Dark mode is getting a revamp for Android’s Google Chrome app, and it’s going to be a lot better at detecting images.
Google has released the beta for Chrome 77 – the latest update to the Google Chrome Android app – and the popular dark mode feature looks more intuitive than ever.
Related: Dark Mode apps
One of the major problems found in a lot of default smartphone and laptop dark modes is that they function by inverting your screen across all websites and programmes. While this is all well and good for text, images often end up getting sacrificed in the exchange. This can be really annoying when you’re scrolling through a picture-heavy site or social media.
Google seems to be taking a step to combat this in Chrome 77 for Android by detecting images and not inverting them, regardless of how much white space the picture contains.
This isn’t the first time Chrome for Android has addressed the issue. In Chrome 76, dark mode underwent massive improvements when Google added the ‘prefers-color-scheme’ query for CSS. This function automatically activates a ‘dark mode’ version of a site if one is readily available and only inverts the colours itself if there is no set alternative.
Text will also undergo changes in Chrome 77. In previous versions of dark mode for Chrome, grey text has shown up as bright white to better contrast with the new black background and improve readability. Google is cutting down on this to avoid putting unnecessary strain on the eyes – definitely a bonus since that strain is one of the biggest reason people ditch the default light mode in the first place.
Other new features in Chrome 77 include an attribute that allows web app developers to redefine what happens when a user hits the enter key – this could be especially helpful when it comes to filling out forms, as the enter key could be used to toggle between fields to avoid submitting a form early.
Related: Best Android phones
The Contact Picker API makes it easier to share content with contacts by allowing sites to access your contact list and grab only the info they need. This could be as specific as the phone number of a contact while still denying the site from picking up that same contact’s name and email address.
If you want to try out the updated dark mode for Google Chrome or any of the other new features you can download the Android app here on the Google Play Store today.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
