YouTube Dark Theme Now Widely Rolling Out on Android

YouTube for Android is now widely rolling out the anticipated Dark theme. The feature that is designed to reduce strain on the eyes while navigating the app and search new videos especially under low light was initially pushed to some Android users in late July. It also notably debuted on iOS in March months after enabling the YouTube site on desktops with a similar Dark theme option. To get the Dark theme on your Android device, you need to get the latest YouTube app (version 13.35.51). The updated app is available for download through Google Play, though availability varies from region to region.

Just like the dark mode on apps such as Android Messenger, the Dark theme on the latest YouTube app helps you reduce strain on your eyes while navigating the app by adding a dark grey background. It changes not just the homescreen of the app but also the search pages and settings to a dark look. Also, the font colour changes from black to white. The feature additionally helps to save some battery life as it abandons the use of white pixels on the screen.

Once you have the updated YouTube for Android on your smartphone, you can transform its background from pure white to complete dark grey by switching on the Dark theme. The app shows a pop-up to notify you of the arrival of the Dark theme. You need to go to Settings > General after tapping the account icon from the top-right corner of your YouTube app and then tap the Dark theme option.

We were able to spot the Dark theme after downloading the latest YouTube app from Google Play. However, since the updated app is rolling out in phases, you can get its APK file directly from APK Mirror and sideload the app to receive the new experience. Some users on Reddit reported that they were able to get the Dark theme on the updated YouTube app after clearing its cache and force closing it from the system settings.