Update [January 22, 2020]: WhatsApp has started rolling out dark mode to its users on the latest beta build, so we can expect users on stable builds to receive it soon. Turning on dark mode on Whatsapp switches the app’s background to dark gray (not pure black) with white texts and dark green chat boxes. You can switch to Dark theme on Whatsapp by opening WhatsApp, heading over to Settings > Chats > Theme and selecting Dark from the options.
Android Q is set to introduce a system-wide dark mode for all users across the board, but developers have also been pushing to have this in-demand feature built right into their apps.
A good number of big-name companies that include Apple and Twitter have already moved ahead to include a dark mode toggle in their apps. But to date, Facebook-owned WhatsApp is still struggling with adding this feature to the billions who use the app across the globe.
After giving users some hope that dark mode was in the works, Twitter user WABetaInfo found that WhatsApp had removed all references to dark mode in recent beta builds 2.19.123 and 2.19.124.
I don't know why WhatsApp has abandoned the dark mode for Android.
They removed every reference in the 2.19.123 update, but I wanted to wait another beta to be sure.. and no tracks of it in the 2.19.124 update too..
Maybe they will develop it again using a different approach. https://t.co/BYRQRdSV9R
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) May 1, 2019
This did not go down well with users of the app on his timeline, but according to the same tipster, WhatsApp dark mode is still in the works.
Good news: WhatsApp is working again on the Dark Mode for Android.
Stay tuned 🤞🏼— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) May 6, 2019
It’s possible that WhatsApp never stopped working on dark mode. What likely happened is that they deployed a beta build from a different development branch with no references to dark mode, but the actual work never stopped.
With Facebook Messenger having already received dark mode several weeks ago, WhatsApp will definitely get it at some point, only that we don’t know when.
Related:
