Slack is adding Dark Mode to its desktop apps, doubling down on the feature that has become a major trend across the software world.
Slack already offered Dark Mode on its mobile app. But, available now, users of Slack’s desktop apps on Windows, Mac and Linux, can toggle between the traditional white and purple background and a variety of darker hues.
The addition of Dark Mode is part of an overhaul of the app architecture that powers Slack. Dark Mode has been among the most requested new features recently, the company said.
“Dark Mode is an important feature for lots of people. It’s helpful for working at night or in low-light, and we know many need it for accessibility reasons like visual impairments, migraines or other visual disorders,” Slack Accessibility Product Manager George Zamfir, said. “Today, we’re happy to make it possible to switch to the dark side on Slack desktop apps, and to offer new Dark Mode themes.”
Dark backgrounds have become popular in recent years, with tech giants promoting the mode as an important aspect of new releases. The black backgrounds often look sleeker, and experts have touted health benefits of the setting as well.
It’s become common knowledge that blue light is disruptive to sleep cycles. For people who put in late hours, using a dark background instead of a light one reduces the amount of blue light they’re exposed to, leading to a better sleep after work is done, writes Silas S. Brown, a partially-sighted computer scientist at Cambridge University in the U.K.
Last month, Slack rival Microsoft said it planned to add Dark Mode to the entire Microsoft 365 product suite — a combination of Windows 10, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility + Security. That push begins with Outlook on several platforms, with the iOS versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneDrive, Planner and To-Do getting the feature soon.
