Twitter Lights Out Brings A True Dark Mode To iOS

Dark or night modes are trending these days. More than just nice to look at or easy on the eyes, such dark colors have been proven to add a few minutes or even hours to battery life, especially on devices with OLED screens. Not all dark modes are equal, however, and some are more blue than black. Twitter's existing Night Mode is one such example, which is why the social networking giant is now rolling out a new "Lights Out" mode that really brings out the blacks on your screen.

Twitter has had a dark Night Mode as far back as 2016 on iOS and Android. That said, its dark mode is more a shade of grayish blue that may have been more in line with the company's branding. It's not enough, though, for those who really want dark when they mean dark.

Lights Out comes as a separate feature under the original Dark mode in that you have to enable Dark mode first before you can get to the new options. With Lights Out, you really get a black background that should, in theory, be easier on the eyes and your phone's battery. Of course, when tweets come with bright photos and garish colors, consider your eyes singed.

The new Lights Out feature, however, also brings a new feature that has been available on Android for two years now. Instead of a simple on/off toggle, Night mode can now also be toggled automatically at sunrise and sundown. This brings the true benefit of dark mode for those that might still prefer to see Twitter's original colors during the day.

At the moment, Lights Out is only available on iOS. Android and the Web will be coming soon, though no word on that yet. Given how long it takes Twitter to implement dark mode features across platforms, that might take quite a while.