Dark theme and your wallpaper's color scheme together decide how most of your Android phone looks. Google documents both in its Android Help center. This guide covers turning dark theme on and off, why it sometimes turns on by itself, the newer expanded option, and how to change the color palette taken from your wallpaper.
Google notes that some of these steps work only on Android 13 and up, and menus can differ by phone maker.
Turn dark theme on or off
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Display.
- Turn Dark theme on or off.
Google's tip: dark theme can make your screen easier to read and can save battery on some screens.
From Quick Settings
- Toggle it: tap the Dark theme tile in Quick Settings. If you don't see it, add the tile to your Quick Settings panel first.
- Open its settings: touch and hold the tile to open the dark theme settings page.
Why dark theme turned on by itself
If you see a dark color scheme but didn't turn on Dark theme, Google says battery saver may be the reason. When battery saver is on, dark theme may turn on automatically, and on some phones battery saver turns on when the charge falls below a certain level, like 15%.
To turn off battery saver: Settings > Battery > Battery Saver > Turn off now.
To stop it from turning on automatically: Settings > Battery > Battery Saver > Set a schedule, then choose No schedule.
Google also notes you can't use battery saver in light theme. If you want light theme, turn battery saver off.
Dark theme's expanded option
The expanded option applies dark theme to more apps. Turn it on in Settings > Display & touch > Dark theme > Expanded.
Google's caveats:
- Some apps may look different. Images may appear altered, or text on top of images may be hard to read.
- To exclude an app, tap Settings next to the expanded option and turn off the toggle for that app.
- To turn it off for all apps, select Standard on the dark theme settings page.
If an app still looks light, it may not support the expanded option yet, or it may have opted out.
Change the color scheme from your wallpaper
- Open Settings.
- Tap Wallpaper & style.
- To change the palette drawn from your wallpaper, tap Wallpaper colors and choose a palette.
- To use a specific color instead, tap Basic colors and choose one.
Pairing wallpapers with dark theme
These are design suggestions rather than settings:
- Pick a darker wallpaper when you use dark theme, so the Home screen matches the darker menus.
- Choose wallpapers with one strong accent color. The palette it generates tends to look more cohesive.
- Try a few palettes. Preview more than one option under Wallpaper colors before settling on one.
Troubleshooting
- An app stays light: it may not offer dark theme. Check the app's own Theme or Display settings.
- An app is dark in light theme: the app may have its own dark setting on, or use a dark design that can't be changed.
- Dark theme keeps coming back: check whether battery saver is on or scheduled.
Going further with ScreenLux
If you want moving artwork to pair with dark theme, ScreenLux is the app I built for Android 8.0 and up. ScreenLux: live wallpapers for iPhone and 4K video wallpapers for Android. All artwork is created with generative AI tools.
ScreenLux is free to download and preview; subscription unlocks the full catalog and removes ads.
My team specializes in advanced generative AI art and video, and WatchLux and ScreenLux are where we apply it to the watch and the phone.
- Android: ScreenLux on Google Play
Sean McCue, Founder, WatchLux and ScreenLux
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