Android 15 has a new dark mode switch with the same old problems

• Android 15 includes a new "force dark mode" feature that works better than the old developer option.
• Dark mode in Android isn't truly dark on all phones, making the feature less effective than it could be.
• Pixel phones, in particular, opt for a dark grey instead of true black dark mode

Android 15 is bringing some exciting news for dark mode fans! A new feature lets you force almost any app to use a dark theme, even if the app itself doesn't offer one. This is a big improvement over the old system, which relied on developers to enable dark mode for their apps.

However, there's a small catch. While this will work great on many phones, some – like Google Pixels – don't use pure black in dark mode, but rather a dark gray. The new feature doesn't change this yet. On the bright side (pun intended!), the new switch is easier to find than before. It's now located in the accessibility settings, rather than being hidden in developer options.

There's a bit of a snag with the new dark mode feature in Android 15. It doesn't quite fix the real accessibility issue with OLED screens on some Android phones. Studies have shown that using grey backgrounds instead of true black (like Google Pixel phones do) can actually strain your eyes more. This makes you wonder why Google even put this under accessibility settings – it doesn't really make things easier for people who need them.

The good news is, not all phone makers are following Google's lead. Samsung Galaxy, OnePlus, and Motorola phones with OLED displays usually switch to true black backgrounds in dark mode, which is much better for your eyes.

On another note, the new brightness controls in Android 15 might cause issues for people sensitive to PWM dimming. We contacted Google to ask about both these features, but they haven't gotten back to us yet. We'll update this article as soon as we hear more.