Instagram has been providing a dark theme for your iPhone or Android smartphone since 2019 that substitutes Instagram’s usual white interface with shades of gray and black across the app.
With the launch of the iPhone 13 and Pixel 6 series, it will be one of the first tasks to show your smartphone profile in dark mode when you upgrade it.
It can also help extend your phone’s battery life if you’re a particularly heavy user. As white pixels use much more power than black pixels.
This is especially true for phones with AMOLED screens where black pixels are completely turned off. Many people also find that dark mode reduces eye fatigue. Especially at night, due to the reduced glare.
Instagram Dark Mode for iPhone
If you have an iPhone with iOS 15 or have recently updated your iPhone to the 13 series, these steps will allow you to change its system settings and use Instagram in dark mode.
- Open the phone settings
- Select “Display and brightness”
- Click”Dark” to change the theme.
- Open Instagram
Instagram Dark Mode for Android
To enable Instagram dark mode on an Android 11 phone, just follow these four steps:
- Open the phone settings
- Scroll down to ‘Display’
- Activate the “Dark Theme”
- Open Instagram
You can also turn on dark mode from the Instagram app
To turn Dark Mode on or off from the Instagram app for Android:
- Tap Instagram-user-profile or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
- Tap Menu in the top right.
- Tap Settings, then tap Theme.
- Tap Dark or Light.
How else can you save battery on Instagram?
If Instagram is draining your phone’s battery, there are other steps you can take to save a little extra battery.
Instagram preloads images and videos for you to scroll, but you can restrict this behavior. Tap the menu icon in the upper-right corner of the app, then tap the settings icon at the bottom. Tap Account, then Mobile data usage and turn on Data saver.
This will prevent your videos from preloading, so they will only be downloaded if you choose to play them. It’s unlikely that this will have a big effect, but if you regularly find that your battery without a charger is draining to the last 10%, every little thing helps.