Dark modes have been around for a while now. They offer users the chance to go easy on their eyes by swapping out bright white backgrounds for dark greys and blues, or more commonly pitch blacks. Dark modes work well at night, but many people choose to use them all them the time. Also, on top of the aesthetics of it all, dark modes can actually help increase your phone’s battery life. This latest announcement from Facebook then is all good news.
Dark Mode for Messenger is available now, via secret code, but will roll-out in the settings menu soon
Ever since we first reported on all the changes coming to Messenger via the much-hyped Messenger 4 launch, we’ve been waiting with bated breath for the dark mode. It has finally come, although via a rather interesting path.
If you follow Softonic and read our articles regularly, you’ll have read a post from a while back about how to find secret games in Messenger. Basically, on mobile, you unlock a secret basketball game by sending the basketball emoji to your friend and then clicking the sent emoji. This unlocks the game that you then play against your buddy, seeing who can get the highest score. It also works with the soccer emoji and now, it is also how you unlock dark mode on Facebook Messenger.
How to unlock Dark mode on Facebook Messenger
To unlock the new Facebook Messenger dark mode, you need to send the crescent moon emoji to a friend. When you do this, your chat will rain with happy crescent moons and you’ll see a box drop from the top of your screen telling you that, “You Found Dark Mode!” and giving you the option to turn it on in Settings. Clicking the option will create the Dark Mode toggle button in Messenger Settings and flipping the switch will change the background from black to white.
In the blog post announcing the change to Messenger, Facebook said, “Messenger’s dark mode provides lower brightness while maintaining contrast and vibrancy. Dark mode cuts down the glare from your phone for use in low light situations, so you can use the Messenger features you love no matter when or where you are.”
This all means that dark mode is now available to all Facebook Messenger users who are prepared to send a friend of theirs the crescent moon emoji. If, for whatever reason, you don’t want to send the moon emoji to any of your friends, don’t worry. Facebook has already announced that the feature will be added to everybody’s settings menu, whether they send emoji or not, in the coming weeks.
