14 DAY TRIAL // Apple rolled out a dark mode on iPhones with the release of iOS 13, so all developers had to do was update their apps to align with the new look of the operating system.
As one of the largest mobile app developers in the world, and also the maker of some super-popular apps on iPhones, Google wasn’t very keen on doing this, and this is why apps like Gmail have long been offered on iOS without a dark mode.
Needless to say, this was something that for many was pretty frustrating, especially since everything else was already using a dark mode. And because Gmail is an app that you can’t live without, many had no other choice than to just stick with the light standard mode that has been around for so long.
Dark theme rollout happening gradually
So here’s the breaking news of the year: Google has finally rolled out dark mode in Gmail on iOS, albeit by the looks of things, this only happens for some. I, for one, am still not getting the dark mode on my iPhone, but others across the world can already enable it using a dedicated theme switcher added under the account settings.
For the time being, however, the good news is that the whole thing is happening after more than six months of waiting. iOS 13 was announced in September last year, so Google needed quite a lot of time to release a dark mode for its Gmail users with an iPhone.
The rollout most likely happens gradually, and there’s no mention of the dark mode in the release notes of the latest Gmail update. Most likely, we still have to wait a few more days until the feature goes live for everybody with an iPhone.