How to Activate Dark Mode on Google Photos App for Android


We are approaching that time of the year where we will get to see a newer version of Android Operating System getting launched by Google. Google always releases or launches its new Android OS in the month on August as they previously did for the Android 9 Pie. We will get to see new features, and new user interface (this time there will be very few interface changes).  Surprisingly, Google has not yet come up with a name to its soon-to-be-launching Android Q operating system. However, there were reports stating that Google is finding it hard to name their latest OS as there is almost no poplar dessert name that starts with the letter Q. According to a report posted on Cnet.com, this is what Google has to say about this matter;

We’re superexcited about the desserts. At the same time, Q is a hard letter. But we’re looking at it.

-Sameer Samat, Google’s VP of Product Management for Android and Play.

It is probably a very hard letter to get a name for Google’s customary tradition of naming all of there Android OS on the names of a dessert. Moreover, the author of the above post coined the dessert name Quince Jam, which I don’t probably think will be running on the heads of the marketing team of Google.

Moreover, as always, Google has started slowly getting its applications Android Q or Android 10 ready. More or less the new feature that will be added will be the support of Dark Theme. Google has already tested a full-fledged “Night Mode” and we are using this on a number of different devices as well. The new application from Google to fall under the radar is the Google Photos Application. Yes, you can now enable the Dark Mode on the Google Photos application. I personally do not use the Google Photos application but, there are many users who might find this post very interesting. Besides, in this post, we will look at how to activate dark mode on Google Photos app for Android. So, without any further ado, let us get straight into the article itself.

How to Activate Dark Mode on Google Photos App for Android

Pre-requisites

Before you can enjoy the new Dark Mode feature for the Google Photos application, make sure you have the below requirements;

  • You need to have an Android device that is running on Android 9 Pie or higher. This feature won’t work on Android devices based on Android Oreo or Android 8.
  • You need to download the latest version of the Google Photos app. Make sure that you have the Google Photos app v4.17 or higher. But, there are some users reporting that this feature worked for them on v4.18. However, the Google Photos application version on the Play Store is v4.19 so, it won’t be of any problem.
  • You need to unlock the Developer Options feature on your device. To unlock Developer Options on your device go to Settings>>About Phone. Now, tap on Build Number 7 times until you see a message “You are now a developer”.

Please see the below images for your reference

Enable Dark Mode on Google Photos App for Android

Now, you need the Android 9 Pie because to enable the dark mode on Google Photos application, you need to have the system-wide dark mode on your Android device. Moreover, this toggle is the only available on devices running on Android 9 Pie. However, once you have unlocked the developer options, you need to follow the below steps in order to activate dark mode on Google Photos app.

Activate Dark Mode on Pixel devices

There is a slight difference when activating the dark mode on Google Photos application on the Pixel devices. Please follow the steps below if you have a Pixel device;

  1. Firstly, go to Settings.
  2. Then head to Display.
  3. Now, scroll down and find the setting labeled as Device theme.
  4. Tap on the Dark option to select it. (see the image above for reference)
  5. Now, you have activated the system-wide dark theme on your Pixel Device.
  6. There is another option to select which is the Automatic (based on time of day). With this option, Google Photos will automatically get dark in the night but not during the day.
  7. Now, open the Google Photos application and you can see the dark mode applied to the application. Enjoy!

Activate Dark Mode on other Android Device

For other Android devices running on Android 9 Pie, you need to follow the below steps to activate the dark mode;

  1. I am using Samsung Galaxy Note 8 for this demo. If you are on Samsung device head to Settings>>Display.
  2. Then under the Display settings, you will see a Night Mode toggle. Enable it and you can see dark mode switched ON on your device.
  3. I did a workaround on some other devices apart from Pixel and Samsung device. You can follow the below steps to activate the dark mode or night mode on your device by following the below steps;
    (a) Open Developer options from Settings > System.
    (b) Scroll down to find the setting labeled as Night Mode.
    (c) Tap on it to enable it
  4. Note that the above steps mentioned for other devices might vary depending on which manufacturer device you are using.
  5. Once you have enabled the dark theme, you can see that Google Photos has also turned into dark mode.

Screenshots of Dark Mode Google Photos App

Conclusion

So, there you have it from my side in this post. Dark Mode on Google Photos application or any Google application for that matter is not completely black. It has a greyish tint to it which looks good on any device with OLED display. You might have experienced this dark mode color on the YouTube application of Google. This dark mode is very good for saving that extra bit of the battery and this the reason why it was implemented by Google throughout the Android Devices. Moreover, Apple also launched this feature of System-wide dark mode on their Apple device with the launch of iOS 13.

Please do let us know in the comments below if you liked this post. Also, don’t forget to mention if you faced difficulties or issues while activating dark mode on Google Photos application on your device.

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