
The email environment (menu, sidebar and inbox overview) switches to dark mode, but the emails themselves don’t change. Our theory is that dark mode inverts the colors of each of those elements on the color wheel:īut, as always, email is a little more complicated of an environment than the web… The various tests that we have conducted on mobile and desktop environments have identified three scenarios. And the fonts go in the opposite direction. In theory, the impact of dark mode on content is fairly simple: the background changes from light (white or near-white) to dark (black or dark gray). So, the question is not if you need to design your future emails with dark mode in mind. At this point, there can be no doubt that this option will gradually spread to most of the main environments in which your campaigns are accessed… Outlook rolled its dark theme this summer, for mobile devices, macOS and, with Gmail following close behind (for Android, iOS, and webmail via Chrome). First of all because, with six out of every 10 emails opened on mobile devices, the fact that the two most widespread operating systems offer a dark theme makes the issue unavoidable.īut also because more and more of the environments (email clients and webmail) in which emails are read are offering dark modes. What is the impact on email marketing? Well, it is certainly not to be overlooked. Apple has heavily promoted dark mode in its new desktop and mobile OSs Email is also affected

reduced visual fatigue (although remains to be scientifically proven).Īs a result, dark mode interfaces, a choice that was once confined to techies, is rapidly gaining in popularity: in the space of just a month, 50% of iPhone users had upgraded to iOS 13, an operating system in which Apple is strongly “pushing” its customers to use dark mode.lower battery use, for a longer battery life (confirmed by both Google and Apple).a more pleasant reading experience in low-light conditions (so the screen is less “blinding”).

Dark mode is achieved in those OSs when the user asks for negative rendering and so expects to see a different appearance… More detailed information is available in this postĭark mode : What is it (and why does it affect email)?Įmail in dark mode : The different scenariosĪll apps that feature a dark mode give their users the possibility to choose between a light theme (dark text against a white background) and a dark theme (light text against a dark background).
#Dark theme for outlook for mac android
* Color inversion is like a photo negative: a light background becomes dark, and dark text becomes light, for example.Ĭlick here to learn more about the renderings observed in email Dark mode: How emails render in the main user environmentsĮmails in dark mode on mobile devices Environnement (OS)Įmails in dark mode on computers Environnement (OS)Īs it now stands, the code and, therefore, the appearance of your campaigns will be truly altered in Outlook 2019 (computer email client) and Gmail (iOS and Android mobile apps), if the user has activated dark mode in the app. “Deviant behavior” is observed in older OSs (but this issue is gradually being corrected, it would appear).
