The average American adult spends 11 hours looking at screens per day. That screen can be a computer, phone. Tablet, a TV, or some other type of electronic device. For office workers and others, this is an unavoidable scenario.

All that screen time can have certain risks to our health: enter dark mode. More apps, devices, and browsers are going dark.

This article will break down 7 big benefits of using dark mode and spoiler alert there’s more to dark mode than just health benefits.

What’s Dark Mode? 

If you haven’t tried dark mode yet it is simply inverting your screens settings. Everything that is usually white becomes black or dark blue and the text becomes white. Microsoft Outlook, YouTube, Reddit, and Gmail have all added dark mode features recently.

How to use dark mode varies depending on your type of device and if you are trying to use dark mode in an app or while browsing the web. Generally speaking, you can select dark mode from your settings and begin browsing in dark mode.

Android Pie and MacOS operating systems are also joining the club and hopping aboard the dark mode trend.

So, what are the benefits of using dark mode? Keep reading we are about to name seven of them.

1. Lessened Eye Fatigue

When you use dark mode you will experience less eye fatigue. Since the invention of computers doctors have warned about increased eye strain. As the amount of time we spend looking at screens has increased over the years the problem has grown over time.

Looking at screens for a long time can have serious side effects on our eyes. It can cause damage to eye growth and could lead to nearsightedness.

When you browse in dark mode it reduces fatigue. Paragraphs are easier to read with a tinted grey background because white reflects all wavelengths of light and stimulates the visual receptors in our eyes.

Dark mode can also be helpful for people with color-blindness and vision impairments, making it easier for them to use computers.

2. Better Sleep

All of these bright screens can also disrupt our natural sleep cycles. Artificial light produced by these screens reduces the sleep-inducing neurons and triggers instead of the ones that keep you awake.

Your body suppresses melatonin, it’s natural sleep hormones, and your natural clock gets pushed back. It might now seem like a big deal in the short term but losing a little bit of sleep each night adds up.

People who suffer from long-term sleep lose are at a higher risk for obesity, depression, and heart disease.

Children work oppositely. Instead of getting tired, their bodies get hyperactive. Sometimes this activity level is mistaken for ADHD. Dark mode can actually help reduce some of this artificial light which causes disruption to our circadian rhythms.

3. Can Improve Certain Medical Conditions

Browsing in dark mode and using dark mode in apps can also benefit people who have different kinds of health conditions. For example, people who suffer from Photophobia (irritation to bright lights) may not be able to use screens as long as people without the conditions.

Photophobia makes people very light sensitive. Using a dark mode on your phone or laptop can help reduce some of the light irritation. People who suffer from migraines can also experience the benefits of browsing in dark mode.

4. Improves Battery Life

Besides the critical health benefits, there are also several other benefits to using dark mode.

Dark mode can also prolong battery the battery life of your smartphone. Google has said that using dark mode apps can prolong battery life. At 100% brightness, the dark mode feature will save approximately 60% of screen energy.

These OLED screens are primarily used by Andriod devices but Apple is promising in the future to drop LCD screens and create new phones with OLED screens after 2020.

Saving some battery life could be as easy as turning on the dark mode in your phone’s settings.

5. Reduced Screen Glare

Dark mode can also help make your screen look better. Have you ever tried to watch a movie but there was too much glare on the screen? This won’t happen in dark mode.

Using dark mode cuts the glare from your screen and makes it more comfortable to watch and have the picture look better. The background recedes in dark mode which can make the colors look brighter by comparison. Brighter, bolder colors are just another reason to switch to dark mode.

6. Text Is Easier to Read

Reading white text on a dark background has been proven to be easier. If you read your screen for a long period or if you read a lot at night try using dark mode. You may be surprised by the results.

Yes, dark mode does take a little bit of getting used to, but it’s hard to go back to light mode after you’ve been using dark mode for a while.

7. It looks Cooler

Let’s just be honest. Dark mode just looks cooler. It’s very Neo from the matrix or Elliot from Mr. Robot. Having dark-colored windows and white text looks mysterious and different from the norm.

It’s great for presenting photos graphs, design work, or anything with color that you want to analyze. There is a lot of room for improvement for developers to incorporate great looking dark modes in our everyday apps and browsers.

We are sure to see more of dark mode in the future as more people make the switch.

Switch to Dark Mode and Experience the Benefits Today

We are living in the information age. Screen time isn’t going to suddenly disappear. If we continue at the current rate we will all continue to add more hours of screen time into our lives each year.

Dark mode can help negate some of the negative health side effects of increased screen times. It also looks great and improves your battery life. What’s not to love. Try dark mode today.

If you enjoyed this article check out our latest articles on frugal living.