Chrome OS will be able to schedule light/dark mode for sunset or a specific time

Kyle Bradshaw | Jul 19 2021 - 11:10 am PT

For over half a year now, we’ve been watching as Google prepares to launch a proper light/dark theme toggle for Chrome OS. The latest improvement is that Chrome OS’s dark mode will be able to be scheduled based on sunset or a time you specify.

The addition of a light/dark theme toggle for Chrome OS has had more to do with the system getting a light mode, as Chrome OS has typically favored darker elements. While the newer, lighter design is certainly pleasant to look at, as the evening wears on, you’ll probably want your Chromebook to slip into something darker.

Rather than remembering to toggle dark mode yourself, it seems Google is adding scheduling controls for Chrome OS’s dark mode. Just like its existing Night Light feature — which reduces the amount of blue light from your display — there will be two ways to schedule dark mode. You can either have it switch to dark mode at sunset and back to light mode at sunrise — with Google using your approximate location to know roughly where the sun is — or switch at precise times that you’ve scheduled.

From what we can tell, the new option will appear in the Chrome OS Settings app on the dedicated “Dark theme” page.

Dark mode will turn on automatically at sunset

Dark mode will turn off automatically at sunrise

Custom
The label of the option to set a custom schedule of the Dark Mode feature.

So far, Google has given no indication of when Chrome OS’s dark/light theme toggle will be available without needing to manually turn on the flag (chrome://flags#dark-light-mode). Hopefully, the addition of scheduling is a good sign that it’s getting closer to its formal launch, possibly later this year.