I tried Light Mode for exactly one minute yesterday. As an experiment. A ‘what if’ kind of thing.
Immediate regret.
It felt like someone pressed a camera flash directly against my eyeballs. My pupils screamed. My face recoiled. The cat judged me.
How did we survive the first 20 years of computing with nothing but blazing white screens? Were we all just collectively tolerating a flashbang every time we opened a Word document? I genuinely don’t understand how we did it.
The science is mixed, and I’ll be honest about that. Some ophthalmologists say dark mode isn’t actually better for eye strain because the high contrast of white text on black forces your pupils to dilate more, which can cause fatigue. Others argue that reducing overall luminance—especially at night—is objectively easier on the visual system.
I don’t care about the studies. I care about how my face feels at 11 PM when I’m reading articles in bed. And white backgrounds at night feel like punishment.
The battery argument is more clear-cut. If you have an OLED or AMOLED screen—and most flagships in 2026 do—dark mode is free energy. Black pixels on OLED are literally powered off. Not dimmed. Off. No photons. No power draw. Tests show 15-30% battery savings over a full day depending on usage. That’s the difference between your phone dying on the evening commute and making it to the charger.
The one place Light Mode wins: direct sunlight. Try reading a dark-mode screen outdoors in July. It’s just a glossy black mirror reflecting your own squinting face back at you. Useless. That’s the only time I switch, and even then, it feels like a betrayal.
I’ve started judging apps by their dark mode implementation. GetInSaver has a clean dark interface that doesn’t blind you when you’re saving a video at 2 AM. That matters. It’s the difference between a tool that respects your biology and one that assaults it.
If your favorite app doesn’t have dark mode in 2026, it’s a relic. Delete it and find one that does. Your retinas will send you a thank-you card.