Its time to go Dark Mode by default

Its been years since I have done an opinion piece style blog post rather than just posting cool things like my astrophotography other various other geeky things I find.  However, lately I’ve been wanting to branch out a little from the usual and do other things like some longer opinion pieces so here we go!  Lets talk about light mode vs dark mode!

For the last couple of decades, we have been stuck viewing black text on a white background from everything to web browsing to word processors to mobile applications, all the while enduring the eye strain it causes, especially if you are in a dark environment.  There is nothing quite like blinding yourself at night when you grab your phone to check the latest scores of your favorite sports team only to have to wait for your eyes to readjust after you put your phone back down.  Of course that wouldn’t have to be the case if defaulted to dark mode with everything.

Over the last couple of years, dark mode themes have finally started to go mainstream.  Now we have it on everything from messenger apps to Windows Explorer.  Unfortunately, its still not the norm for people to use it though because its often not obvious there is a dark mode since its not on by default and its usually buried in the settings and you have to go hunting for it to see if it even exists.  And its time to change that!

Whether you are one to wake up during the night and check to make sure you didn’t get an important work e-mail or you are an astrophotographer like me, you probably hate just how jarring light mode can be in the dark.  And even in the light, it can be annoying as it still causes some eye strain.  That is why whenever possible, I make sure everything I have is running in dark mode and you should too!  But there is another important reason why everybody should be using it and why it should be the default on everything.  Power usage!

A couple of weeks ago, Purdue University published a study showing that at least in some circumstances (like depending on what kind of screen you have such as OLED), using dark mode even at 100% brightness can save  39-47% on battery usage.  That is a HUGE difference!  So not only will it help prevent eye strain but it will increase the battery life of your device and help save the planet at the same time!  And I haven’t even mentioned how bad blue light is for you which you are bombarded with in lite mode.  I could go on about that for another blog post!

So tell me, why isn’t dark mode the default?!  We have been straining our eyes and wasting electricity long enough, its time to make dark mode the default in everything!

Do you think its time to switch to making dark mode the default in everything and let the crazy people choose light mode if they wish?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

 

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.