Facebook users were left confused and outraged after the social media giant temporarily removed the ‘dark mode’ feature for some users after an update.
After a security update, the feature disappeared without warning, leaving users to grapple with the ‘blinding’ whiteness of Facebook’s normal mode.
The change seems to have come after an update, 320.0.0.36.122, as well as for the 319 version, on both iPhones and Android phones.
It’s not the first time this bug has cropped up – at the start of May, Android users found a similar problem, before it was fixed without comment from Facebook.
And for some users, the issue seems to be self-correcting, suggesting that Facebook are working behind the scenes to fix the problem – it’s reportedly fixed the issue on Android phones.
How to fix dark mode on iPhones
If you’re using an Apple phone, then a quick fix appears available by uninstalling and reinstalling the app.
If that doesn’t work, some users have found success by going into Facebook app settings, and turning on ‘Upload HD video’ and ‘Upload HD photos’.
It appears that, by toggling the settings in iOS, the app is forced to reset its cache and dark mode is then reenabled, but it’s not clear why this works.
How to enable Facebook dark mode
If you weren’t using dark mode in the first place, but wanted to – it’s simple to turn on.
To turn on dark mode on the mobile app, you just need to tap the menu icon at the top right hand corner of the app, on Android, or the lines at the bottom right hand corner, for iPhones, and press ‘Settings and Privacy’.
You’ll then be given the option to switch to ‘Dark Mode’, with three settings – on, off and system settings. The latter option will stick to whatever theme you’ve chosen for your phone operating system.
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Facebook has had dark mode available as an option for desktop, iOS and Android users since 2020, but some users are posting that they're now unable to switch the feature on.
The color scheme can be more manageable on the eyes when scrolling through your newsfeed or a set of videos, especially at night.
Other apps from Meta have also benefited from dark modes such as Instagram and WhatsApp, but Facebook seems to switch the feature off from time to time.
We've reached out to Facebook for comment to find out why it's been switched off for certain users.
How to check if you have dark mode
Dark mode can be difficult to find on iOS or Android, as it's not as visible as other features. On the main screen, go to the 'Menu' icon on the navigation bar, then Settings & Privacy, scroll down to Preferences, and Dark Mode should be there.
However, for the desktop it's an easier affair by simply going to the arrow on the top right, selecting 'Display and Accessibility', and switching on dark mode.
There hasn't been an explanation from Meta as to why it's decided to switch off the feature for some, nor is there a reason regardless to do it. It's a useful feature, and it won't be a strain on the company or the apps it offers, so the deactivation is a baffling decision.
For the time being, we recommend removing the app from your Android or iOS device, reinstalling it, and see whether that makes dark mode return as an option.
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The Facebook app is now missing one of the most-used system-level features of iOS. As spotted by many Facebook users and confirmed by 9to5Mac, the dark mode option in Facebook for iOS has disappeared without explanation. While this is likely a bug, Facebook has not acknowledged the issue or provided a timeline on a fix.
Dark mode option disappears from Facebook for iOS
Facebook users have taken to other social media platforms such as Twitter to complain about the sudden disappearance of dark mode support. This includes Facebook’s support for the system-wide dark mode toggle in iOS, as well as the in-app dark mode toggle that used to be available in the “Settings” menu of the Facebook app itself.
What this means is that not only will Facebook no longer respect your system-wide dark mode preferences, but there’s also no option to manually enable dark mode directly in the Facebook app. It’s not a major bug, but it can make for a rather jarring visual inconsistency particularly when you have system-wide dark mode enabled on your iPhone or iPad.
System-wide dark mode support came to iOS as part of the release of iOS 13 in 2019. As we’ve come to expect from the company, Facebook took its time to roll out support for the feature. Facebook’s support for dark mode didn’t actually launch until late June of 2020, a full year after Apple announced iOS 13 with dark mode as a headlining feature.
There’s no reason to think Facebook has now intentionally removed dark mode support from its iOS application. The company doesn’t provide release notes for any of the updates it rolls out to Facebook for iOS, but updates are released roughly every 5-7 days. It’s likely that one of these recent updates also included a change that mistakenly caused dark mode to disappear from the Facebook for iOS app.
Have you noticed that Facebook for iOS no longer offers a dark mode option? Let us know down in the comments.
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