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Android P DP4: You can now manually change system theme w/ dark or light colors

Android P is nearly complete, and today one of the last developer previews has gone live. As we dig in to see what’s new, we’ve already found one anticipated new addition – the ability to manually switch device themes.

While Android doesn’t, and probably won’t for some time, have a proper dark theme, Google did give us an inkling of the functionality back with the launch of the Pixel 2 family. A contextually aware dark theme was applied with dark wallpapers, with a light theme for lighter wallpapers.

It was a welcome change, but most users, ourselves included, found it frustrating that wallpapers were the only way to change the color. Thankfully, Google confirmed a few weeks ago that users would get an option to manually adjust the setting. Now, in Android P DP4 (Beta 3), that option is live.

Hidden within the settings on the Pixel 2 XL, this option quite simply lets you select between a dark, light, or automatic theme. Selecting dark leaves the theme dark all the time, light leaves it light, and automatic leaves it based on your wallpaper. It’s a simple addition, but one we’re extremely glad to see go live.

To access this setting, you’ll first need to be on the latest developer preview, and head to Settings > Display > Advanced > Device Theme.

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