Image: Google
Daylight Saving Time is over; darkness now descends upon the Earth every day at 5 p.m. You stumble to your car, turn on the ignition, and fire up Google Maps to figure out the fastest route home, only to be blinded by the brightest map you’ve ever seen in your goddamn life (it’s even reflecting off the freaking windshield). Well, we can’t change the clock for you, or harness the power of the sun, but we can help you enable dark mode in Google Maps.
As reported by The Verge, Google has at long last rolled out dark mode, which first appeared on the iPhone back in September. The company has seemed happy to keep the feature on the DL, however, and is only just now alerting users to its presence with a pop-up. If you haven’t seen the pop-up yet, however, it’s easy enough enable dark mode in Google Maps, whether you use Android or iOS.
How to enable dark mode in Google Maps for iOS
Enabling dark mode is easy on iPhone. First, launch the app, then tap your profile in the top-right corner. Tap “Settings,” then choose “Dark Mode.” You’ll see three options:;“On,” which turns on dark mode; “Off,” which disables dark mode; or “Same as device setting.”
This last option will match Google Maps’ theme to the rest of your iPhone; if you’re using dark mode on your device, Google Maps will open in dark mode. If your iPhone is in light mode, you’ll see Google Maps in light mode as well. This option is the one I prefer, since I like all my apps to match whatever the rest of my iPhone is doing.
This setting is especially useful if you use iOS’ automated dark mode option. For example, I have my iPhone set to turn on dark mode when the sun sets, and to turn it off at sunrise. That way, when it’s dark out, my phone’s in dark mode; when it’s light out, my phone is in light mode. When I open Google Maps at night, now it automatically starts in dark mode.
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How to enable dark mode in Google Maps for Android
Setting up dark mode in Google Maps for Android is also a snap. Open the app, then tap your profile. Choose “Settings,” then choose “Theme.” From here, you’re presented with the same three options you are on iOS: “On,” “Off,” and “Same as device settings.”
If you’re on Android, you might already have known Google Maps has a dark mode; the feature rolled out earlier this year after being in testing since September 2020. Since Google makes both Google Maps and Android, it’s no surprise the feature rolled out there first.
