With the introduction of iOS 13 (and iPadOS 13), Apple has introduced the possibility to enable Dark Mode within many built-in applications, such as Settings or Mail. A lot of companies have also introduced a dark theme in your applications. It’s a great feature, that it certainly helpful when checking your phone when it is dark around you. But what about WhatsApp, can you also enable Dark Mode in WhatsApp?

WhatsApp Dark Mode switch

Unfortunately, at this moment, WhatsApp does not support dark mode. So there is no on-off switch to make the lights go off in your WhatsApp application on your iPhone. Luckily, there is a small workaround.

Enable alternative Dark Mode in WhatsApp

So forgot about that switch (it will arrive at some point, though!). There is however a small trick that you can apply to have at least a ‘dark feeling’ when you use WhatsApp. It’s certainly not a full dark mode as you would get if the WhatsApp developers would create a real dark mode in their app, but it is an intermediate step towards it.
You will want to open the WhatsApp app and go to Settings (bottom right corner). Then, select Chats. In the Chats menu, go to Chat Wallpaper, then select Wallpaper Library. In the Wallpaper library you will find the default WhatsApp wallpaper/background that you are currently using. Now, instead, select the dark version of the default wallpaper. The small icons that make up the wallpaper are the same, but the overall colours are much darker. Now tap on Select and go ahead and open a chat conversation with a friend!

Conclusion

So as you see, dark mode in WhatsApp for iOS is yet to arrive. It will arrive at some point in time, but just not yet. Until it does arrive, you can change the Wallpaper of your WhatsApp conversation to make your WhatsApp experience a lot less ‘white’ and bright.
A bonus is that on some iPhones (that use an OLED screen), this will also save battery life as the black pixels will use less energy compared to the brighter pixels of the standard WhatsApp background that is enabled by default (and which many people don’t change at all).