Not everyone likes dark mode. OK?
Everyone has at least oneunpopular opinion that they refuse to abandon.
Some daring individuals love pineapple on pizza. Others think that deeply popular shows like Game of Thrones are simply OK. And me? I absolutely loathe dark mode.
I'm not sharing this particular opinion to be rebellious or to invent yet another unique aversion to technology. I wantto like dark mode, but every time I test out one of the inverted color schemes my mood comes crashing down.
Dark mode can make even the most delightful content look sad 😔Credit: mashable composite: screengrabs via hulu and mindy kaling/twitterI've tried dark mode on Twitter, Slack, and Hulu, on both desktop and mobile. But the absence of the bright white screens that I've grown accustomed to staring at all my life depresses me. I find it so distracting that I can barely focus enough to read the white-on-black text, and eventually grow so frustrated that I switch back to my comforting snow-white background.
Still, dark mode-loving friends and colleagues continue to hype up the feature. They share convincing testimonials like, "it saves battery life," "it's better for the environment," and "it protects your eyes from blue light," which leave me feeling guilty for not making the switch and paranoid that if I don't my eyes will be damaged. So I decided to reach out to my optometrist, Dr. Danielle Goldberg, for guidance.
SEE ALSO:A look at the Ubiquitous Habit of capitalizing letters to make A PointGoldberg, who works at Norwalk Eye Care and Doctor & Associates in Connecticut, was eager to chat about dark mode, and said that the doctors in her practices have started focusing more and more on digital eye strain and the effects of blue light exposure.
Before we got into the details of how black screens help eyes, though, I wanted to better understand that menacing blue light.
What exactly isblue light?
Blue light, which is sometimes referred to as high-energy visible (HEV) blue light, "is made up of short-wavelength and high-frequency light, similar to ultraviolet (UV) light," Goldberg, explained in an email.
"Blue light is produced naturally by the sun, but also emitted in large amounts from the screens of our digital devices (computers, tablets, smartphones, and even LED TVs)," Goldberg said. "Now this is good because it makes our devices more energy efficient, but it puts a lot of stress on our visual system — making it difficult for our eyes to focus."
Essentially, blue light exposure contributes to digital eye strain, which can cause eye soreness and fatigue, and even headaches. Here's how Goldberg says dark and night modes are supposed to help:
By reducing the amount of white light emitted from the screen, you effectively reduce the amount of blue light emitted as well. White light is made up of all wavelengths on the visible spectrum at equal intensities, and that includes blue light.
After explaining my dislike of dark mode to Goldberg, she assured me that "the inverse color scheme" is "definitely not the solution for everyone."
Dark mode is more than just a feature. It's a mood.
When I first enabled the feature on Twitter I was only able to cross over to the dark side for less than one minute before feeling a nagging sense of dread. Weeks later I gave it another shot, and though I lasted more than five minutes (impressive) I noticed that dark mode still felt like the feature version of a rainy day when you're brooding and listening to a playlist of Dashboard Confessional throwbacks and Sufjan Stevens' "Mystery of Love" on an unhealthy loop.
Ashley Bissette Sumerel, 34, felt similarly gloomy when she tested dark mode. "I tried it on Twitter and lasted only a few minutes before I changed it right back. I've had similar experiences with themes on the computer — with anything that allows me to customize, I never go for a darker color option," she told Mashable via Twitter. "I wish Spotify were brighter."
"The darker color definitely feels dreary and I don’t find that appealing. I also just don’t like reading in that way... I just prefer black words on a white screen, like paper," Sumerel said.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Brittany Bernstein, 21, isn't a fan either. "I just think it looks ugly and it's so different from every other app and most webpages that I would be visiting, which all have white backgrounds," she said."I guess I would say dark mode made me kind of uncomfortable."
I've asked friends who love dark mode if the feature makes them feel dreary, and many have confidently said no. Alicia Tan, 25, who used to intern at Mashable, likes Twitter's dark mode and personally finds the black screen soothing. "The amount of information I'm looking at feels less overwhelming, and it is easier on the eyes," she said.
But others, like my colleague Harry Hill, 24, who quickly reached out after learning I was writing this article, simply can't get used to the darkness.
Harry gets it.Credit: screengrab / slackDark mode experiences differ
Ultimately, everyone's emotional relationship to color is different. Black is a staple in my wardrobe, but when it comes to making a purchase, I gravitate towards lighter colors. I've always favored white iPhones and silver laptops. My car is silver, and my comforter is white to match all the furniture in my room.
I see black as being beautifully badass, but white has always lifted my mood, so when I'm online — a space that already challenges my self-esteem, exposes me to troubling news, and alerts me of the latest terrifying Trump tweets — it feels like the the smartest background choice.
'It makes it harder for me to read text.'
Aside from the possibility that a black screen might trigger negative emotions, there are a number of other reasons why people might not want to use dark mode. In some cases, Goldberg explained, dark mode "can actually make it more challenging for our eyes to resolve smaller fonts."
My colleague Sage Anderson shared another unique reason why dark mode doesn't work for them: Grapheme-Color Synesthesia, a neurological condition that causes people to visually associate letters and numbers with colors.
"It [dark mode] makes it harder for me to read text," Anderson said. "I see a lot of letters of the alphabet with darker colors (dark purples, browns, black,) so they actually fade into a dark background more, even if the website's text itself switches to white."
The case for cutting blue light at night
If you dislike the feeling of staring at a dark screen during the day, flipping dark mode on at night could be a step to consider.
"Screen time at night can take a real toll on our health," Goldberg said. "The blue light from our digital devices suppresses the secretion of sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin. This makes it harder to fall asleep and reduces quality of sleep."
"Melatonin is not only important for sleep regulation, but also for maintaining normal blood sugar and blood pressure," Goldberg added, noting that late-night blue light exposure can lead some people to experience insomnia, which has been linked to depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
If dark mode is too drastic, Apple's Night Shift feature — which shifts colors on a screen to the warmer end of the spectrum — could be a beneficial compromise. Other phones, like Androids, also have apps and features similar to Night Shift. Goldberg "absolutely" recommends using any blue-light-reducing options that your devices have.
How to enable Night Shift.Credit: screengrab/support.apple.comI'm personally a fan of Night Shift, and several other anti-night mode people I spoke with said they don't mind the feature nearly as much as staring at a fully dark screen.
"I have an iPhone and I used nightshift for a while. It’s fine if I’m in the dark," Sumerel said. Bernstein has Night Shift set to turn on automatically every night at 10:00 p.m. and barely notices the adjustment. "It's such a slight change but I do feel like it’s more gentle on my eyes, especially when I’m lying in bed at night staring at my phone."
But again, everyone's preferences are different. Tan, who you'll remember loves dark mode, doesn't like Night Shift. "Honestly, it hurts my eyes! I think that watching the sudden change to that warmer orange light is jarring," she said. "I've tried to adjust the level of Night Shift, but I find that the tone just isn't for me..."
Goldberg says another easy way to cut back on blue light exposure is by investing in a new pair of glasses. "I spend a lot of time working with my patients to design a solution for more comfortable and efficient screen time — often the solution is a pair of glasses with lenses to help focus, block glare, and filter blue light."
Is dark mode thatbeneficial?
Medium's Angela Lashbrook recently wrote a comprehensive piece about how little data there is to prove that dark mode is, in fact, easier on the eyes. Goldberg agrees, explaining that while "blue light istoxic to our photoreceptors and can increase risk for macular degeneration, it has yet to be proven that our digital devices emit enough blue light to really cause permanent damage."
"Aside from the reduction of blue light, there is no true enhancement in contrast or any other benefits that I see for my patients at this time," Goldberg said. And blue light isn't the only cause of digital eye strain, either. We also have "dry eye, binocularity, visual focus, and posture" to consider.
As it currently stands, not using dark mode appears to be an OK decision, but if you still want to take someaction Goldberg suggested trying Night Shift, getting annual eye exams, and working with an eye doctor to design a special pair of glasses.
There are a lot of things to worry about in this world, but for now at least, it seems that diehard white screen fans can cross "substantial blue light damage resulting from refusal to use dark mode" off of their lists and breathe a sigh of relief.
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