YouTube May Get Dark Theme And Incognito Mode On Mobile

The YouTube UI received a major overhaul on the web several months ago and it got a dark theme or “night mode.” It’s a coveted feature as it helps users navigate the website easily when they’re using their devices in low light or even in the dark. It’s just easier on the eyes. According to a new report, it may only be a matter of time before the dark theme is released for YouTube on mobile as well. The app may also receive an incognito mode simliar to what we find on Google Chrome.

The folks at 9to5Google did a teardown of the most recent version of the YouTube app for Android. In an app teardown, the app is decompiled to see the lines of code that might hint at upcoming features. It’s not always accurate but often there are hints in there that suggest what features could arrive soon.

YouTube’s latest update does bring code which suggests that a “Dark theme” will be available in the app and when enabled, it will be applied throughout the app. It’s possible that the app might have some sort of a switch or toggle which lets users quickly enable and disable this feature.

The code also reveals some references to an incognito mode. It will work the same way that it does on Chrome, on YouTube it will simply stop recording the viewing history. It’s already possible to do that by pausing the watch and search history through the settings menu but an incognito mode will just make things easier.

It’s unclear if and when these features might arrive. The references in the code only offer hints and even that doesn’t necessarily mean that the features would be out in the near future.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Apps