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Samsung's One UI Update Makes Internet Browsing Way Better at Night

Dec 10, 2018 08:46 PM

Jan 16, 2019 09:30 PM

One of the headlining features in Samsung's One UI update is a new dark mode that turns stock apps and system menus black. But something you may have missed is what this theme does to the Samsung Internet app and all the websites you visit.

When the system-wide "Night theme" option is enabled in Settings –> Display, Samsung Internet will also get the dark mode treatment. This should apply to all devices that receive the One UI update, including the Galaxy S8, S8+, Galaxy S9, S9+, and Galaxy Note 9.But it goes a step further than the dark mode in other pre-installed Samsung apps — Samsung Internet will also render websites with a dark gray theme.

This happens automatically when you enable the system-wide dark mode, so you don't have to enable any extra settings in the Samsung Internet app. And unlike other browsers' dark mode options, Samsung Internet doesn't flash a bright white screen before ultimately inverting the colors on a site, so it's all dark all the time.

It does an amazing job of turning most websites dark, but it's not perfect all the time. Occasionally, the inverted colors will make some image-based elements harder to see, like Facebook's navigation buttons in the screenshots below. But most websites we've tested so far look great with Night theme enabled.

If you try this out and get an error stating "Can't use night mode in multi-window view," you'll just need to update Samsung Internet (through Galaxy Apps), then accept all pending OTA updates in Settings –> Software Update. It make take a few updates before the feature starts working, but once you're on the latest firmware with the latest version of Samsung Internet, all should be well.

This feature is currently only available to the Galaxy S9, S9+, and Note 9 through Samsung's Android Pie beta program, but we expect it to hit all devices when the stable One UI update officially rolls out. If you're interested in seeing when that should happen for your personal phone, make sure to hit up the link below.