Facebook’s implementation of dark mode on iOS has been a source of frustration for many users. A common complaint is that the app does not stay in dark mode and reverts to light mode frequently.
What is Dark Mode?
Dark mode is a feature available on iOS and Android devices that switches the color scheme from light to dark. It displays white text on a dark background instead of dark text on a white background. The main benefits of dark mode are:
- Reduced eyestrain – Looking at bright screens in dark environments can strain your eyes.
- Increased battery life – Dark mode uses less power on devices with OLED displays.
- Enhanced legibility – For some users, white text on a dark background is easier to read.
Dark mode has become increasingly popular and is seen as a more comfortable viewing experience by many users. Most major apps now support dark mode, including Facebook.
Why Doesn’t Facebook Stay in Dark Mode?
There are a few reasons why Facebook’s iOS app does not stay in dark mode consistently:
- Buggy implementation – Facebook’s dark mode code seems to have bugs that cause it to revert to light mode unintentionally.
- Primary focus on Android – Facebook concentrates more resources on the Android app which has over 2 billion users vs. the iOS app which has about 1 billion users. Dark mode support on Android is more robust.
- Testing – Facebook tends to test new features extensively with a small percentage of users before rolling out broadly. The inconsistent dark mode could be a result of this testing methodology.
- Gradual rollout – Facebook sometimes rolls out major updates gradually over weeks/months. The spotty dark mode could be because the rollout is still in progress.
While Facebook has not officially addressed the poor dark mode experience on iOS, they have acknowledged they are working on improving it. However, the pace of improvements has been slow much to users’ dismay.
When Does Facebook’s Dark Mode Fail on iOS?
Based on user reports, there are some common scenarios where Facebook’s dark mode fails and reverts to light mode on iOS:
- Scrolling – As you scroll through your News Feed, dark mode may turn off.
- Closing and reopening the app – Dark mode often resets when restarting the app.
- Receiving notifications – Opening notifications tends to revert the app back to light mode.
- Browsing continuously – Using the app for an extended period can cause dark mode to stop working.
- Switching accounts – Changing between different accounts in the app will usually change it to light mode.
Interestingly, the Facebook Lite app which is aimed at low-end devices does not have as many issues with dark mode persistence. This suggests the problems lie with the main Facebook app’s code rather than iOS itself.
Example User Complaints
Here are some direct quotes from Facebook users complaining about the inconsistent dark mode:
“Dark mode keeps turning itself off randomly as I’m scrolling through my feed. Very annoying!”
“Dark mode works fine initially but whenever I close the app and reopen it, it goes back to normal mode. Absolutely ridiculous.”
“I turned on dark mode yesterday and it was fine, but today Facebook reverted to normal mode automatically. iOS dark mode works perfectly in every other app I use.”
“I actually stopped using Facebook on my phone because the dark mode is so frustratingly inconsistent. Just let me use dark mode!”
Potential Fixes
So what can be done to improve Facebook’s dark mode implementation for iOS users? Here are some potential fixes:
- Code optimization – Cleaning up the dark mode code base could help eliminate bugs causing the unintended reversions.
- Rebuilding UI – Redesigning parts of the user interface specifically for dark mode could make it more stable.
- Persistent setting – Saving the dark mode preference securely to prevent resets on restart.
- Incremental rollout – Pushing updates gradually to catch issues before broad release.
- iOS integration – Collaborating more closely with Apple’s iOS team to leverage built-in functionality.
The best scenario would be a complete rebuild of Facebook’s iOS app with dark mode deeply integrated. But given the app’s complexity, a full rewrite is unlikely in the short term. Until Facebook dedicates more resources to fixing dark mode, iOS users may be stuck with the current unreliable implementation.
Workarounds
In the meantime, there are some workarounds users can try to maintain dark mode in Facebook’s iOS app:
- Low Power Mode – Enabling Low Power Mode in iOS settings seems to help keep dark mode active.
- Reduce Motion – Turning off the Reduce Motion setting may prevent dark mode from switching off randomly.
- Airplane Mode – Some users report that Airplane Mode prevents dark mode reverting during use.
- Reset Advertiser ID – Resetting the Advertiser ID can clear up problems from Facebook’s ad targeting.
- Reinstall App – Deleting and reinstalling the Facebook app sometimes helps initially.
- Use Browser – Just use the Facebook mobile browser site which has a persistent dark mode.
However, most of these workarounds eventually stop working. They can provide temporary relief but don’t address the root cause of Facebook’s buggy iOS dark mode implementation.
Will This Get Fixed?
Facebook has not made any definitive public announcements about fixing dark mode on iOS. Some probable reasons for the lack of action:
- Not a high priority issue – Other initiatives take precedence for Facebook’s mobile teams.
- Requires significant rewrite – Properly implementing persistent dark mode may require rebuilding parts of the app.
- iOS user base smaller – Facebook focuses more on enhancing the experience for its larger Android base.
- Disjointed development – Multiple teams working on the app makes a unified solution more difficult.
Unless iOS users start leaving Facebook because of this issue, it’s unlikely to gain priority status. Facebook’s growth and engagement numbers remain strong so there is little incentive to dedicate resources to this specific problem currently.
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook’s half-baked implementation of dark mode on iOS leaves much to be desired. Persistent bugs in the app prevent dark mode from working reliably causing endless frustration. Facebook is clearly aware of the problem but solutions seem low on their priority list. iOS users have resorted to unreliable workarounds hoping for an app update that delivers a consistent experience. Unfortunately, until Facebook decides to commit engineering resources to rebuild the iOS app properly, the dark mode experience will likely remain disappointing.