Google Keep dark theme starts rolling out on Android

Abner Li | May 17 2019 - 6:23 am PT

On Wednesday, our APK Insight of Google Keep suggested that a dark theme for the note taking app was imminent. This dark mode is now beginning to roll out via a server-side update with version 5.19.19.

Rather than leveraging a true black, the Google Keep dark mode (via Android Police) swaps out white for dark gray. The darkest shade belongs to the app’s background on the main “Notes” page, as well as the navigation drawer that features the list of labels.

Android’s status and navigation bar adopt the same shade on Android Q for a consistent look, with the settings page getting the same treatment. The “Note list” and “Quick Capture” homescreen widgets are similarly themed to match the main app.

A lighter shade of gray is leveraged for the “Search your notes” field, “Take a note” bar at the bottom, and any un-themed notes. Meanwhile, themed ones adopt a darker shade of that color.

This mode is enabled in settings thanks to the new “Enable dark theme” toggle with users also getting prompted once the feature is rolled out to their device.

Overall, this is a straightforward, but long-awaited dark mode that was promised in October of last year following the broader Google Material Theme revamp. We first spotted signs of the dark theme during an APK Insight in March.

Version 5.19.19 — which is rolling out now via the Play Store — is needed, but the Google Keep dark mode also requires a server-side update. So far, only a few users have this new look.