Skip to main content

Chrome Canary 77 tweaks dark mode on web pages, no longer inverts image colors

We’re seeing dark mode everywhere in our apps and OSes but one area we haven’t seen much of a switch is on the web. Now thanks to a few recent Chrome beta updates, we’re seeing an improved native dark mode.

Back in Chrome 74, a flag was added to theme many parts of the app UI, including menus and backdrops. It wasn’t perfect and regularly caused bugs on many websites. You could end up with certain text invisible and images might end up looking particularly odd.

The latest current release, Chrome 75 still allows you to enable this darker theme but, of course, it still has issues with color inversion of images and even embedded videos.

Thanks to the Chrome Canary 77 update (via @TotalSecurily), we now have an improved dark mode that enhances the entire experience and no longer inverts images colors. You can see from the before and after images below just how that affects our own site. Swapping the weird negative-style image color effect for the actual image posted.

Google appears to be serious about making all of its apps compatible with dark modes or dark themes. With Chrome being installed on almost all Android devices right out of the box, it makes sense to offer a dark mode for the world’s most popular browser.

If you want to use a dark theme on your version of Chrome (74 or later), enter chrome://flags into your address bar and search for “Android Chrome UI dark mode” and select enable. For changes to take effect you will need to restart your browser but your eyes will be very grateful for it. Keep in mind the image color fixes are only in the Chrome 77 Canary build for now.

More on Google Chrome:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

Comments

Author

Avatar for Damien Wilde Damien Wilde

Damien is a UK-based video producer for 9to5Google. Find him on Twitter: @iamdamienwilde. Email: damien@9to5mac.com


Damien Wilde's favorite gear

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications