WhatsApp confirmed this feature in their official blog post, with no apparent changes from the theme already available for those already enjoying the dark mode in recent beta builds. One notable bonus is that the darkened theme will be available to anyone on Android Pie or below — so long as their OS build is supported.
Here is what they said:
We are very excited to update WhatsApp with the most requested feature from our users everywhere – dark mode. Dark mode for WhatsApp offers a fresh look on a familiar experience. It’s designed to reduce eye strain in low light environments. And we hope it helps prevent those awkward moments where your phone lights up the room.To enable, just open WhatsApp, then tap More options > Settings > Chats > Theme. From here you can choose from the following options:
When designing dark mode we spent time researching and experimenting with a focus on two particular areas:
Readability: When choosing colors, we wanted to minimize eye fatigue and use colors that are closer to the system defaults on iPhone and Android respectively.
Information Hierarchy: We wanted to help users easily focus their attention on each screen. We did this by using color and other design elements to make sure the most important information stands out.
Users on Android 10 and iOS 13 can use dark mode by enabling it in system settings. Users on Android 9 and below can go into WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Theme > select ‘Dark’.
We hope everyone enjoys dark mode, which is rolling out in the coming days on the latest version of WhatsApp.
Dark: Turn dark mode on.
Light: Turn dark mode off.
System default: Enable WhatsApp dark mode to match your device settings. Go to device Settings > Display > turn Dark theme on or off.
The official dark mode should be rolling out right now and to celebrate, WhatsApp even released a neat YouTube video which is linked below with a fantastic cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence,” which you might recognize as having the iconic “hello darkness my old friend” lyric. Either way, it’s a long-overdue update and one that we’re sure the 2 billion or so monthly users have been waiting for.