As promised in August, the Google Phone dark theme is now rolling out with the latest beta update. Google Phone 26 follows Google Contacts earlier this week and the company’s advice to developers that dark themes help conserve battery life.
About APK Insight: In this ‘APK Insight’ post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in the case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.
Dark theme
Like Google Contacts, the Google Phone dark theme abides by Android Pie’s Night mode. If that developer option is set to ‘Always on,’ the dark mode will automatically be enabled and cannot be turned off. Otherwise, the manual switch is located in Settings > Display options > Dark theme.
As we’ve previously enabled, the app’s background adopts a dark gray background, matching Messages and Google Contacts. Hints of color are still present in the dark blue FAB, as well as the contact icons. This completes the trifecta, with all of Google’s major communication apps sporting a dark theme.
Meanwhile, as we previously noted, Google Contacts and Google Phone keep dark themes in sync. Enabling or disabling on one app will automatically apply the same mode in the other.
How to update?
You can sign-up for Google Phone’s beta program here or by heading to the Play Store listing on Android and scrolling to the bottom. The latest beta version of the Google Phone app is immediately rolled out when it’s available.
We do not post APKs to download directly given the legal challenges associated with copyright and possibility of removal. Meanwhile, that model is perilous given Android App Bundles and Google Play’s Dynamic Delivery.
Thanks to JEB Decompiler, which some APK Insight teardowns benefit from.
Dylan contributed to this article
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