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How to enable Reddit dark mode

How to enable Reddit dark mode

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A top requested feature has arrived

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GIF: Reddit

Reddit is finally rolling out a top-requested feature among users: native dark mode. In a blog post, the company said the desktop Night Mode theme is now available to everyone after being rolled out to employees for testing a few weeks ago. Night mode offers users a black theme rather than the classic white, and it’s an option well-suited to those who enjoy browsing late into the night.

Reddit notes that Night Mode already exists in its native mobile apps and the old desktop webpage (via the Reddit Enhancement Suite browser extension). The company’s first site redesign in a decade began rolling out last month, with a native Night Mode listed as a “what’s next” feature for the days ahead.

That day has now arrived.

HOW DO I ENABLE NATIVE NIGHT MODE?

If Reddit’s redesign is already live for you, just go to the top right of your screen in your desktop web browser, click on your username, then click on the toggle for Night Mode.

For those still on the older Reddit design, you can access Night Mode by opting into the new layout. To do so go to the Option tab in your Preferences, scroll down to “beta options,” then click the box that says “I would like to beta test features for Reddit” and hit “save options.” A new option will now appear for “use the redesign as my default experience.” Tick its box, mash the “save options” button, and you should be all set.

WHY NIGHT MODE?

Twitter introduced a night mode for its desktop site back in 2017, while YouTube started rolling out a dark theme to its mobile apps on iOS and Android in March. It’s a good option to have if you find browsing in a white theme harder, especially at night. In a blog post on Thursday, Reddit said:

“The Design team worked hard on creating a smaller color system, using one already in place for our native mobile apps as a basis. This also allowed us to ensure that the experience was consistent over all our platforms. It also improves the accuracy for our colors since relying on a key that automatically changes with Night Mode removes the risk of overlooking how a component should look in Night Mode.”