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> Dark themes reduce the luminance emitted by device screens, while still meeting minimum color contrast ratios. They help improve visual ergonomics by reducing

> Dark themes reduce the luminance emitted by device screens, while still meeting minimum color contrast ratios. They help improve visual ergonomics by reducing eye strain, adjusting brightness to current lighting conditions, and facilitating screen use in dark environments – all while conserving battery power. Devices with OLED screens benefit from the ability to turn off black pixels at any time of day. Why is light UI the default if dark theme confers so many advantages?

otterley 7y ago
I'm no UX expert, but my guess from experience is that most people use their computers in bright environments; and dark backgrounds combined with glossy screens have much more glare in bright environments than light backgrounds on such screens.
- bondolo 7y ago
  The brightness of the UI should match the ambient light in the environment. Light UI in daylight, Dark UI at night. Brightness adjustments applied to both based on the ambient light. Some people may also prefer hue adjustments (blue reduction) for low ambient light along the lines of f.lux, Night Shift, Night Light, etc.
flamtap 7y ago
I imagine it's a lot to do with history, going back to black-on-white being the way that people were used to seeing text on paper. It's also more effort to develop a dark theme, in my experience. Most frameworks and project templates just start you off with a light theme.
WorldMaker 7y ago
I rolled my eyes when the top of the page said that Dark Mode was "supplementary". On a modern OLED the advantages of Dark Mode really should be obvious to everyone. True Black, entirely unlit pixels are great. (It's also why my pet peeve is so many designers using lit dark gray pixels in Dark Mode designs for background elements that don't need "depth" at all.) I know people that prefer light themes for very reasonable aesthetic reasons (dark themes can seem "moody" or "gothic" to some), but I've still convinced some of them on the battery life arguments.

otterley 7y ago

I'm no UX expert, but my guess from experience is that most people use their computers in bright environments; and dark backgrounds combined with glossy screens have much more glare in bright environments than light backgrounds on such screens.

bondolo 7y ago
The brightness of the UI should match the ambient light in the environment. Light UI in daylight, Dark UI at night. Brightness adjustments applied to both based on the ambient light. Some people may also prefer hue adjustments (blue reduction) for low ambient light along the lines of f.lux, Night Shift, Night Light, etc.

flamtap 7y ago

I imagine it's a lot to do with history, going back to black-on-white being the way that people were used to seeing text on paper. It's also more effort to develop a dark theme, in my experience. Most frameworks and project templates just start you off with a light theme.

WorldMaker 7y ago

I rolled my eyes when the top of the page said that Dark Mode was "supplementary". On a modern OLED the advantages of Dark Mode really should be obvious to everyone. True Black, entirely unlit pixels are great. (It's also why my pet peeve is so many designers using lit dark gray pixels in Dark Mode designs for background elements that don't need "depth" at all.) I know people that prefer light themes for very reasonable aesthetic reasons (dark themes can seem "moody" or "gothic" to some), but I've still convinced some of them on the battery life arguments.