Dark Mode Design Trends for 2025: Should Your Startup Adopt It?

9 min readMar 4, 2025

Dark mode is no longer just a design trend — it’s a feature that impacts user experience, battery life, and brand perception. By 2025, 82% of mobile users prefer dark mode, and it can save up to 47% battery on OLED screens. However, it comes with challenges like readability issues and higher development costs.

Key Takeaways:

Benefits: Reduces eye strain, saves battery, and aligns with user preferences across various digital platforms.
Challenges: Requires extra development effort, careful contrast adjustments, and doesn’t suit all industries (e.g., finance or healthcare).
Who Should Use It: Ideal for apps targeting mobile-first, night-time, or professional users who spend extended periods on screen.

When comparing aspects of dark mode implementation, user experience benefits include reduced eye strain and boosted engagement, but with the drawback of harder readability in bright settings. Battery life can be saved up to 47% on OLED screens, though there’s no impact on LCD devices. Development adds a modern feature but increases costs and complexity. Market appeal attracts tech-savvy users, though not all users prefer dark mode.

If your audience spends long hours on screens or uses apps in low-light conditions, dark mode is worth considering. Start with user research and a beta rollout to test its impact.

Mastering Dark Mode Design: Expert UI/UX Tips

Watch on YouTube

2025 Dark Mode Design Patterns

Startups are finding efficient ways to implement dark mode, thanks to advancements in AI and thoughtful design strategies. Let’s dive into how these elements are shaping the future of dark mode.

AI-Powered Color Systems

AI is playing a big role in creating smarter dark mode experiences. For instance, the InvertOrNot API uses an EfficientNet model to optimize image inversion. These AI systems can also analyze user behavior in real time, adjusting settings based on factors like lighting, time of day, and personal preferences.

Improving Readability in Dark Mode

Instead of using pure black, many apps now opt for soft dark gray backgrounds to reduce eye strain. Material Design suggests an 87% alpha for primary content, making text easier on the eyes.

Here’s a quick guide to enhance readability in dark mode:

For background elements, dark gray tones work better because they’re easier on the eyes than pure black. Text color should use 87% alpha white to create softer contrast for better readability. Font weight should be medium to bold to ensure clarity on dark backgrounds. Accent colors should have low saturation to prevent visual fatigue during extended use.

While readability is key, it’s equally important to maintain your brand’s identity when designing for dark mode.

Balancing Clean Design and Brand Identity

Google Keep’s iOS app is a great example of branding done right in dark mode. It uses soft gray outlines and varied card colors to create a clear visual hierarchy while staying true to its brand.

Modern dark mode designs often include:

Subtle Gradients: Deep blues, purples, and charcoals add depth without overwhelming the visual experience or competing with content.
Metallic Accents: Gold, silver, or chrome elements create a polished look that brings sophistication to dark interfaces.
Muted Earth Tones: Colors like forest green, burnt orange, and dusty rose offer a calming effect that works well against dark backgrounds.

Tom Caklos, a freelance web designer, comments:

“Dark mode feature is rare”

These design strategies give startups a chance to stand out with their MVPs while staying consistent with their brand identity.

Dark Mode: Advantages and Drawbacks

Dark mode has become a key feature in product design for startups in 2025. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, 82% of mobile users now use dark mode, showing its growing importance in shaping user experiences.

Why Add Dark Mode

Dark mode brings several advantages for startups aiming to improve user experience. For example, on OLED screens under average brightness, it can reduce battery usage by up to 47%. This is especially relevant for users who spend an average of 6 hours and 35 minutes daily on their devices.

Common Dark Mode Problems

However, implementing dark mode isn’t without its challenges. Around 70% of users report readability issues due to poor contrast, which can be a significant obstacle for startups with limited design resources.

Here are some common challenges and potential solutions:

Screen Reflections make content hard to see in sunlight, which can be mitigated by using dark grays instead of pure black. Brand Consistency issues arise when logos and colors don’t adapt well to dark backgrounds, requiring separate assets for dark mode. Device Compatibility varies across display technologies, making it essential to test on both OLED and LCD screens. User Preference statistics show 42% of users still prefer light mode, suggesting the importance of allowing users to choose or set system defaults.

Dark Mode Decision Table

To help startups decide whether to implement dark mode, here’s a breakdown of its pros and cons:

For User Experience, benefits include reduced eye strain in low light environments, while drawbacks include potentially harder reading in bright settings. Technical Impact shows savings of up to 47% battery on OLED screens, but requires extra development effort to implement properly. Market Appeal attracts tech-savvy users who expect modern interfaces, though not all users favor dark mode. Accessibility supports users with visual sensitivities, but needs careful contrast adjustments to maintain readability. Development adds a distinctive feature that can differentiate your product, but requires thorough testing across multiple devices.

Companies like Discord and Nvidia have successfully integrated dark mode by default, showing its relevance for modern products. These insights can guide the integration of dark mode into your MVP design, which will be discussed further in the next section.

Adding Dark Mode to Your MVP

Integrating dark mode into your MVP requires thoughtful planning and thorough user testing. Here’s a structured approach to help you implement this feature effectively.

Testing with Real Users

Testing with actual users is essential to ensure dark mode works as intended. Direct feedback helps pinpoint usability issues and improve the experience. Here’s a breakdown of key testing phases:

The Pre-Launch phase focuses on contrast ratios and readability using tools like WCAG Contrast Checker to ensure basic accessibility standards are met. Device Testing examines cross-platform compatibility using browser dev tools to identify inconsistencies across different operating systems and screens. User Feedback collection focuses on usability issues and eye strain through in-app surveys that capture real-world experiences. Performance testing measures battery usage and load times through system monitoring to quantify the technical benefits of dark mode implementation.

“Testing should ensure that contrast ratios between text and background meet accessibility standards, ensuring readability for clients with visual disabilities.” — Testvox Newsletter

Gathering user feedback during these phases will provide valuable insights to refine your dark mode implementation.

Design Tools and Systems

Modern design tools make dark mode integration more efficient. Here’s how you can leverage them:

CSS Variables: Define light and dark mode styles using CSS variables for easy theme switching, allowing for centralized control of color schemes across your entire application.
Storage Solutions: Use cookies instead of localStorage to store user preferences because this approach supports cross-domain functionality and server-side rendering for more consistent experiences.
Framework Integration: Tools like MVP.css and Vue dark-mode can simplify implementation because these frameworks offer built-in support for system preferences and ensure smooth transitions between themes.

Gradual vs. Complete Launch

After setting up the design tools, plan your rollout strategy carefully. A phased rollout can help address inconsistencies and ensure a smooth release. Here’s a comparison of different launch strategies:

Gradual launches work best for products with large user bases, typically requiring 2–3 months and medium resource allocation to implement successfully. Beta Testing is ideal for introducing new features, taking 1–2 months with low resource needs while gathering valuable user feedback. Complete launches suit simple MVPs, requiring 2–4 weeks but demanding high resource investment for comprehensive implementation. A/B Testing works well for complex UIs, taking 1–2 months with medium resources to properly evaluate user preferences and interactions.

AlterSquare suggests a 2-week beta test followed by a full launch. This approach fits their 90-day development cycle and ensures thorough testing while incorporating user feedback.

Key tips for success: Set dark mode detection on the HTML element before the body loads to avoid the “white flash.” Use CSS filters for consistent image rendering, ensure smooth transitions between modes, and check compatibility with third-party widgets.

Should You Use Dark Mode?

Understanding Your Users

Research shows that 82% of mobile users prefer dark mode. Before jumping into dark mode implementation, it’s crucial to consider your users’ habits and environments.

Certain groups, such as developers, designers, and gamers, tend to favor dark mode. For instance, Terra’s adoption of dark mode resulted in a significant improvement: their desktop bounce rate dropped from 27% to 11%, and pages per session increased from 3.7 to 10.

Different industries approach dark mode differently based on their needs:

Media & Entertainment: Often prioritize dark mode to support long viewing sessions and nighttime usage when users are most likely to consume content.
Finance & Banking: Typically stick to light mode for better readability and to maintain user trust through familiar interface patterns.
Healthcare: Prefer light mode to ensure clinical accuracy and accessibility for patients and healthcare providers who need clear information.
Development Tools: Dark mode is a go-to for prolonged coding sessions to reduce eye strain during extended work periods.
Social Media: Offering both modes can cater to diverse user preferences across different usage contexts and times of day.

“Just because 82% of mobile users have adopted dark mode doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for every product. Usability and content clarity should always take precedence over following the crowd.” — Antler Digital

By understanding these trends, you can better evaluate whether dark mode aligns with your product’s goals and user base.

Cost and Technical Requirements

Adding dark mode can increase development costs by up to 40% and require an extra 4–6 hours of work per screen. However, it’s worth noting that users with dark mode enabled tend to spend about one hour longer in apps. For engagement-driven products, this could make the investment worthwhile.

Decision Checklist

Here’s a checklist to guide your decision-making process:

User Environment: Are your users often in low-light settings, do they spend long periods on your app, do they frequently switch between dark mode apps, and are most of your users on mobile devices?
Technical Readiness: Can your team work with modern CSS-based color schemes, are you equipped to handle image theming and seamless transitions, and do you have a plan to meet accessibility standards?
Resource Availability: Is there enough budget to cover higher development costs, can you dedicate time for thorough cross-device testing, and do you have resources for ongoing theme maintenance?

If your product caters to users who spend long hours on screens or often use apps in low-light conditions, dark mode could boost engagement and satisfaction. On the other hand, industries that rely on clarity and readability might find a light-first approach more suitable.

Conclusion: Deciding on Dark Mode

Key Takeaways

Dark mode has become an intentional design choice that impacts user experiences with digital products. Deciding whether to implement it involves weighing user preferences, technical feasibility, and available resources.

For mobile-focused products, battery efficiency on OLED screens is a key consideration. Here are some primary factors to keep in mind:

User Preference as a factor aligns with current device habits and can increase satisfaction among users who already prefer system-wide dark mode. Development Cost requires thoughtful resource allocation as implementing dark mode properly demands additional design and testing time. Accessibility as a consideration accommodates a range of visual needs and can make your product more inclusive for users with different visual sensitivities.

How to Move Forward

Based on the pros and cons we’ve explored, here’s a practical way to approach dark mode:

If research shows strong user demand and you can test it across devices, consider launching dark mode sooner rather than later. However, industries like finance or healthcare, where clarity is critical, might benefit from waiting until the feature can be fully refined.

A beta rollout is a smart first step. It allows for gradual improvements while keeping resource use in check. The goal remains clear: balancing user satisfaction with development priorities — a consistent theme throughout this discussion.

Ready to go further?

Curious about the full story? Read the original blog post on our website for additional insights.
Want more insights? Browse our entire blog library to stay updated on industry trends and expert tips.
Explore real-world success stories: Check out our case studies to see how we’ve helped businesses grow.
Looking for a reliable tech partner? Learn more about us on our homepage and discover how we can support your vision.
Eager to build and launch fast? Visit our Rapid MVP Launch page to kickstart your product journey today.