Connect with us

Facebook

You can hack in dark mode on Facebook Messenger by sending an emoji

Well, that’s a cool way to add a feature.

facebook messenger dark mode
Image: 9to5Mac

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Last year at Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference, the social giant promised to bring a dark mode to Facebook Messenger to soothe your burning retinas. As with everything Facebook promises, we’ve had to wait but now the feature is finally here.

It’s not as simple to get as flicking a switch in the settings. You’ll have to hack it in currently, with an easter egg, to get the dark mode enabled. Sending a humble emoji to anyone in your contacts list will suffice, which will then unlock the setting in your menu on both iOS or Android.

smiling moons emoji on Facebook Messenger
Image: Facebook

To save your retinas (and your screen), here’s what to do:

  • Open the Facebook Messenger app on your phone
  •  Send a moon/crescent 🌙  emoji to anyone in your contacts (you can even send it to yourself)
  • Tap that emoji like you’re playing Cookie Clicker until you see the screen fill up with the moon/crescent emoji as in the above screenshot.
  • Once that happens, you’ll get a message saying that “You Found Dark Mode!” and you can turn it on from the settings page

dark mode setting Facebook
Image: TNW
  • You can also turn it on by tapping your profile picture and tapping the Dark Mode toggle from the settings page
  • The Dark Mode toggle will eventually turn up in a future app update. It’s cool that the Messenger team has put a fun way to add it ahead of schedule, so go send some emoji today!

    I look forward to the day that all apps ship with a dark mode.

    What do you think? Do you prefer this to the regular, bright Messenger platform? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

    Editors’ Recommendations:

    Follow us on Flipboard, Google News, or Apple News

    Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.

    Click to comment

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    More in Facebook