Why Using Dark Mode on Your Devices is so Important

One of the most popular trends in software and app updates is the addition of a "dark mode." If you haven't tried out the feature, or seen anyone else use it, it basically inverts your screen. A traditionally white screen becomes a dark blue or black, and text becomes white.

It feels like every app and operating system is racing to launch new dark mode features. For example, Microsoft Outlook, Reddit, YouTube, and Gmail have all added the feature recently. New operating systems like MacOS Mojave and Android Pie are also getting on board.

So what's got everyone going to the dark side? It turns out there are quite a few positives to operating on dark mode. Benefits include:

• Decreased eye strain
• Less sleep disruption
• Save battery life
• Some medical conditions are less aggravated

For about as long as computers have been mainstream, health officials have been concerned about eye strain from looking at screens for too long. Our time spent looking at screens has only increased in the last 20 years. Compared to the nine hours per week Americans spent looking at screens in 2000, we now spend about 24 hours per week.

All that time spent looking can have serious side effects on the eyes. Martin Banks, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley studies visual perception in virtual environments. Banks says a potential issue is damage to eye growth which can lead to myopia or nearsightedness.
"Looking at tablets, phones and the like, there's pretty good evidence that doing near work can cause lengthening of the eye and increase risk for myopia," Banks said. "We're all worried that virtual reality might make things worse."

While running apps in dark mode isn't a free hall pass for your eyes, it does reduce some of the fatigue experienced otherwise. In dark mode, paragraphs are easier to read with a tinted gray background with black text, or a black background with gray text. This is because white reflects all wavelengths of light and stimulates all three types of visual receptors in the human eye.
Dark mode also helps users with low vision problems and color-blindness.

Bright screens can disrupt natural sleep cycles. Artificial light dampens sleep-inducing neurons and triggers the ones that wake you up. With melatonin, the body's sleep hormone is suppressed and the body's natural clock gets pushed back.
Losing a few hours of shut-eye might not seem like a big deal, but it adds up. Long-term sleep loss raises your risk of obesity, heart disease, and depression. In children, instead of becoming tired, they get hyper. Charles Czeisler, director of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in the US said this is sometimes mistaken for ADHD.

Again, it's not a green light to go screen-crazy when you should be sleeping, but dark mode could mean less disruption to circadian rhythms.

Operating in dark mode can save battery life, if a smartphone uses an AMOLED display, the black pixels remain off and unilluminated, and it uses hex black (#000000) for most of the dark mode.

Android Central reports that if your screen isn't using hex black, then the entire screen is typically illuminated and drawing power. Anything used above hex black turns every pixel on and draws power on an AMOLED screen.

Running an app in hex black has a trade off though. You get better battery life, but sacrifice smooth scroll and swift movements through your phone. Instead, things might look more pixelated and jittery.

Apple Insider claims the iPhone X has a greater battery life with the addition of its dark mode without having to swap to hex black. YouTube's new dark theme also saves on battery life.

Dark mode can benefit some users with specific health conditions that are irritated by bright lights.

Photophobia is a condition that makes people very sensitive to light. By activating a blue light filter on smartphones or having a dark mode option, users with Photophobia can be a little more comfortable.
Using dark mode can also help those who suffer from migraines.

Takeaways:

• Dark mode capabilities have become increasingly popular and common on operating systems and apps, and it does have documented benefits.

• Using dark mode can result in decreased eye strain, better sleep, can ease some health issues, and save phone battery.

When it comes to doing anything, I’m a firm believer in thinking of the best way to do it. Most people are that way I would imagine. I definitely consider myself a critical thinker! When dark mode started appearing in apps and devices, I was like. “Yes! That is so necessary!” Seeing something like that was exciting because I had been thinking about how screens on phones and computers are basically lights. So without the dark mode feature, we are all basically staring at a light for hours of our day. Needless to say, this is not a healthy practice.

Pointing out some of the benefits of dark mode, I believe is important, so I wanted to share some of that with you! This type of information can really be helpful in the long run. It is our overall health, especially concerning the continuing integration of tech in our lives, that will be the main focus of this website. I will talk about other health, self-help topics, as well as a cryptocurrency post here and there, but I am focused on helping to maintain overall health in the age of technology.

There are four areas where dark mode can be beneficial. These include:

• Decreased eye strain
• Better sleep
• Prolongs the life of your device’s battery
• Some medical conditions are less aggravated

Concerning eye strain, “For about as long as computers have been mainstream, health officials have been concerned about eye strain from looking at screens for too long. Our time spent looking at screens has only increased in the last twenty years. Compared to the nine hours per week Americans spent looking at screens in 2000, we now spend about twenty-four hours per week.” (Brown)

Secondly, concerning sleep disruption, “Bright screens can disrupt natural sleep cycles. Artificial light dampens sleep-inducing neurons and triggers the ones that wake you up. With melatonin, the body's sleep hormone is suppressed and the body's natural clock gets pushed back.
Losing a few hours of shut-eye might not seem like a big deal, but it adds up. Long-term sleep loss raises your risk of obesity, heart disease, and depression.” (Brown)

Also important, although not directly health related, is the prolonging of your device’s battery life. Obviously, the less LED light output, the less power needed, which in turn, will extend the life of the battery. This can save money some money in the long run.

Lastly, “Dark mode can benefit some users with specific health conditions that are irritated by bright lights.
Photophobia is a condition that makes people very sensitive to light. By activating a blue light filter on smartphones or having a dark mode option, users with Photophobia can be a little more comfortable. Using dark mode can also help those who suffer from migraines.” (Brown)

In conclusion, dark mode helps our eyes, our sleep, our wallet, and even has some other medical benefits. Given the evidence mentioned, using dark mode would be a beneficial practice. I happen to love it myself! I have it enabled on every app and program I have that offers it. Besides the benefits, I just think it’s cool. I have shared the benefits of using dark mode with friends that weren’t aware that they even had it, and friends that just didn’t get around to changing after trying it, either due to preferences or just habit. People do have their preferences, but it’s definitely something to think about, especially for the long term.