Gmail dark mode has arrived and here’s how to enable it

You can finally sort through your Gmail inbox without having your retinas burned by searing white colours.

Google first announced a dark mode for Gmail on iPhone and Android back in September but until now it had yet to debut in full.

That’s changing today though. The folks at 9to5Google were first to spot that Gmail’s dark mode is now widely available to users.

Express.co.uk was able to corroborate such claims. We were able to get Gmail’s new theme up and running and Android and iOS devices running Android 10 and iOS 13 respectively.

It seems handsets will need to be using the latest operating system from Google and either iOS 11, iOS 12 or iOS 13 from Apple to take advantage.

If you’re running an operating system that supports a native dark mode, Gmail’s design will automatically conform to your system-wide setting.

That means if you’ve got Android 10’s flashy new dark theme enabled, you’ll also be greeted by deep-black hues when you load up Gmail. Similarly, if you’ve got a light mode switched on, Gmail’s standard white dominant layout will present itself.

Alternatively, there’s also a new toggle in Gmail now that lets users choose their theme manually, or let the app conform to system-wide settings.

This can be accessed by heading to Gmail’s side menu and heading down to Settings. From there press General Settings > Theme.

The biggest disappointment of Gmail’s makeover is certainly the fact it’s limited to Android 10. While Google’s new operating system is great, most Android phones on the market can’t download it yet.

Android 10 started rolling out in full on September 3 and was only initially made available for Pixel devices and the Essential Phone.

Of course, since its debut a number of other handsets have been granted it, such as OnePlus’ 7 series. However, hundreds of millions of users with devices from the likes of Huawei, Samsung and LG are still unable to download it.

While there’s hope Google could eventually bring Gmail’s dark mode to devices running earlier versions of Android, this hasn’t been confirmed.

source: express.co.uk