Why 2019 was the year of Dark Mode

"You want it darker?" the late Leonard Cohen asked on the title track of his ominous final album, released just weeks before Trump's election in November 2016. Indeed, the world did seem to want it darker. Not just in the metaphorical sense of a global wave of authoritarianism and ignorance, but literally darker — on the screens in our pockets, bags, and on our desks. Back then, apps were just beginning to offer Dark Mode, where bright pixels were shunned in favor of a black background, supposedly easier on the eyes. 

Fast forward to 2019 — and as the political darkness grew to impeachable proportions, the trickle of Dark Mode apps became a flood. Apple's iOS 13 turned millions of iPhones dark at once. Android Q did the same for the Dark Side of the mobile world (sorry not sorry, Android users)Gmail, Slack, Soundcloud, the mobile version of Microsoft Office, and Google Chrome all went dark this year. Mac OS offered a la carte Dark Mode in 2018, then enabled Dark Mode across the board in its 2019 edition. Twitter, not content with being somewhat dark (gray-blue) in 2018, went full dark in 2019.   Read more...