Why does everyone keep using pure black for dark mode backgrounds?

I keep seeing new apps and websites slap #000000 as their dark mode background and it honestly hurts my eyes after 10 minutes. Pure black creates awful contrast issues with text and makes everything feel washed out if you have any colorful elements. I switched my design to a dark gray like #1A1A2E about 2 years ago after reading a study from Google about eye strain and dark mode readability. Has anyone else noticed this trend getting worse in the last 6 months?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_wright7d ago

Yeah I read that same Google study actually. It said pure black can cause something called halation where your eyes struggle to focus because of the extreme contrast. I switched my apps to dark gray like #121212 about a year ago and it made a big difference for me. The articles I saw about it said the human eye just handles dark gray way better than pure black because it mimics how we see in low light naturally. That may be why so many people are having trouble with the new pure black designs popping up everywhere lately.

stellag217d ago

Wish my contractor eyes cared this much about halation on a job site.