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Paywalling dark mode? In this economy? Allegedly, Snapchat is working on it.
- Currently, there is no Snapchat dark mode for Android phones.
- A leak suggests Snapchat is working on the feature, but it might be paywalled behind Snapchat Plus.
- Meanwhile, iPhone users already have a dark mode without a subscription.
It took way too long, but Android first received a system-wide dark mode in 2019 alongside the launch of Android 10. Since then, most major Android apps have supported dark theming as well. At this point, Android users can be in all-dark mode all the time across their systems and apps.
However, there are some holdouts. Notably, there is no Snapchat dark mode on Android. Allegedly, the company is working on offering this feature. However, a new leak from Alessandro Paluzzi on Twitter (h/t XDA-Developers) suggests that the company might not make it free. Instead, it could paywall dark theming behind Snapchat Plus, its $4-per-month subscription plan.
#Snapchat continues to work on dark mode, here are some screenshots at the current state of development 👀 pic.twitter.com/yUgxhVMleM— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) February 25, 2021
According to the leak, the theming system could work much as it does with other Android apps. There are allegedly three choices: Match System, Always Light, and Always Dark. Theoretically, however, users wouldn’t have access to these toggles without a Snapchat Plus subscription.
Meanwhile, there has been a Snapchat dark mode on iOS since 2019. It is not locked behind a paywall.
Of course, this leak may be incorrect, and Snapchat will give free dark theming to all Android users. If not, though, this likely wouldn’t be received well by Snapchat users with Android phones. A quick perusal of Reddit comments related to applications paywalling dark themes finds nothing but negative reactions.
Would you pay for Snapchat Plus to get dark theming? Let us know in the poll below.