Twitter will roll out a 'Lights Out' dark mode for Android in September

What you need to know

• Twitter's all-black 'Lights Out' mode for Android users will be available by mid-September.
• The company had rolled out the mode for iOS users in March this year.
• Along with reducing eye strain, the dark mode will help extend battery life on smartphones with OLED screens.

In March this year, Twitter rolled out a true dark mode for iOS users, called 'Lights Out'. Dantley Davis, VP of design and research at Twitter has now revealed in a tweet that the feature will be available on the Twitter app for Android by mid-September. As noted by 9To5Google, the new dark mode will be arriving on Android six months after its arrival on the iOS platform.

When asked why it is taking so long for Twitter to bring the feature to Android, Davis replied that the main reason behind the delay is "prioritization." Unlike the existing dark mode feature on the Twitter app, which has been available since July 2016, the Lights Out mode is a true dark mode with a completely black background.

The lights out mode, thanks to its all-black background, will help reduce eye fatigue when using the app, especially in low-light environments. If your smartphone has an OLED display, the feature will also help in extending battery life. Since OLED displays simply turn off the pixels when displaying a black background, the dark mode helps reduce power consumption by a slight margin.

Dark mode as a feature has slowly been gaining momentum recently, with several companies rolling out the feature for their popular Android and iOS apps. Google is also finally bringing a system-wide dark mode with Android Q. On Pixel devices, Android Q will also add a dark boot animation.

Twitter: Everything you need to know