Even though we love the bright and colorful new Material Design from Google, some of us prefer a user interface which is darker and hence, easier on the eyes. Not to mention quite battery friendly too if your smartphone or tablet happens to have an AMOLED display. Then there’s also the fact that darker colors look much better on an AMOLED screen. All the more reason to join the dark side. But even if you don’t have a device with an AMOLED screen, dark themed apps still look awesome, as long as you get the screen brightness right. So check out some dark-themed app replacements for stock apps on your Android listed below.
Nova Launcher
A launcher is mostly the first app you interact with every time you unlock the screen on your Android. So it makes sense that we begin with a launcher replacement. Not only does Nova Launcher come with a dark theme, it is a favorite among Android users. It has a number of customization options available too. While setting up Nova Launcher, you get the option to enable the dark mode. You can also do that in the launcher settings. The dark mode can also be scheduled to automatically get enabled in the night and disabled in the day. It sets a dark background for the app drawer, the Google widget, and the settings screen.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher”/]Contacts and Dialer by Simpler
If your stock dialer app lacks a dark theme … just kidding, it quite surely does. That is why there are so many dialer replacement apps on Android, some with really cool features and inspiring UI designs as well. Also, most of them require you to change the way you use the dialer app because of all the cool and fancy. If all you need is a simple dark themed Dialer and Contacts replacement, this is where Contacts & Dialer by Simpler shines, pun intended. Go to Settings > Style, tap on Dark mode and select Black.
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[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simpler.contacts”/]Textra SMS
After launcher, dialer, and contacts, the sequential order brings us to an SMS replacement app. Textra is ‘the’ SMS replacement app so you should already be using it if you are so much into customization. The dark themes are only icing on the cake. It already is a dark-themed app by default but if you prefer something even darker, that’s possible too. In the Textra Settings > Customize Look and from Screen Colors, select Black. This will turn the background into pitch black.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.textra&rdid=com.textra”/]Gboard
If you aren’t already using Gboard, start using it. It’s a smart keyboard app straight from Google. Gboard integrates a Google search bar right inside the keyboard and the theme support is equally exciting. When the keyboard is open, tap the G button and then tap on the theme button. Under the Colors section, choose a dark color and press the back button. You can also try Swiftkey, TouchPal and other keyboards and mostly all of them have many dark themes available for free.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin”/]Solid Explorer
Solid File Explorer seems to be the go to file explorer for a lot of folks these days. This is mainly because ES File Explorer is no more an app you can trust and the default Android File manager sucks. Solid File Explorer is based on Google’s Material design so it’s quite an eye candy too. If you don’t agree, you can go to the app settings by tapping the gear icon in the side menu drawer. Here, you can select the theme colors for the app as per your liking. Now since we’re talking about dark themed apps here, select a dark color and you’re good to go.
Also read: How to Enable Dark Mode on YouTube [Web]
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer2″/]Pi Music Player
Google Play Music is the default music player app on most Android devices, apart from the one pre-installed by the device manufacturer on some devices. While Google Play Music has come a long way, in terms of features and theme support, it still lacks way behind. For people like me, it’s a little too bright, a little too … orange.
If you listen to your music offline, you should try Pi Music Player. You can choose a dark theme or a black theme right when you first launch the app. And it’s a black theme that really stands out on its own. Not to mention the slew of other features you get because this isn’t the place for that. If you mostly stream your music, you can take a look at Spotify or Gaana.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Project100Pi.themusicplayer”/]
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