Is Dark Mode better for your eyes?

Dark mode is intended to reduce blue light exposure and help with eye strain that comes with prolonged screen time.

There’s no definitive evidence to suggest that dark mode does this, but let’s take a look at what we know and don’t know about dark mode

To understand whether dark mode has any health benefit, we first have to consider the way the blue light affects our eyes.

People who promote dark mode sometimes claim that using it in the hours before bedtime helps them to fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep for longer periods of time.

In theory, this is because default screen settings expose you to more blue light after dark, disrupting your circadian rhythm and suppressing melatonin, the hormone that signals your body that it’s bedtime.

Dark mode may also be easier to read, especially when you’re in a room with the lights off. The reduction in blue light may reduce any squinting or strain associated with high amounts of brightness.

These anecdotes about blue light and eyes aren’t necessarily backed by research or supported by expert opinion, though.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) states that digital eye strain is caused by the way we use our digital devices, not necessarily the blue light that comes from them.

The research into dark mode’s effects is far from conclusive. But anecdotally, some people claim that using dark mode does benefit them.

Following are some key benefits, listed by researchers.

Dark mode may reduce eye strain

Fans of dark mode claim that it can increase the amount of contrast between the text that you’re reading and the background.

This would, in theory, make it easier to read on your device. Since reading for long spans of time on a screen can lead to eye strain and dry eye, it seems like it might be worth giving it a try to give your eyes a break.

Some symptoms can indicate it’s time to start using dark mode to help protect your eyes and decrease blue light exposure, such as frequent dry eye, eye strain or pain, increased tension headaches or migraine, insomnia or difficulty getting to sleep and visual disturbances.

Dark mode may cut down on blue light exposure

Dark mode may cut down on your exposure to blue light, but you may also achieve these results by turning down the brightness of your screen after dark, especially when the space around you is dark.

Dark mode may increase the battery life on your device

This isn’t exactly a health benefit, but if you’re looking at screens a lot, it can’t hurt to add an hour or two between charges of your device dark mode may help with eye symptoms.

Dark mode can help save battery life on your device: If you’re using a laptop or a smartphone especially for work and business-related tasks, you know how crucial battery life is on portable devices – dark mode can help resolve the issue of short battery life even if it’s by a little amount.

Colors look better

The majority of colors (with the exception of grey) look better in dark mode or with a dark theme applied, especially brighter colors. Most colors tend to get washed out when in contrast with white, but with a dark theme applied or by using dark mode colors pop out more and are more vivid.

Pleasing to the eye

Of course personal tastes and preferences vary and are almost always very subjective, but more and more users report that they prefer dark-themed software over light-themed one as it looks more simplistic and sophisticated, as well as generally more “cool”.

Since we don’t only care about dark mode and dark themes and the improvements and benefits they have, but also the many other ways improvements can be achieved, we ourselves have developed our software with the intent of maximizing performance and improving users’ productivity and health quality.

The results of the study were published in the medical journal Healthline.