Chapter 1: The Rise of Dark Themes

Custom dark themes have become increasingly popular among software developers and tech enthusiasts. As noted by Visual Studio Magazine, One Dark Pro is the most downloaded theme for VSCode, while Chrome's Just Black theme dominates the Chrome Webstore.

Imagine tackling a challenging project late at night under poor lighting conditions. You might need to consult documentation for the technology you're using, only to be blinded by a bright web page after switching to your browser with Alt + Tab.

Simply applying a dark theme to your operating system or web browser often doesn't suffice since many websites either don’t recognize these settings or lack support for dark themes altogether. This is where browser extensions come in handy.

Section 1.1: Introducing Dark Reader

I want to clarify that I am not affiliated with or sponsored by Dark Reader. I simply believe they provide an excellent product worth discussing.

Dark Reader is a browser extension that enables users to effortlessly toggle between dark and light modes. You can specify which websites you want to display in a dark theme and which ones should remain in their original format.

Additionally, Dark Reader includes simple sliders for adjusting brightness and contrast on web pages, making it particularly useful when visiting sites that don’t support dark themes, such as documentation pages or Google Docs.

Subsection 1.1.1: Dark Reader in Action

Let's take a look at Dark Reader's functionality through some examples. First, we’ll assess cppreference, a widely-used resource for C and C++ documentation:

Next, Google Docs, which lacks native dark mode support, can benefit from Dark Reader's theme:

If the default settings aren’t to your liking, you can customize your experience further by adjusting the brightness, contrast, sepia, and grayscale sliders:

For those looking for even more control, the "Dev tools" button in the extension panel allows for direct CSS editing:

Chapter 2: Compatibility and Community

The Dark Reader extension is compatible with all major browsers, including Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. If you're using Chromium-based browsers like Brave, Vivaldi, or Opera, simply download the extension from the Chrome web store.

Recently, they released an app for iOS and iPadOS, expanding dark themes to mobile Apple devices. Currently, Dark Reader boasts over 5 million users and continues to grow, thanks to the developers' active involvement, with over 5,000 commits and an average of about five commits each day.

This video titled "How To Change ARC Browser Theme | Turn on Dark Mode" showcases the process of switching to dark mode in the ARC browser.

The second video, "Personalize Your Web Browser with Google Chrome Themes," provides insights on customizing your web browser's appearance with various themes.

Conclusion

For aficionados of dark themes, Dark Reader is a fantastic tool that ensures your preferred custom theme is always available while browsing the web. While many websites now have native dark mode support, a significant number still do not.

Being an open-source project, you can contribute either through donations or by submitting pull requests, but it remains entirely free to use without any premium features. After using Dark Reader for nearly a year, I can confidently recommend it. Are you prepared to embrace the dark side of web browsing?

Thanks for reading!