I was reluctant to switch to 6.1 from 5.6 after google kind of forced that on its users with oauth. One of the reasons I kept to the old version was sheer simplicity and no gimmicks hamburger menus etc. that plague today’s apps.
The rudest awakening with 6.1 was the colour theme, however. Version 5.6 featured a perfect black background, which was ideal for my fatigued eyesight. Now I find my preferred fully dark mode missing, with all backgrounds remaining a dark shade of gray.
Can you bring back the old 100% plain dark background mode for all backgrounds?
It works better than any near dark but still gray background that today’s apps force on its userbase. Amoled screens comsume less energy with a fully black backgroud, not to mention it being easier on the eyes on users sensitive to app brightness. And that’s one of the reasons why users pick a dark theme anyway.
Looking at K-9 Mail’s issue tracker bringing back pure black background doesn’t seem planned. However, I’m not sure how you’re forced to upgrade to 6.1? Using an app password should work fine.
Consider it a feature request. Is that something that could make onto the tracker?
I’m not alone in this; plenty of phone users have oled displays and prefer a dark theme so let’s make their experience more in line with the capabilities of their devices. 100% black oled = no power to black oled pixels = power saving. Backgrounds take up significantly more screen estate in pixels compared to text so it is a real saving. Adjustable background colour for all backgrounds including mail list would be ideal.
App passwords require 2FA. Its security is moot as you authenticate on a single device. It’s just an excuse for google to have your phone number so no thank you I won’t oblige them. Removing regular MD5-CRAM authentication google forced me to abandon my beloved k9 mail 5.6 for 6.1 which is a step back in many ways user experience wise.
He’s lying and you’re repeating a false statement.
Why a black pixel does consume infinitely less. At school they taught me 0% is less than anything above, be it 0.5% or 3%.
It’s a manipulative piece and a failure in logical thinking. You can’t claim power consumption, however small, is better than no consumption. Someone who wrote it is justifing their preferences by falsifying the picture.
I don’t need an ugly shade of gray background that consumes 1% or whatever is consumption is.
I need a pitch black background that is guaranteed to consume 0% all other things being equal. That’s one of the reasons release 5.6 worked in the aesthetic department and 6.1 appears bloated.
Please give your users the ability to adjust the background colour across the board, mail lists, menus and settings in included.
“Putting into perspective” amounts to lying in the case of that article.
I doubt you can trust an estimate of a person who equates no usage to minimal, however small. It’s a disingenous article attempting to peddle disinformation and likely skewing the estimate.
Negligible by whose standards? Any saving is relevant. Why is a major manufacuturer like Samsung opting for 100% pitch dark backgrounds internally in their core apps? I trust Samsung more than some random guy posting his own brand of fake news.
Anyway, giving users a choice would be the way to go forward. Not enforce a single possiblility a group of know-it-all negligible-power-usage-claiming users want to peddle as the aesthetic choice.
And if that isn’t enough, consider it a voice of a visually impaired man, who has trouble reading off of screens with gray backgrounds. It’s part of the reason why I stick to amoled screens, no backlight which fatigues my eyes, same way gray backdrops do.
Gray backgrounds spoil the contrast of the text, it’s tiresome for my eyesight. And I trust my eyes far more than a random UI designer posting nonsense on power consumption.
Regretfully, some app designers decided to abandon true pitch black and follow some new trend. When possible I lock out such apps from being updated, like with the 5.6 release of k9 but sadly google decided to upend it.
There is one more argument for enabling pitch black backgrounds: consistency.
Whilst the text in email messages is rendered over a black background, the mail lists aren’t.
Take a look at an opensource app called Silence, available on FDroid. That’s how pitch black backgrounds look well implemented in message lists and menus. And my eyes like it
The well is adulterated. The way the article is written indicates intent to downplay power usage right from the start. Besides not being authoritative.
Black actually does not save more battery than dark gray. See: 