Dark mode is unlikely to make a big difference to battery life with the way that most people use their phones on a daily basis, says a new study. That doesn’t mean that dark mode can’t be helpful, though.

But dark mode is unlikely to make a big difference to battery life with the way that most people use their phones on a daily basis, says a new study by Purdue University researchers.

That doesn’t mean that dark mode can’t be helpful, though.

«When the industry rushed to adopt dark mode, it didn’t have the tools yet to accurately measure power draw by the pixels,» said Charlie Hu, Purdue’s Michael and Katherine Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. «But now we’re able to give developers the tools they need to give users more energy-efficient apps.»

Based on their findings using these tools they built, the researchers clarify the facts about the effects of dark mode on battery life and recommend ways that users can already take better advantage of the feature’s power savings.

The study looked at six of the most-downloaded apps on Google Play: Google Maps, Google News, Google Phone, Google Calendar, YouTube and Calculator. The researchers analyzed how dark mode affects 60 seconds of activity within each of these apps on the Pixel 2, Moto Z3, Pixel 4 and Pixel 5.

Story Source: Materials provided by Purdue University. Original written by Kayla Wiles. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.