Screens with OLED technology have become more than common in the world of telephony, not only because they offer us a higher quality, but also because it offers us more vivid and sharper colors in addition to allowing us to save battery in our smartphone, one of its most precious items for users.
Since Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for more than 20.000 million dollars, the messaging platform kingdom worldwide has received regular updates, with very little news despite the demands of users. Today it is one of the few that still does not offer support for dark mode, at least until the next update.
And I say until the next update, because if you are an Android user and you are part of the beta program, you have to download version 2.20.13, a version that allows you to activate the dark mode. Fortunately, it is not necessary to be part of that select club and you can download the APK of this version and start using it.
How to activate dark mode on WhatsApp
- Activate dark mode, once we have downloaded version 2.20.13 from the link that I have indicated above, we proceed to install it on our device. No need to back up chats that we have in the application, since they will remain intact.
- Next, once we open the application, click on the three points located in the upper right corner of the chat window and click on Settings.
- Next, click on Chats> Topic.
- In the following menu, the application offers us three options to set the application mode:
- System default.
- Light.
- Dark.
- If we want the application to show the dark mode when we have programmed this function to be activated on our smartphone, we must select System default.
WhatsApp's dark mode is disappointing
One of the advantages that OLED technology offers us is that it allows us use only LEDs that display a color other than black. Depending on the daily use we make of an application, the battery saving can be remarkable. In this sense, it is not that WhatsApp is late, but that it also does it wrong.
And I say that it does it wrong, just like Twitter and Google did with all their applications that are adapted to dark mode. Whatsapp's dark mode does not use the black background color, like the Twitter application, but adopts a dark gray color, so the battery saving that one of the most used applications in the world could initially offer disappears completely.
Dark mode in an application, be it WhatsApp, Twitter or any other allows us to use the application in the dark or with little ambient lighting If you have to adjust the brightness of the screen so as not to receive the punch in the eyes caused by the contrast of the ambient lighting with the application screen.
Screens type LCD illuminate the entire panel to display information on the screenRegardless of whether it is black or not, that is why LED technology is a fantastic way to save battery life in smartphones, one of the increasingly important issues for users today.
You don't have to go high-end to find smartphones with OLED screens, models such as OnePlus 7 family, Xiaomi Mi A3, Xiaomi Mi 9T, Xiaomi Mi 9, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 +, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy A40, Galaxy A50, Galaxy A70, Huawei P30, Huawei P30 Pro, Google Pixel 3a , Google Pixel 3a XL ... are some smartphones that we can find for about 500 euros that offers us a LED screen, either AMOLED, OLED or P-LED.
Dark mode on Android
It wasn't until the release of Android 10, when from Google they have natively added a dark mode, dark mode that replaces the classic white of the menus and applications with dark gray (as long as the applications are compatible).
Both Samsung and Huawei implemented dark mode long ago in their terminals through their customization layer, a real dark mode, so replace the traditional white with black, no dark gray, taking advantage of OLED technology.
All the applications that both manufacturers offer us are adapted to the real dark mode, something that Google should have done, but probably will not do, like WhatsApp, Google and Twitter on Android, due to the fact that most Android smartphones available on the market, They do not have an LED screen, but LCD.
The pure black color on LCD screens is shown as dark gray, with some areas more illuminated than the others (especially the edges) due to the characteristics of this technology, so the final result, it can leave much to be desired although not always.
However for every problem there is a solution. In the Play Store we can find different applications that allow us to establish whether we want the background of the application to be pure black if we use a terminal with an LED screen (indicated in the menu) or any other dark background color, ideal for when our terminal has an LCD screen.
What is clear is that the greats do not complicate their lives in the versions of the applications they launch for Android, quite the opposite that happens in the versions for iOS. Once again it is shown that some developers and / or large companies They treat Android users like second rate.