- The web version of Google Calendar has received an official dark mode
- The feature is rolling out globally this week to all Calendar users
- Google has also given Calendar a “refreshed user interface.”
If you’ve been patiently waiting for years for Google Calendar to deliver an official dark mode, then today’s your day: the web version of the app has finally gotten a darker optional color scheme, along with a mild redesign.
The news came in one 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 shown, dark modes can give you a small battery life savings, especially if you’re using a device with an OLED screen.
The update is rolling out now, but has also become available to a few members of the Ny Breaking team so far. To see if you have this, go to the settings cog at the top right of the page, then click ‘Appearance’ from the new drop-down menu (see above).
You’ll then see the menu below – choose ‘Dark’ and you’ll be treated to the eye-popping sight of the new dark mode. That’s not all that’s changed either: the typography and controls have been updated in line with Google’s ‘Material Design 3’ guidelines, which Google says are ‘more modern and accessible’.
The calendar certainly looks clearer to us, but the dark mode is the main improvement that we are particularly happy with.
Warning: May cause extension headaches
In slightly less good news, Google says these changes could break some of your Chrome extensions if they are “active when using Google Calendar.”
Google did not elaborate on the possible impact on the extensions, but said some “may not work as expected” and that you should contact the extension’s developers if you have any issues. We imagine that extensions like G-Calize (for color-coded calendars) and Timely are the types of extensions that could be affected.
Other affected extensions may include some theme customizers that became available on the Chrome Web Store when it seemed Google was reluctant to make an official version.
Luckily, that dark mode is now here – which is good news for both our eyes and laptop battery life in general.