For a few years I used dark mode because i thought it was better for your eyes; it isn’t.

When in dark mode, you’re looking at an overall darker screen, your pupils will dilate to let in more light, which makes everything just outside of focus very blurry, and gives the text a halo effect. A few minutes will be fine, but anything longer is going to make your eyes begin to strain.

When in light mode, your pupils contract to accommodate for the light, this is how our eyes are supposed to work, this is going to be less straining on your eyes. In low light environments, simply turn down the brightness and apply a night light filter.

If you’re going to use dark mode regardless, don’t use AMOLED unless it’s for saving battery. The contrast between bright white and pitch black is the worst combination. Consider using a soft grey, your eyes will thank you.

Source

  • WizzaEnglish
    17·
    1 year ago

    (Not to be that guy, the post just got me curious about it, so i looked up some more details) (Also, i rant a bit, so feel free to not read this)

    Although in the article i checked, the American Academy of Opthalmology (AAO) doesn’t specifically mention Dark Mode as something that reduces or increases eye strain, it does mention that lowering the brightness (or setting dark mode in your devices) does lower the amount of blue light that the screen displays, allowing you to sleep better, by not confusing your brain into thinking that it’s still daytime. (Feel free to correct me on this, other places i saw about this mostly cite anecdotes about how well it worked for them, regarding their sleep cycle.)

    It does later say that one of the ways to possibly reduce eye strain when using a screen for a long time is by lowering the glare and brightness, by dimming the screen or the like.

    So my take would be that maybe a full pitch black/AMOLED theme could start putting more strain into your eyes, the regular dark grey-ish should be right, but eyes differ from person to person so it’d boil down to: Find a middle ground that works for you and doesn’t make your eyes hurt? (Also take some time to let your eyes rest, lookup the 20-20-20 rule in the 2nd article)

    (Sorry about the wall of text, i might’ve gotten a bit too into this)

    Sources:

    https://www.healthline.com/health/is-dark-mode-better-for-your-eyes#about-blue-light https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/digital-devices-your-eyes