Android’s new ‘Expanded’ dark mode darkens apps without a dark theme — but there’s a catch

If you tell people that you use light mode on your phone, some people will look at you like you’re crazy. That’s because many people prefer dark mode UIs because they’re generally seen as easier on the eyes. Most apps have a built-in dark theme by this point, but there are still plenty that don’t. For accessibility reasons, Android will soon let you enable dark mode in apps that don’t natively support it.

Earlier today, Google released the second Android Canary build, and while exploring it, we discovered a new option under Settings > Display & touch > Dark theme. Previously, this page only had options to schedule the dark theme, but it now offers two different dark theme “modes.” There’s the “Standard” mode, which applies the dark theme across your device and supported apps, and a new “Expanded” mode which automatically applies dark theme to more apps.

Android’s new “Expanded” dark mode is different from the existing color inversion option as it doesn’t invert all colors on screen, which can mess with images. It’s more like the “override force-dark” toggle in Developer Options, but it seems to work in more apps.

Google says the “Expanded” dark mode is intended to improve accessibility, but you may experience appearance issues when using it as some apps won’t play nicely with it. If that happens, then it’s recommended you enable the “Standard” dark mode instead, as it won’t force a dark theme on apps that don’t support it.

We’ve been waiting for Google to launch this feature since we first spotted evidence of it over a year ago. It seems the company needed some time to figure out how to present the feature to users, as they were previously testing it under the name, “make more apps dark.” By pitching it as an accessibility feature, Google will ensure that users are aware of its limitations and that it isn’t intended as a foolproof way to enable a dark theme in all apps.

Although this feature is now live in the second Android Canary build, we don’t know when it’ll roll out for users in the Beta or Stable channels. We’re hoping this feature will roll out in the second quarterly release of Android 16, ie. Android 16 QPR2, which is scheduled for release this December.