Android phones have had dark mode themes for years now.
On Google Pixel phones, you even have the option to set your entire system theme based on your wallpaper. The system extracts colors from your wallpaper and applies them across menus, settings, and even supported apps.
That said, most of us still fall back on the classic dark mode on our smartphones. Not everyone enjoys using Material You theming, and the light theme, to be honest, is rarely easy on the eyes.
If you’re like me and prefer the built-in dark mode over everything else, one frustration you may have noticed is that not all apps support dark mode out of the box.
Despite dark mode being around for years, many apps still lack it. Thankfully, Android includes a hidden setting that forces all apps to use dark mode.
Here’s how I completely switched my Android to dark mode and how you can do the same.
How to enable expanded dark mode on Android
A hidden toggle forces all apps to follow the dark theme
The feature that lets you force dark mode across the system and apps on Android is called Expanded dark mode. Google added it to Pixel phones with the December 2025 Android 16 QPR2 update.
Before you enable it, make sure your Pixel is updated to the latest software. You can check by going to Settings > System > Software updates and installing any pending update.
After that’s done, here’s how you can enable Expanded dark mode on your Pixel phone:
- Open the Settings app and go to Display & touch.
- In Display settings, scroll down to Dark theme and tap the arrow next to it.
- Enable the toggle for Use dark theme.
- Below that, select the Expanded option.
That’s it. Dark mode should now apply across your Pixel instantly.
Do note that if you’re using Material 3 Expressive, you may not notice an immediate difference, as Android will continue applying colors from your wallpaper.
If you want to disable that and stick to the standard dark mode, go to Settings > Wallpaper & style > Home screen > Colors > Other colors, then choose the first dark option.
This switches your device back to the old dark mode and disables Material 3 Expressive theming across the system and apps.
Expanded dark mode is powerful yet surprisingly unknown
Most people never realize Android can force unsupported apps to use dark mode
If you’re wondering what this feature actually does, it forces all apps to use dark mode, even if they don’t natively support it.
You probably have a few apps on your phone that ignore system-wide dark mode settings, but Expanded dark mode pushes them to adopt a dark theme anyway.
With this enabled, apps like Amazon and Airbnb, and until recently even Fitbit, switch to a dark theme through this feature, even if they haven’t built native support for it.
In my testing, the feature works surprisingly well and finally gives you something close to a proper dark mode experience on Android.
Sure, the forced dark theme is not as polished as the built-in implementations developers design themselves, but having the option is still a win in my opinion.
From the start, it can feel slightly forced, as apps default to a standard dark color instead of the softer dark grey tones many developers use when implementing dark mode natively.
That said, Google can only do so much when developers haven’t optimized their own UI for dark mode.
Google also notes that this feature may cause issues in apps that don’t officially support dark mode.
For instance, in my testing, some UI elements inside the Amazon app were not clearly visible when Expanded dark mode was enabled.
That is simply the trade-off you make when forcing a theme across unsupported apps.
I think Google could improve this by allowing users to control the intensity of the forced dark mode or fine-tune how it applies, but that option is not available right now.
Even so, it’s a pretty cool feature to have.
This hidden dark mode feature completely transformed my setup
All things considered, Expanded dark mode is one of those cool hidden gems in Android that lets you use your phone the way you want, not how developers expect you to experience their apps.
This is not the only hidden feature on Pixel phones worth exploring.
There are plenty of other useful tricks that Google Pixels offer, like swipe to start search in the app drawer and Private Space, which many people still don’t know about but are genuinely fun to use.
