While users keep waiting for the dark mode update for Facebook and Messenger, there is no word officially yet. If you want to enjoy night or black theme, download the dark themed Facebook and Messenger apps APK from below and install as instructed.
Facebook was one of the companies that jumped onto the mobile boat before everyone else. Mark Zuckerberg rightly anticipated the rise of smartphones as the most used primary device to access the Internet. That may not yet be true in some developed parts of the world, but is true for at least a billion people in other parts. Most of these people, if not all, are using Android to get on Facebook. Hence, the company does take its Android app quite seriously. Yet, Facebook and Messenger apps from the company are some of the most resource hungry apps you will find. Twitter, with much fewer users, has a much better app, it even has a dark mode.
Facebook clearly knows that, thus, they’ve brought forth the lite versions of both their Facebook and Messenger apps. The difference between the lite and full apps is drastic, and I even did a comparison between Messenger and Messenger Lite. Despite all that though, most people with a fairly decent smartphone won’t mind the resources these apps use. Even some of the most budget-friendly devices these days are shipping with 4 or even 6 gigs of RAM, plenty of internal storage and large batteries. But still, compared to the Twitter app, there is something that these apps miss.
If somehow you missed it, we’re talking about a dark mode. Facebook is one of those apps many of us use in the night before going to sleep. We’re a spoiled generation some would say, but lately, those people have got the hang of it too. Most of the app being so white does not help the eyes very much in such dark situations. Some phones allow really low brightness levels and the white is still too bright. If you like using your Facebook or communicating with friends over Messenger during the night, you would love a dark themed Facebook and Messenger app.
Thanks to XDA Senior Member Near_07, that is now a possibility. All you have to do is simply download and install two APKs for the two apps. If you’ve done this before, it’ll be easy. If you haven’t installed an APK before, it will still be easy because we’ll just tell you how. Keep in mind though that there is a minor, or major drawback to this, depending on how you see app updates. Since you’re going to install modded APK files, you won’t get regular updates from the Play Store. Furthermore, anytime there’s an unofficial dark theme for an app, OS, or software UI in general, there are some bugs. Things like black on black text, white on white text, etc. Not a common occurrence here with these two apps though.
These are huge apps so make sure you either have an unlimited data plan or are on WiFi.
Screenshots of Dark Themed Facebook and Messenger
Enable Unknown sources
Android devices do allow you to sideload APK files so you can install apps that aren’t from the Play Store. However, doing so is a risky business. Every other day someone exposes a vulnerability that could affect Android devices. Most of the times these won’t, as long as you get your apps from the Play Store. When you install apps from other sources, it becomes your responsibility to make sure it’s trustable. To be able to sideload APKs, you’ll need to enable Unknown sources.
To do this, go to Settings > Security and check the box next to Unknown sources. Android 8.0 and above have this setting removed. Instead, you’ll now have to allow similar permission to any Android app that you open an APK from. It’s a slightly more secure approach.
Download Dark Themed Facebook and Messenger APK
- Dark Facebook APK: Dark-Facebook-v141_rev2.apk
- Dark Messenger APK: Dark-Messenger-v139.apk
Don’t miss: Enable Facebook Messenger Dark Mode with This Emoji
Install the APK
Note: You must uninstall the official Facebook and Messenger apps from your device before installing the modded APK.
Once you have downloaded the Facebook and Messenger APKs, simply tap on the download complete notification to launch the Android package installer. Users of Android Oreo and above will then be asked to allow permission to the app, to install the APK. Toggle on the permission and then tap Install on the installer screen. That’s all.
Read next: 5 Android Browsers with Dark Mode/ Night Theme
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Unfortunately the Messenger APK won’t work anymore – it tries to update through Google Play, but when you get to GP, it says either uninstall or open. If you hit open, it goes back to the app with the same “unsupported” message and a button to update.
Try clearing app data from Settings> Apps> Messenger.
Also, you should uninstall the original FB and Messenger apps before installing the dark themed app.
Dark Messenger v139 is buggy.
For those who can’t install it, you’d have to firstly uninstall the original Facebook app before installing this dark app. It works for me 🙂