entirely conclusive. Mayr calls it an “open research question.”_

It is absolutely an accessibility feature. It is critical for some types of
vision impairments, and is also preferred by many people with dyslexia who are
distracted by "white rivers" that appear in standard text (especially when
formatted justified).

Calling this an "open research question" does a disservice to people who
unquestionably benefit from and rely on dark modes.

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swampthinker
Did these studies compare OLED dark mode vs traditional dark mode?

I find OLED dark mode to be the best because there is quite literally no light
coming from a large section of my screen.

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nier
In the summer, working late into the night, I feel most comfortable with my
windows open and to avoid attracting insects, I set macOS to invert colors and
also have Flux running. The effect is a red on black screen. My syntax color
scheme is always set to black/grays, so that simply changes to different
shades of red.

Flux, which is usually stylized as f.lux, is a third party application that
automatically tints your screen amber at evening. Some people use it to be
able to fall asleep more easily after work.

Unfortunately Flux on iOS requires a jailbroken device and Apple decided to
switch off Flux’s built-in pendant called Night Shift when colors are
inverted. So I’m looking forward that Dark Mode works with Night Shift to give
me that submarine mode on iOS.

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noir_lord
For Linux users, redshift/gtk-redshift does the same thing and is OSS, used it
for years with no issues.

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BiologyBum
Yes. As a programmer, the ability to comfortably code at 2pm or 2am is
important. The article mentioned this, but most coders I know don't use dark
mode for some perceived mental boost.

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beenBoutIT
They're not wrong, the blue light is effectively a stimulant that will help
keep you alert and awake.

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beenBoutIT
Dark mode looks better most of the time and if done right doesn't make
coding/reading/navigating/etc. significantly more difficult.

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jaredcwhite
After having used macOS Mojave in dark mode for many months, on a whim I went
back to light mode on my iMac.

It's like somebody just shined a flashlight right into my retinas.

Flipped back to dark mode in mere seconds. So yes, we really do need dark
mode. :)

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gnicholas
I like dark mode at night, but during the day I find that it makes my phone
(iphone 7 plus) too reflective. I end up having to angle the phone in strange
ways to be able to see what's on the screen.

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Fjolsvith
This question makes me angry. It's like Microsoft removing UI color
customization from their office apps. Since when does someone else know what's
comfortable for my eyes?

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snissn
It's news to me that dark mode is coming to ios. That's really exciting! I
think dark mode uis draw you in less and become less of a distraction than
light mode uis

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adultSwim
Yes

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gabe_tocci
I didn't read the article. Does it mention less power consumption?

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perilunar
Yes. Dark mode saves power for OLED screens but not for backlit LCD screens.

