How to enable Twitter Lights Out on Android

After rolling it out for the Alpha version of the app last week, Twitter has now started rolling out the AMOLED-black ‘Lights Out' dark mode for everyone on Android.

Don't confuse this for the dark mode that has already been available for Twitter users. The existing one, called Dim, is a blue/gray theme, which can be triggered automatically based on sunset. However, ‘Lights Out' makes the backdrop of the app pitch dark.

With AMOLED screens becoming more common in smartphones and tablets, users started to demand a “true-black alternative for the Dim dark mode on Twitter. Listening to the users, Twitter rolled out the ‘Lights out' mode to Twitter Web and iOS earlier this year, and now the rollout to Android has begun.

Welcome to the dark side, Android users. You can now go lights out on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/RpvstZvdnr

— Twitter (@Twitter) October 22, 2019

While, till now, the Dim mode was default, Twitter now defaults to Lights Out when turning on dark mode. If you prefer Dim, you can change the ‘Dark mode appearance' in the app's settings.

Twitter Lights out: How to enable

If you scroll through the tweet by Twitter about the rollout of Lights Out on Android, you will see that a lot of users have complained that despite updating their app to the latest version, they are unable to switch to the new dark mode.

9To5Google, however, found a way to enable the feature manually, we tested it out and it seems to help. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Make sure you are updated to the Twitter app version 8.18.0.

Step 2: Once updated, “Force stop” the Twitter app by heading to Settings, see your list of installed apps, select Twitter, then choose Force stop.

Step 3: Remaining on the same settings page, open the ‘Storage & cache' page for Twitter, then choose ‘Clear storage'.

Step 4: Now get back to the Twitter app, and immediately head to the Settings app again and “Force stop” the app for a second time.

Step 5: Now, open Twitter and toggle dark mode on. You should now have Lights Out enabled on Twitter for Android.