- The web version of Google Calendar has an official dark mode
- The feature will roll out globally this week to all Calendar users.
- Google has also given Calendar an “updated user interface”
If you've been waiting patiently for years for Google Calendar to offer an official dark mode, today is your day: the web version of the app finally received an optional darker color scheme, along with a slight redesign.
The news came in a Google Workspace blog post where Google said it is introducing the ability to switch between light mode, dark mode, and default themes. As previous reports have noted, dark modes can give you a small battery life savings, especially if you're using a device with an OLED display.
The update is rolling out now, although so far it is also available to some members of the TechRadar team. To see if you have it, head to the settings gear at the top right of the page, then in the new drop-down menu, click “Appearance” (see above).
Then you will see the menu below: choose 'Dark' and you will enjoy the pleasant view of the new dark mode. That's not all that's changed, either: the typography and controls have been tweaked in line with Google's 'Material Design 3' guidelines, which Google says make it “more modern and accessible.”
The calendar certainly looks cleaner to us, but the dark mode is the main improvement we're particularly happy to see.
Warning: May cause extension headaches.
In slightly less good news, Google says these changes may break some of its Chrome extensions if “they are active when using Google Calendar.”
Google did not elaborate on which extensions might be affected, but said that some “may not work as expected” and that the extension developers should be contacted if there are any problems. We imagine that extensions like G-Calize (for color-coded calendars) and Timely could be the type of extensions that could be affected.
Other affected extensions could include some theme customizers that became available on the Chrome Web Store when it seemed like Google was reluctant to create an official one.
Fortunately, that dark mode is now here, which is good news for both our eyes and the laptop's battery life in general.
