Top 7 Dark Modes for iOS 13 Not Working

I love the dark mode in iOS 13. It looks great and also acts as a great battery saver on iPhones with OLED screens. However, I found out that the iOS 13 dark mode may not work as expected. This is really weird.

There are several reasons behind this. For starters, the dark mode in iOS 13 works quite differently compared to similar functionality on other platforms. Also, it’s pretty new so it’s bound to have various niggles that would prevent it from working normally.

So, if you have any doubts about how dark mode works on your iPhone or iPad, here is my take on what you can do to get it up and running properly.

1. Manually Enable Dark Mode

Despite how synonymous dark mode is with iOS 13, you have to turn it on manually. If you’ve just upgraded iOS, you may wonder why the UI isn’t black out of the box. So, you need to dive into the Control Center (swipe down from the top right edge of the screen), long press the Brightness bar, then tap on the icon labeled Dark Mode.

You should immediately start to see the screen dim a bit. To control the dark mode in all its glory, head to a native app like Reminders, Notes or Messages.

2. Disable Automatic Scheduling

Does dark mode turn off automatically? In this case, the dark mode on your iPhone or iPad is subject to a skin program. This means that the functionality will automatically kick in at night and disappear in the morning.

Surprisingly, I like it this way, as always having dark mode on can strain the eyes when you’re outside. However, if you want to stop dark mode from turning off without your permission, here’s how to do it.

Start by opening the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Next, scroll down and then tap on Display & Brightness. Under Appearance, turn off the switch next to Automatic. You have now disabled automatic appearance scheduling.

Alternatively, you can change the dark mode timing by tapping Options (only visible when Auto switch is on).

3. Errors – update iOS

Apple’s latest iOS 13 update is extremely buggy. That’s why the company quickly seeded the iOS 13.1 update. And this is understandable given the various main features available in iOS 13. If dark mode seems risky, be sure to update your iPhone or iPad regularly.

To update, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, then tap General. Follow this up by tapping Software Update. If there are new updates available, download and install them. Hopefully, Apple will eliminate the bugs completely after a few iOS 13 iterations.

4. Errors — Reboot Device

If there are no software updates available, try restarting your iOS device. I can vouch that restarting your phone fixes various dark mode related anomalies in iOS 13. It also temporarily fixes other issues such as fast battery drain.

To restart your iOS device, press and hold the Power button to bring up the Swipe Off Prompt. On iPhone X and newer models, press and hold both the Volume Up and Power buttons instead.

5. Update Apps

Dark mode in iOS 13 is not universal. It mostly applies to native iOS apps, so don’t expect to see everything rendered in dark mode. Also in Safari, only the UI will be visible in dark mode. However, there are a few tricks you can use to make websites view in dark mode.

I’m not saying that third-party developers on iOS haven’t jumped into the dark mode majority. Apps like OneDrive are now seamlessly integrated into the native dark mode in iOS 13. So if you haven’t updated your apps, do so now.

Long press the App Store icon and then tap Updates to update your apps. Check out this guide for more ways to easily update your apps.

6. Manually Enable Dark Mode for Apps

Certain apps do not have native dark mode functionality in iOS 13. That means you have to enable dark mode for these apps separately. If you see an app that is not visible in dark mode, research it to find the specific dark mode toggle for the app.

Most of the time, just diving into the app’s Settings or Options panel should reveal the option. For example, go to Settings and then turn on the switch next to Dark Mode to enable dark mode in Outlook for iOS.

If you don’t see such an option in an app, you’ll have to wait for the functionality to be added in a future update.

7. Use Smart Inversion

If you don’t like the non-universal nature of dark mode in iOS 13, consider switching to Smart Invert. This functionality inverts the colors on your screen, forcing everything to render in dark mode. Don’t worry – images are mostly untouched. Make sure to disable iOS 13 dark mode beforehand to avoid any conflicts with Smart Invert.

To enable Smart Invert, go to the Settings app, tap Accessibility, tap Display & Text Size, then turn on the switch next to Smart Invert.

You can also link the functionality to the Home or Power buttons to make it easier to turn Smart Invert on or off. To do this, go to iPhone/iPad Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut. Select Smart Invert Colors and triple-click the Home or Power buttons to turn Smart Invert on or off.

Turn off the lights

Dark mode is an outstanding addition to iOS 13 and one of the biggest selling points in Apple’s latest mobile update. If you have struggled with dark mode after updating your iPhone, I hope the aforementioned pointers were helpful. Also, I assume you now have a much clearer idea of ​​how this functionality actually works.

Next: The Files app in iOS 13 and iPadOS is now better than ever. Check out all the crazy things you can do with it.