While the dark mode craze has come and gone, there is one app that has yet to embrace the dark side. Yes, I’m talking about WhatsApp and its unbearably long beta testing phase. However, that will soon change when the official dark theme on WhatsApp is already ready and working perfectly. We know this thanks to a friend redditor who discovered the secret flag recently. The big part is that the official dark mode is going to the stable release and not some beta or modified builds, which means the official rollout is imminent. However, it’s not here yet. If you are someone who can’t wait for the official release anymore, now I will show you how to get dark mode on WhatsApp.
Note: Note that you will need root privilege to make the necessary changes.
Native Dark Mode in WhatsApp
As I mentioned above, you will need root access to change certain flags in the app bundle. If you have no idea about rooting, you can check our tutorial and root your device. Moreover, we ran our tests on the OnePlus 7T running the latest stable build WhatsApp (2.19.352 and 2.19.358) and it worked flawlessly. So, let’s start with the steps.
1. Open a File Manager that supports root partition access on your Android device. I recommend you Go with Solid Explorer (Freein-app purchases) as it is one of the best file managers available on Android.
2. Next, open root partition and navigate to below path. Once there, open the “com.whatsapp_preferences.xml” file.
/data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs
3. Now add the following line to the XML file. For example, I added the line to the end of the XML file, but inside <map>
ticket. After that, tap the “Save” button.
<boolean name="dark_mode" value="true" />
4. Now that you have made the necessary changes, Force stop and reopen WhatsApp. Next, open WhatsApp Settings and finally you will see the “Theme” option. Tap on it and select the “Dark” option. Voila, here it is! Official dark mode that works smoothly on WhatsApp.
5. Here are some glimpses of WhatsApp in dark mode.
5. If WhatsApp is returning to light mode Change the theme of your Android device to dark mode permanently after each app restart. Apart from that, if your device has an option to lock background apps, enable this option for WhatsApp. It will remain active in the background even after closing all apps.
Finally! Enjoy Official Dark Mode on WhatsApp
This was our short guide on how to enable native dark theme in WhatsApp. In our tests, the official dark mode looked pretty cohesive, and unlike what we saw in Android 10’s forced dark mode, the text, stickers, or emojis in the chat window did not have colors inverted. So, if you have already rooted your device, go ahead and follow the steps to switch to dark mode on WhatsApp right now. And for users who are still in danger, you have to wait for the official rollout of WhatsApp. Anyway, that’s it for us. If you were able to enable dark mode on your device, comment below and let us know about your experience.