Latest WhatsApp beta tests further support for native Night Mode, coming soon

Damien Wilde | May 20 2019 - 5:14 am PT

Even with all the competition, WhatsApp still remains atop the throne of multimedia, multi-platform messaging on smartphones. That doesn’t mean that it’s perfect, but with each WhatsApp beta we see more interesting and important new features. The addition of a dedicated Night Mode to the latest WhatsApp beta will be a popular one.

We have already had a glimpse of this former ‘Dark Mode’ in a previous WhatsApp beta update. It was only a glimpse though, as we got to see a few screens and the new dimmed UI.

The latest beta program for WhatsApp brings the version number up to 2.19.145 and gives us our closest look at a dedicated Night Mode since our first glimpse a while back. Adding a dark mode will help reduce eyestrain and enhance device battery life for those with OLED panels.

Of course, the feature (via WABetaInfo) is still very much in the development phase and will likely come to a future release in time. Not all sections are working correctly with the darkened screens. That includes the Group Info section found within group chats — showing you all participants and allowing you to invite further contacts.

This new WhatsApp Night Mode is not truly black, instead, it looks to be a deep grey in a similar manner to the Dark Mode found on applications like Twitter. It would be great to see a pure black Night Mode for the hopefully extended battery.

It’s worth noting that this upcoming WhatsApp feature might not be available to everyone right away. We’re excited for the full feature to come to devices in the potentially not-too-distant future though. With a myriad of applications having dedicated Night Modes or Dark Modes in the works — or already available — this feels long overdue for one of the biggest messaging apps on the Play Store.