In this article, we will show you how to enable YouTube Dark Mode on Android devices with root.
YouTube is a video sharing platform that is famous among the users, and also their go-to location for finding any sorts of videos. It is evidently one of the most productive applications over the internet. Using YouTube on Android is fairly easy by operating the official YouTube app for Android. It provides almost all basic to advanced features, so you can do almost everything that the standard desktop version offers. However, there is something that you still couldn’t do (Not yet at least). Google has already implemented a new feature to the desktop version, known as “Dark Mode“. Enabling which would switch the UI from light to dark them. APK teardown from Android Police indicated that Google is already working on the implementing the same feature to the mobile app. While it is still in developments, rooted users can now easily enable YouTube Dark Mode on Android devices.

- [Download] Google Phone v17 Adds Support for In-Call Floating Bubble
- Enable AR Stickers on Nexus 6P, OnePlus 3/3T, Xiaomi Mi 5
- How to Hide Private Photos in Google Photos App
Guide to Enable YouTube Dark Mode on Rooted Android Devices
YouTube has both a website version and Application version for mobile devices. The dark theme on YouTube is the customization that many of the users were wishing for. This will provide a new look for the widely used video content platform. The new feature has already rolled out to YouTube for iOS. For now, Android users would have to wait until the final call is made. It was quite sad to see that Google didn’t roll out this features to Android first, considering the fact that they own the operating system. This led down many Android enthusiasts. But a simple solution to enable YouTube Dark Mode on Android was quickly found out by the passionate developers at XDA.
XDA member AL_IRAQI was able to turn on YouTube Dark Mode on Android by modifying a value in app preferences. Since the method requires to modify a file located in the /data partition, it is necessary for the Android device to be rooted. The process is quite easy and if have already rooted your phone, then here’s your chance to take its advantage. If you are a fan of the new dark theme on YouTube, then we got you covered in this post.
Dark Mode on YouTube has its advantages as well. For instance, it will cause less strain on the eyes, especially when using in low-light environments. Somewhat similar to Night mode in phones and other apps. Go through the list of requirements before you head over to the steps and enable YouTube Dark Mode on Android.
Prerequisites
- Your Android device must be rooted with SuperSU or Magisk.
- The method only works for devices running Android Oreo, Nougat, Marshmallow, and Lollipop.
- Download and install Preference Manager app from Google Play: Link
Once you have fulfilled the requirements, go ahead and enable YouTube Dark Mode on Android using the steps below.
How to Enable YouTube Dark Mode on Android Right Now
- Go to the app drawer and launch ‘Preferences Manager’.
- Grant root permissions when prompted.
- Tap on the menu icon (3 dots) and select ‘Show system apps’.
- Search the list and find ‘YouTube’.
- In the ‘youtube.xml’ tab search for ‘dark’.
- Look for “theme_dark_app” and “theme_dark_watch_panel”.
- In case the stated preferences are not present, you can simply add boolean values for them.
- To enable YouTube Dark Mode on Android, simply change values from ‘false’ to ‘true’.
- Save the settings.
- Forces YouTube app and relaunch it.
The bright white background in the YouTube app will be replaced by dark grey color. It is not pure black as OLED users wished for. The dark theme available on the YouTube website has created a wave. This made a lot of users have been requesting to develop a dark theme for mobile versions. But there were no signs from the developers until now.
To conclude, it is a good sign from the YouTube developers since they respond to the users’ wishes and update their preferences with respect to the customer demands. We hope that you will find this post useful to understand enable YouTube dark mode on Android. For queries drop a comment below.
Thanks for the clear steps on how to get this done. I downloaded the app and searched for the settings but could not find anything. Is there a specific version of YouTube that this works for? I am on my Pixel 2 XL which I believe has the latest version of YouTube (1310593400). Thank you in advance.
Hi Ruben, the same happened to me as well on my Pixel 2 XL. As a matter of fact, the above screenshots have also been taken from the same device. In that case, you will need to create those two boolean values and set them to true.
Under “youtube.xml”, simply tap the plus (+) icon on the top. Select “Boolean” and add the strings given above. Then just save and relaunch YouTube app.