And why did they have black screens with white or green text in the early days? Because the monitors where so terrible in reverse. They simply couldn’t handle the opposite. You also got a tan after a while using them due to the radiation or something. Besides that, who uses black paper with white text. Personally, I prefer white paper with black text.
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It is easier for disabled people to read white text with black background.
The age does not matter.
Now, there is a taste implication: you love it or not.
Cataract makes white background “agressive”…
Old people need a great contrast between the write color and the background color: otherwise they have troubles to read.
it depends. On situation (day, night, etc.), application - and more.
I recently followed a training course for postman and downloaded/installed postman just at the beginning - it was in dark-mode. I was unable to follow the training because the different sections in postman’s interface were not easy to recognize and I switched back to light-mode, was really better.
But with other applications, dark-mode is fine - although in general for my old eyes, light-mode seems to be better
After reading the many replies with different perspectives and doing some further research, I’m going to have to say that my statement earlier in the thread stands.
I think like anything else, It’s both personal preference and each individual’s situation.
One thing that is certain, in light mode, with more light coming at your eyes, your pupils will close up more to compensate for the amount of light entering your eye. Like a camera lens, this will bring text and images into sharper focus than if the light is lower. That said, the brighter light may be too much for some. Some of the research pointed out that dark mode can be hard on the eyes as well because text and images may not be in sharp focus causing some eye strain as well.
Preferences and comfort aside, there are other things to consider. For example, if someone was creating a game or some other app that is relying on specific color, brightness, etc. Dark Mode may interfere with that and be undesirable.
Bottom line, there are many factors to consider, one size does not fit all. Fortunately, we have the option as to whether or not we wish to support it. 
Again, Dark Mode is an accessibility tool.
The vibe I’m getting from this thread is that some folks with strong eyesight seem to think it’s okay to dismiss a feature they don’t need simply because they haven’t been forced to need it.
Should we stop putting in wheelchair ramps too? Because you know what, I can walk up steps, wheelchair ramps are silly. /s
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With the resolution of the monitors getting larger, and my eyes not getting any improvement to follow, it’s way easier to read white over black. Problem is not all application are good with black background.
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I dislike dark mode and have poor eyesight.
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Disliking and dismissing are two different things. I appreciate that you can share your opinion without belittling those that have needs.
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Well regardless. If you’re an app developer, you probably should be supporting it so users who do use dark mode won’t get their retinas burned out when they launch your app.
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The good old days of the Commodore Pet - the original iMac.
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I find that I can read better with the dark mode. Light mode just makes my eyes very tired and things get blurred easily.
Of course, apps wise I would ensure that they support both modes.
I often get screenshots in DarkMode. I don’t have to like a feature to support it.
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All my Xojo applications support Darkmode, even if I never use this mode. It was not a hard job (except I had to removed all my BevelButtons).
One time I tried it and I surfed on the web and saw some websites in DarkMode, then I modified my own WebSite in order to make it support DarkMode. It made me use more CSS in my website and change colors in the future will be easiest.
I like DarkMode personally, but I wouldn’t call it a personal preference. I just started using it and it sold itself on me. Maybe it’s old eyes or whatever. And all my the apps I use (written by others) support DarkMode, though Filezilla just changed over (that was the best day of my life).
Bot I swear it’s more like the “software is the experience” Steve Job argument, it’s the way it should be. HOWEVER I can’t argue with the many people here that hate DarkMode - I can’t disagree it’s nothing more than a preference.
In the end, though, my customers are the authority, and I check my interface designs on both and make sure I’m achieving the best of both worlds. I don’t see how any developer nowadays can get away with no supporting DarkMode.
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I have my devices set to switch to dark mode at sundown. That seems to work well for me.
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I use and like dark mode. I have lots of floaters in my eyes which aren’t really visible when I’m looking at a dark background. I tend to use light mode on my 13" laptop (since I think it looks nicer) but if I’m working on a big monitor then the bright screens make the floaters really visible.
Dark mode is absolutely crucial to support and I’m really grateful Xojo helps with it.
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Me, I am daily behind the computer(s) and they are all in darkmode. When in lightmode my eyes will hurt after a while and darkmode give rest to my eye. So, this is a personal thing
I have the same issue as Garry describes here above.
I decided to run a Dark mode test in one of my iOS apps.
For some hours of the day, there might not be enough sessions to be relevant.
Key figures:
- At daytime, 41% of users use the app in Dark Mode
- Evening, 59% of users use Dark Mode
- Goes up to 61% by night-time, but session count is too small after 1AM to be relevant.
I am quite surprised by these results, I didn’t expect 41% of daytime sessions to be using Dark Mode.
I am not surprised by 60% of dark mode for night-time sessions.
Remarks:
- Hour is in the user’s timezone.
- The app has no Dark Mode toggle. Figures here actually represents the system-wide dark mode setting.
- Test data collected in the past 24 hours.
I will see if results differ after running the test for 1 week.
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This was a non-business app, or game, right ?
If it was a business app I’d expect the 9-5 monday-friday cycle to be pretty evident.