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Google started rolling out dark mode to the Play Store a few weeks ago. But that apparently was still a test. Google has now started to roll it out to more and more users.
According to this thread on Reddit, many users are now receiving it. And that includes myself, who is seeing it on the Pixel 3 XL and OnePlus 7T.
It’s worth mentioning that this is likely only available for Android 10, due to the new changes for Dark Mode.
How do I enable dark mode on Google Play?
The simple answer is: you don’t.
That is because the dark mode works with the system-wide dark mode theme. So in order to get dark mode on the Play Store, you’re going to need to switch to the dark mode theme in settings. It’ll be under display in the settings (it’s under “customization” on the OnePlus 7T).
It’s not a true blacked out dark mode though, it’s dark gray and some black. This is likely because it makes it a little bit easier to read, especially in brighter environments. While a blacked out dark mode would have definitely saved more battery life, this isn’t too bad either.
Definitely much better than having all of that white space on the Play Store that will blind you if you use it in a dark environment – like at night.
Play Store got dark mode before Gmail
Google apps are slowly but surely rolling out dark mode to their apps across Android.
But there is one app that people want to see dark mode for more than anything, and that’s Gmail. The thing is, it was announced a few weeks ago, but virtually no one has it just yet.
Some people have gotten the dark mode option, but then it went away a few days later. As a commenter on Reddit noted, “Don’t get used to it, Google switches it on and off like a toddler does a light switch”. Which is true. Google does seem to switch dark mode on and off pretty regularly. In fact, another user commented that when they got dark mode Play Store, they lost dark mode Google Assistant. Which is odd, and may not have anything to do with each other.
If you don’t have the dark mode Google Play Store just yet, make sure that you are using the dark mode theme in the settings. And then clear the Play Store from memory and re-open it. You shouldn’t need to clear it from memory, but it can help to redraw the app. Then it should open in dark mode.
The dark mode on Google Play looks pretty slick.
