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Google is currently rolling out dark mode for Gmail, but only for Android 10 devices… or is it? Well, one of my colleagues already received Gmail dark mode on his Galaxy tablet, but… well, read on.
First and foremost, we’re talking about the Galaxy Tab 5E here, and that tablet is not running Android 10. Android 9 Pie is installed on it, along with Samsung One UI (version 1.0). Not that it matters, but the tablet is currently running an Android security patch for May of 2019.
Dark mode for Gmail is available on this tablet, but it’s broken
In any case, dark mode for Gmail is available on this Galaxy tablet, but it doesn’t work properly. If you take a look at the images provided down below, you’ll notice the issue immediately.
As you can see, people involved in specific e-mails, and titles for those e-mails are invisible. That is probably because they’re the same color as the background. Interestingly enough, that is not the case for all e-mails.
As you can see, out of 10 e-mails, three are an issue. If the involved parties are not there, the title is not either, there are no exceptions. The ‘important’ tag is still visible, though, which leads us to believe that the text is simply in the same color as the background.
Now, my colleague tells me that if you force close the app, and run it again, everything goes back to normal. It doesn’t stay that way for long, though, as it reverts to broken state soon after.
This may be an issue with Samsung’s One UI skin, or perhaps it’s an issue on Google’s end. Gmail is not supposed to support dark mode for Android 9 Pie devices just yet. Despite that, it is available on the Galaxy Tab 5E tablet.
My colleague did not root the device, nor did he dig up some developer setting for this to happen. This feature simply appeared to him because he has activated dark mode on a system level. In other words, it happened the natural way, the same way it did for those of you who run Android 10.
The Galaxy Tab S5e also has WiFi signal issues due to a design flaw
Back in May, it was reported that the Galaxy Tab S5e has iPhone 4-esque antenna issues. That issue is still present, by the way, on my colleague’s unit. That was to be expected, as that is a design flaw, more than a software issue. It is just worth noting, in case you’re having similar issues.
Google had started rolling out dark mode for Gmail to Android 10 devices last month. It did not roll it out to every Android 10 devices, though. It started with a limited number of users. A couple of days ago, however, the company decided to widen the rollout, and release it to all Android 10 phones.
That being said, Android 9 Pie devices will start receiving it as well, at some point. Google will probably start releasing it soon, as this Galaxy Tab S5e tablet received it already. We’re not sure whose mistake that is, but it’s even possible that it’s a test of some sort, even though my colleague is running a stable build of Gmail.
Whatever the case may be, let us know if you’re having similar issues. If you’re running Android 9 Pie on your device, and you have access to Gmail dark mode already, we’d like to know about it… and if it is running as it should, or not.