If your phone or tablet is on Android 10 or iOS 13, the app can mirror your system’s light or dark settings, though you override it if you’d prefer dark all the time. In iOS 12, the settings are all manual.
The Google app is largely a search tool but has evolved to include some of the company’s other services, perhaps why it has taken longer than other apps to make the transition to dark mode. It holds a timeline of personalised news items, a tab of places bookmarked in Google Maps, and Google Lens, the software that can Google search using your device’s camera.
Dark mode is popular as it changes the colours of any app from traditional white to dark grey or black, handily stopping you from being blinded at night. On phones and tablets with OLED displays it also helps save battery life.
Henry is Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, ensuring he and the team covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about for readers and viewers all over the world. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
