How to Turn on Dark Mode on an iPhone

For years, staring at a smartphone in a dark room meant enduring the blinding, stark white glare of the screen. To solve this, Apple introduced “Dark Mode” to the iPhone. When activated, Dark Mode reverses the color scheme of the entire operating system, replacing the bright white backgrounds with deep blacks and dark greys, while turning the black text into soft white.

Not only is Dark Mode significantly easier on your eyes when reading in bed, but if you own a newer iPhone with an OLED screen, using Dark Mode can actually extend your battery life, because OLED screens completely turn off the pixels in areas that are pure black.

How to Turn on Dark Mode Manually

If you want to instantly switch your phone to Dark Mode and leave it that way permanently, you can do it from the Settings app.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap on Display & Brightness.
3. At the very top of the screen, you will see two prominent visual options under the “Appearance” heading: Light and Dark.
4. Tap on Dark.

The entire Settings app—and every other supported app on your phone, including Instagram, Twitter, and Safari—will instantly switch to a dark background.

How to Put Dark Mode on an Automatic Schedule

Many people prefer a bright white screen during the day when they are outside in the sun, but want the screen to automatically switch to Dark Mode when the sun goes down. You can easily set this up so you never have to touch the settings again.

1. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness.
2. Look directly beneath the Light/Dark selection boxes and find the toggle switch labelled Automatic.
3. Turn the Automatic switch to the green “On” position.
4. A new menu option called Options will appear directly below it. Tap it.
5. You can now choose between two automatic schedules:
   • Sunset to Sunrise: This is the most popular option. The iPhone will use your location data to determine exactly when the sun sets in your city and automatically switch to Dark Mode. In the morning, it will switch back to Light Mode.
   • Custom Schedule: If you work night shifts or have a specific routine, you can manually type in the exact times you want Light Appearance and Dark Appearance to activate (e.g., Turn on Dark Mode at 10:00 PM).

How to Add a Dark Mode Shortcut to the Control Center

If you don’t want to use an automatic schedule, but you still want the ability to flip between Light and Dark mode rapidly without digging through the Settings app every time, you can add a toggle button to your Control Center.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap on Control Center.
3. Scroll down past the “Included Controls” list to the More Controls section.
4. Find the item labelled Dark Mode.
5. Tap the green + (plus) button next to it.

Now, simply swipe down from the top right corner of your iPhone screen (or swipe up from the bottom if you have an older iPhone with a Home button). You will see a new circular icon that looks like a half-moon. Tapping this button will instantly toggle Dark Mode on or off.