It’s been one of the most highly-requested features on WhatsApp for years, and now it seems that Dark Mode is finally almost here.
A Reddit user has discovered a sneaky way to access Dark Mode on the Android version of the app, indicating a public release is imminent.
The early access requires you to ‘root’ your phone - the process of giving authorisation to execute any command and access any resource on a device.
This is technically illegal, so Mirror Online has decided to leave the details of the access out of this story.
However, the fact that users have been able to access Dark Mode in this way indicates that WhatsApp is planning a wider release soon.
As the name suggests, Dark Mode changes the background colour of the app window to black, making it much easier on the eyes - particularly when using your phone in the evening.
Dark Mode is already available on several other apps, including Twitter , Facebook and Instagram , and WhatsApp is one of the last to add the feature.
While WhatsApp users are likely to welcome this feature, the Reddit thread also suggests that a less popular feature could launch alongside Dark Mode.
When testing Dark Mode, several users were shown ads within WhatsApp - a feature confirmed by Facebook in 2018.
The ads will appear in the ‘Status’ section of the app, but thankfully not in the main ‘Chats’ section.
The decision to include ads is controversial because it goes directly against the wishes of Brian Acton and Jan Koum, who founded WhatsApp in 2009.
When it launched, WhatsApp was offered as a paid-for app. Users would pay an up-front fee to download it and messaging was then free.
In 2013 the company made the app free but added a $1 per year (around £0.70) fee to use the service.
WhatsApp was purchased by Facebook in 2014 and, in a blog written prior to the Facebook acquisiton, Acton and Koum promised the app wouldn't become "just another ad clearinghouse”.
However, in 2016 WhatsApp announced that it would no longer charge a fee for the service, leaving no clear way for the company to make money.
Acton and Koum both quit the firm last year, after the news emerged that Facebook was planning to monetise the app by selling services to business and advertising.
Acton said he had to leave because Mark Zuckerberg's rush to make money from the app was making him “unhappy".
Mirror Online has contacted WhatsApp for comment.
