Android users got excited when Google said it would add a 'Dark Mode' - but now it says it's not coming after all

Stephen Lam / Reuters

Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

• Android users have been asking Google for months to add a "Dark Mode" to Android that would make it easier to use at night.
• A Google employee said the mode would be added, which caused celebration amongst Android users.
• But another employee said that, actually, no Dark Mode is on the way any time soon.

Earlier this week a Google employee suggested that the company was preparing to release a "dark mode" for Android that would let users toggle the operating system to look darker, and thus be easier to see at night.

But now Google has denied that it's launching the feature, and instead joked that it's adding "Hot Dog Mode" instead, according to a report in Engadget.

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A post on the Google Issue Tracker forum from November asked Google to add "a Dark Mode or Night Theme in Android 9.0 that we can set under 'Settings' in Android 9.0."

And on February 23, a Google employee replied to say that "Our engineering team has added this feature. It will be available in a future Android release."

The news was welcomed by Android users, who posted comments such as "papa bless" and "My eyes thank you!" in the thread.

But it wasn't to be.

A Google employee responded to Android users in the thread, and let them know that an easy switch for Dark Mode isn't on the way any time soon:

"Hi folks, you may remember me from the last three releases where it looked like Dark Mode was being added. Unfortunately, this bug was closed prematurely due to a miscommunication with the team that handles AOSP issues.

What we *have* added in a future Android release is a developer-facing setting (via Developer Options) to toggle the -night UI mode qualifier, which will make it easier for developers to create and test apps that implement night mode. This qualifier has been in the platform since Froyo (SDK 8) and globally modifiable via UiModeManager since Marshmallow (SDK 23); however, there was never an explicit toggle made available anywhere in Settings.

If it's any consolation, we will also not be adding Hot Dog Mode (where all UI elements are yellow and red)."

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