How to get dark mode on older Android phones

dark mode for older android

Android 10 brings the dark mode to Android phones. It's a feature that users have been clamoring for and we're glad it's finally here.

The sad part, though, is that most Android phones on the market today won't be getting the Android 10 update anytime soon.

And if your phone is not on the update list, then your luck is definitely out. That's why we always try to find alternative methods to bring new Android features to older Android devices.

Dark mode in Android 8 Oreo and Nougat 7

In the case of dark mode, we have found an app that can bring the dark theme to older Android Oreo and Nougat devices. Therefore, apps that have already adopted night mode may also be forced to apply a dark theme on older devices.

With that said, let's go ahead and find out how to enable this mode on Android Oreo and Nougat.

Note: The app has been updated to support older devices running Android Jelly Bean (4.3), Android KitKat, and Android Lollipop. However, we haven't tested it on those versions of Android, so we can't comment on its performance. With that being said, you can download and install the app and see if it works or not.

Dark mode on older devices works better if the android layer is closer to pure android. We did our tests on Mi A1 running Oreo and it worked flawlessly. However, many users have reported that it also works quite well on MIUI running Android 7, ColorOS, and other cooked versions of Android.

So, we just have to follow the steps and see if it works for us.

dark mode for older android oreo nougat

How to have dark mode in old Android versions?

1. Download the following apps from the Play Store and install it on your Android phone. The app has been developed by Julian Eggers.

Dark Mode
Dark Mode
Developer: julian eggers
Price: Free

2. Then open the app and simply select "Night mode". That's it. Now, you should have a dark theme in many apps, including Google Photos, Instagram, Play Store, and more. Sadly, dark mode in Gmail doesn't work right now, but since the app brings dark mode natively, you'll get it on older devices too.

3. In case you want automatic dark theme based on a time range, you can choose “Auto” mode. It will keep light mode during the day and switch to night mode after sunset.

Also switch to the dark side on older Android phones

This was our short article on how to get dark mode on older devices including Android Oreo (8.0 and 8.1) and Nougat (7.0).

This darkened mode has become a leading trend in the industry, so why should older devices stay away from the new change?

So go ahead and try the app on your phone and see if it works. If so, please comment below and tell us the phone and OS version on which you were able to enable dark mode.


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  1.   Orlando Ontiveros said

    Thanks for the information, I couldn't find a way to put Instagram in dark mode, I have a Huawei mate 10 Lite with Android 8 and there are no updates to Android 9?