Little known reason why having a dark phone background can actually save your battery
Most people who use dark mode do so because it is easier on the eyes, especially when scrolling in bed at night (although this is habit we should probably cut down on).
But there is a practical benefit of dark mode that might surprise you, and given the recent backlash over the iPhone Air's battery life, it's worth knowing about.
Turns out, a darker wallpaper can actually extend your phone's battery life, and the reason comes down to how modern smartphone screens work.
Most flagship phones today use OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or AMOLED displays, which work differently from older LCD screens. Each pixel produces its own light individually rather than being lit by a single backlight behind the screen.
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That means when your display is showing bright colours or a white background, every pixel on the screen is actively lit up and drawing power.
But when it shows pure black, those pixels switch off entirely, using no power at all.
As discussed across various Reddit threads on the topic, a dark grey background still leaves pixels partially active, which hugely reduces the energy-saving benefit. To get the most out of it, the background needs to be full black rather than simply dark.
However, if your phone uses an LCD screen, a dark background will make little difference to battery life. LCDs rely on a single backlight that stays on regardless of the displayed colour, so power consumption remains largely the same regardless of what is on screen.
Apple uses OLED displays across all of its newer flagship iPhones, so dark mode will deliver battery savings on those devices, while its older models, including the iPhone 11, iPhone XR, and the iPhone SE range, use LCD screens, so the benefit won't apply.
The findings are not limited to Apple devices either. Google has looked closely at the same issue on Android, with ZDNET noting that the screen is one of the biggest battery-draining components.
The Google Pixel screen is reportedly one of the biggest battery drains, so the company has been looking at ways developers can minimise its power consumption.
Google Maps running in night mode saw display power usage drop by 63% compared to normal mode, while YouTube in dark mode at full brightness on a Pixel used 43% less power, rising to a 60% saving when the video was paused.
ZDNET also found that not all colours are equal when it comes to power draw. Black uses the least, white uses the most, and blue consumes around 25% more power than green or red, so it's worth keeping in mind when choosing wallpapers or app themes.