It’s far from the most rumored feature of the upcoming iOS 10 – the operating system for iPhone and iPad – but it’s nonetheless featured in numerous wishlists as Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference approaches. In fact, it was the announcement of the event, and the dark grey color scheme employed that has led some to suggest the material is foreshadowing the arrival of a Dark Mode in iOS.
This feature would allow users to have more control over the look and feel of iOS, providing darker backgrounds to things like Messages and Quick Launch icons. It’s a feature that’s already present on the Mac in OS X (to enable go to System Preferences > General > check the ‘Use dark menu bar and Dock’ box) but now some concept images have surfaced over at iHelpBR that show what a Dark Mode on the iPhone could look like.
Dark Mode concept image: Messages
Many have speculated that the dark approach could be in preparation for power saving if Apple switches to OLED displays in 2017.
Quick Launch actions in the potential Dark Mode
It’s possible that Apple will include the option to automatically turn on dark mode at night, in a similar way to the automatic switch to Night Shift, which reduces the blue tones of the iPhone’s screen.
Emails in Dark Mode
The images give examples of Dark Mode across Apple’s operating system and native functionalities, but it’s also likely developers will gain access via a Dark Mode API so that third-party apps will also reflect the users’ display choice.
View more concept images of what Dark Mode on iOS might look like in the original post.