Android Browser With Dark Mode: Which Ones Darken Pages

If white web pages at night are what bother you, Vivaldi is the Android browser to get. It darkens the pages as well as its own menus, and it has a switch for each site when the result looks wrong. If a dark toolbar is all you want, the browser you already have does that.

We read each browser’s help pages and Google Play listing to see exactly what its dark mode covers. One of the browsers this article recommended in 2020 has left the store.

Two kinds of dark mode

Browsers use the words “dark mode” for two separate things.

• A dark interface. The toolbar, menus, settings and new tab page turn dark. Web pages are left as they are.
• Dark web pages. The page itself turns dark, and there are two ways that happens. Some sites have a dark version of their own and show it when your phone or browser asks for a dark theme. For every other site, the browser has to repaint the page, swapping light backgrounds for dark ones. That is usually called forced dark mode.

Every browser below has a dark interface. Where they differ is forced dark mode, so that is what the comparison is about.

What Android and Chrome already do

Android has a dark theme for the whole phone. Open Settings, tap Display and turn on Dark theme. Google’s Android Help says many apps then switch to dark as well, and that the theme can come on by itself when Battery Saver is running.

Chrome is one of the apps that follows it. In Chrome, tap More, then Settings, then Theme. System default matches the phone, while Dark and Light fix it one way. Google’s help page is exact about what changes: the homepage, toolbar, settings “and some other pages”. Ordinary websites are not on that list.

Chrome can darken websites too, but Google keeps the switch out of sight. Its Chrome developer site describes a checkbox under Settings, Theme that applies a dark theme to sites, and says it appears only after you turn on an experiment:

1. Type chrome://flags in Chrome’s address bar.
2. Search for “darken websites”.
3. Set “Darken websites checkbox in themes setting” to Enabled and relaunch Chrome when it asks.
4. Go to Settings, then Theme, and tick “Apply dark theme to sites, when possible”.

The experiment is still in Chrome’s source code, switched off by default. Google can change or remove experiments whenever it likes, so do not plan your evenings around this one.

Browsers compared

Vivaldi: the clearest controls

Vivaldi keeps the two kinds of dark mode as two settings, which is why it is our pick. Both are under Settings, Appearance & Theme, Theme.

The first is the interface theme: Light, Dark or System. The second is Website Appearance, with Light, Dark and Auto. Vivaldi’s help page says Dark shows all websites in dark mode, and Auto makes pages follow whichever interface theme is active.

You can also overrule the setting for one site. Open the site, open the main Vivaldi menu and switch Dark website on or off. That per-site switch matters more than it sounds, for reasons further down.

Vivaldi is free, and its Google Play page carries neither an ads label nor in-app purchases.

Samsung Internet

Samsung’s browser is on Google Play under the name Samsung Browser. Samsung’s support site says it runs on other Android phones and tablets as well as Samsung’s own, and its listing names Dark Mode among the main features.

An article by the browser’s lead engineer on Samsung’s developer site explains what that mode does: the browser applies its own changes to a page’s colours to turn the page dark. Where a site has dark styles of its own, the browser’s release notes describe an option in its Labs settings to use only those.

We could not find a current Samsung help page that gives the menu path, so look for Dark mode in the browser’s settings.

Brave and Opera

Brave: open the menu, tap Settings, then Appearance in the Display section. Theme offers System Default, Light and Dark. On the same page is a Night Mode toggle that Brave labels experimental. Brave’s help page says it sets the browser to dark and tries to force the content of each page into a dark theme as well.

Opera: night mode sits in the main Opera menu. The Google Play listing describes it as dimming the screen for late-night browsing. Opera’s own announcement of the feature goes further. Night mode has a colour temperature slider to cut blue light, it can switch on the dark theme automatically, and it includes “dark web pages”, which restyles pages that have no dark version of their own.

Both browsers carry the ads label on Google Play, and both have in-app purchases.

Firefox with Dark Reader

Firefox’s theme setting is under Settings, then Customize. The choices are Light, Dark and Follow device theme. That covers the interface. Nothing among Firefox’s settings forces other pages dark.

Firefox on Android does take extensions, and that is the way round it. Dark Reader, from Dark Reader Ltd, carries Mozilla’s Recommended badge and is marked as available on Firefox for Android. Its page says it builds a dark theme for each website on the fly. You can adjust brightness, contrast and a sepia filter, and keep a list of sites it should leave alone. The page also says it is open source, shows no ads and sends your data nowhere.

To do its job it needs permission to read the pages you visit, as any extension of this kind does. Mozilla’s page lists that permission before you install.

When a darkened page looks wrong

Forced dark mode is guesswork, and the browser makers say so themselves. Brave’s help page gives the example of a site with a white background and grey text, which can come out as dark grey text on black. Samsung’s engineer points out that the browser cannot easily tell when text sits on top of an image, and that small icons and logos can vanish into the dark background.

When a page turns unreadable, switch the darkening off for that site. In Vivaldi that is the Dark website switch in the main menu. In Dark Reader it is the ignore list. In the others, turn the setting off, read the page and turn it back on.

Which one to pick

• A dark toolbar is enough: keep the browser you have and set its theme to follow the phone.
• You want the pages dark as well: Vivaldi. The controls are documented, there is a switch per site and the listing has no ads label.
• You have a Galaxy phone: try the Dark mode in Samsung Internet before you install anything.
• You already use Firefox: add Dark Reader.
• You will not leave Chrome: the flag above is the only route.

Vivaldi’s listing also mentions a tab bar built for tablets. We cover that in our guide to apps built for Android tablets.

What happened to the old list

Kiwi Browser no longer has a page on Google Play. Tor Browser is still listed, from The Tor Project, whose listing describes it as the project’s official mobile browser for privacy. Pick it for that reason and not for its colour scheme.

Quick answers

How do I turn on dark mode in Chrome on Android?

Open Chrome, tap More, then Settings, then Theme, and choose Dark. System default makes Chrome follow the phone’s own dark theme.

How do I force dark mode on websites in Chrome on Android?

Turn on the “Darken websites checkbox in themes setting” experiment at chrome://flags, then tick the new checkbox under Settings, Theme. It is an experiment, so Google may remove it.

Why are websites still white when dark mode is on?

Because a browser’s dark theme covers its own interface. A website only turns dark if it has a dark version of its own or the browser repaints it.

Which Android browser is best for dark mode?

Vivaldi, because it can darken every site and lets you switch that off for a single site from the menu.

Does dark mode save battery?

Google’s Android Help says dark theme can save battery on some screens. It does not say how much.