It sucks to have most of your apps be dark mode but then have one or two apps like WhatsApp or Facebook not follow suit. 

Not to mention, when you open the app, it’s like a powerful beam of light burning your retinas.

So the question is does WhatsApp have a dark mode? Yes and No.

Yes, if you’re on Android, WhatsApp has been in works on getting dark mode on board for some time and it requires a few little tweaks to get it up and running (shown below).

No, if you’re on iOS. WhatsApp has not officially released such feature but there have been talks of making it available in the beta version for development purposes Although, we will show you a few workarounds to getting a dark mode for WhatsApp on your iOS device which can be done right away. 

Let’s dive right in!

How to Get WhatsApp Dark Mode on iPhone or Android: 3 Ways

1. Get WhatsApp Dark Theme (for Android)

Now in order to get WhatsApp’s dark theme on Android, you need to ensure that your device is updated to Android 10. This is because native dark theme support is available system-wide with this Android version which subsequently makes it easier to get WhatsApp to be dark mode as well.

You can check if your Android device supports the new Android 10 by going through the guide below written by Android Central: 

• Will my phone get Android 10? – Android Central

We will show you step-by-step below on how to get WhatsApp dark mode on Android below:

1. First and foremost, you’ll need to enable the native dark theme support for your Android device by going into your Settings, tap Display and then tap on Theme.
2. Next, toggle Dark.
3. Great! Now you have enabled dark mode in your whole system, but remember WhatsApp has a mind of its own and will not follow put with this transition. Hence you will have to manually enable it yourself which means going into the Developer options. To do that simply open up your Settings and then System.
4. Next, tap on Advanced and then tap Developer Options.

4. Lastly, in your Developer Options, you will have to toggle on the Override force-dark. This will force-enable all apps on your Android device into the dark mode, including WhatsApp.

5. Once done, you may jump back into WhatsApp and test it out. 

Tip

If the chat background of WhatsApp does not turn dark, simply go into your WhatsApp’s Menu Button > Settings > Chats >Wallpaper and simply choose No Wallpaper as this will fully darken the chat interface. To better complement the dark interface, you may also choose a background wallpaper that is darkly suited to your liking as well. You’re good to go!

Note

The Override force-dark option may or may not appear for some versions of Android 10 as it still undergoes through the beta-development phase. So be sure to check back this guide for any updates if the steps above change.

2. Smart Invert (for iOS)

If you’re on an iOS device such as an iPhone, then the liberty to switch apps like WhatsApp to dark mode without jailbreaking the device is next to nothing.

The only workaround, for now, is to use the built-in Smart Invert feature — which reverses the colors of the WhatsApp but does not affect your images, GIFS, media, and any other dark themed apps.

Here’s how you enable Smart Invert on your iOS 13 device:

1. Jump into your Settings app and then tap on Accessibility. If you’re on iOS 12 or prior versions, you will have to do as follows to access the Accessibility page: Settings > General > Accessibility.

2. Good. Next, tap on Display & Text Size. If you’re on iOS 12 or prior versions, you will need to tap Display Accommodations > Invert Colors.

3. Lastly, toggle on Smart Invert to turn on dark mode for WhatsApp. You can check this by going into your WhatsApp and then testing to see if it has turned dark.

Tip

If the chat background of WhatsApp does not turn dark, simply go into your WhatsApp’s Settings > Chats > Chat Wallpaper and simply choose a dark wallpaper to complement the dark interface. You’re good to go!

The Smart Invert feature may or may not distort some images and media whether that’d be on WhatsApp or any other apps since once you enable this feature it is set system-wide. In this case, Apple has created a shortcut that allows you to switch on/off Smart Invert on the go whenever you feel like it. 

To bring up this shortcut, simply go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut, then select Smart Invert Colors. From there you can either triple-press your Home or Side button to toggle on automatically Smart Invert feature. 

In order to have this feature appear as a shortcut in your Control Center instead, go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls, then add the Accessibility Shortcuts control to the Include list. From there you can either long-press or 3D Touch on the icon in the Control Center to bring up the set of tools where you can toggle to enable/disable the Smart Invert feature.

3. Using WADarkMode Jailbreak Tweak (for iOS)

 If you have a jailbroken iOS device, then the process of getting WhatsApp into dark mode is simpler. Thanks go to Ahmed Bafkir’s free WADarkMode tweak which can be installed via Cydia or Sileo (no external repo needed).

The process of enabling WADarkMode, once you’ve installed it, is relatively easy. Here’s what you do:

1. Once you’ve installed WADarkMode from within either Cydia or Sileo, simply open up WADarkMode by going into your Settings app and tap on WADarkMode (at the top under your Apple ID profile)

2. Next, in the WADarkMode page, toggle on the Enabled option to turn on dark mode. WADarkMode is not only capable of just turning WhatsApp into the dark mode, but it also gives you the freedom to choose the accent colors for the app as well as various other interesting customizations that can be accessed by tapping on Customize Colors under Customize. From tweaking the Chat background, Messages background, App tint color and many more.

3. Lastly, just make sure to restart the WhatsApp app by force-closing the app to have the changes take effect. 

That’s pretty much it! We hope that this guide helped you get WhatsApp dark mode on your iPhone or Android device. If you have other questions related to this article, please feel free to leave a comment below. We will update this guide if WhatsApp does decide to officially release dark mode for iOS devices. Until then subscribe to be notified. 

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