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YouTube rolls out dark theme to iPhone apps now, Android later

After YouTube launched the darker design option on desktop last year, users clamored for it to come to Apple and Android mobile apps.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
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Joan E. Solsman
Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

YouTube's iPhone app is going dark. 

A screenshot of YouTube's mobile app with a dark theme.

YouTube's dark theme is meant to make thumbnails and video pop visually. 

 YouTube

The video-sharing website is widening an option to view its app with a "dark theme" to Apple devices Tuesday, ahead of a wider rollout to Android apps later this year. 

The company introduced the dark theme to its desktop interface last year.  Before that, going dark required turning on a hidden developer mode.

The design, which turns the background to black or dark gray throughout the YouTube site, is meant to reduce glare and minimize distraction from the videos you're watching. YouTube said that since the introduction of the "cinematic" look on desktop, it has became one of the  most requested features for its mobile app, too. 

The theme is rolling out to YouTube's iOS app for Apple devices Tuesday, followed by Android. If you'd like to turn the feature on or off, you should tap your account icon, then go to settings, followed by "Dark theme."

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