Android fans (us included) were pretty upset to find that in later versions of the Android M Developer Preview, Google stripped out their hidden Dark Theme from inside the Developer options. As hopeful as we were it’d make the final cut, there’s never any guarantee that features hidden inside developer previews (like that multi-window feature) would ever see the light of day in final builds. Sure enough, jumping inside the hidden Developer options of the now final Android 6.0 Marshmallow build for Nexus devices and you’ll find that Dark Theme still absent. Google giveth and Google taketh away.
But is it possible Google could still be planning to introduce the feature in later Android builds? It certainly seems that way. Our good friend Hernán Castañón dived into Android 6.0’s source code and found references of a “dark-colored user interface” now being referred to as “Night mode.” Remember, last time around the Dark Theme had an “Automatic” option that changed the theme based on the time of day.
It’s tough to say what Google is planning if anything, but we wouldn’t be surprised to find the feature eventually introduced in later versions of Android. Judging by the comments in our previous post, it sure seems like there’s plenty of demand for it. How hyped would you be to find a Night Mode make its way to Android 6.1 Marshmallow?