Google Photos is Google’s latest Android app to get a dark theme

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Back with the launch of Android Lollipop, Google decided to make everything across the Android system white. That included not only the system settings, quick tile panels and more but also all of the first party, Google-made apps that come with your device as well. As we have seen the proliferation of AMOLED panels which can display true black colors, device manufacturers and app developers have started to incorporate dark themes into their UI elements that turns everything dark or entirely black. Not only do some prefer how it looks, but it can be nicer on the eyes as well in dark environments. Android Q will even have a system-wide dark mode built-in. In their quest to dark mode all the things, Google is now rolling out a dark theme for Google Photos.

The above screenshots are taken in Google Photos version 4.17.0.249919200, though we don’t know whether or not dark mode was applied via a server-side switch. Even still, we’re sure that the feature will roll out to more and more users over the coming weeks, should Google be satisfied with it. This marks the latest application from Google to get a dark theme, right after Chrome, Drive, Auto, and Keep. Just like those other applications, Google Photos does not have a pure black OLED theme and instead features a very dark gray. The once colorful UI elements have been toned down to more muted colors as well.

Google is trying to get all of its first-party applications ready to go with a dark theme before the launch of Android Q. Android Q beta 3 came out at Google I/O just a few weeks ago, and with it came a user-facing option to properly enable dark mode across the system that will also enable it in supported applications.

For now, to get the update you’ll need to make sure that you’re on the latest version of Google Photos and hope that you’re lucky, as the feature probably needs to be enabled via a server-side switch. Let us know if you have the update in the comments!