Android 10 recently launched an uber cool dark mode that immediately won the hearts of a lot of users. Apart from looking great, it also saves a lot of battery. The inverted colour theme has replaced the overbearing white space in the background of most apps with black. This consumes a lot less power by significantly reducing the chromatic and luminous intensity of the pixels that make up your screen. Due to this reason, everyone wants to switch to dark mode on their Android devices, especially when using the device indoors or at night. All the popular apps like Facebook and Instagram are creating a dark mode for the app interface.
However, this article is not about dark mode because you already know a lot about it if not everything. This article is about the Grayscale mode. If you haven’t heard about it then don’t worry you are not the only one. As the name suggests this mode turns your entire display into black and white. This allows you to save a lot of battery. This is a secret Android feature that very few people know about and after reading this article, you are going to be one of them.
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How to Enable Grayscale Mode on Any Android Device
What is Grayscale Mode?
The Grayscale mode is a new feature of Android that allows you to apply a black and white overlay on your display. In this mode, the GPU renders only two colours that are black and white. Usually, the Android display has 32-bit colour rendering and since in the Grayscale mode only 2 colours are being used, it reduces power consumption. The Grayscale mode is also known as Monochromacy as technically black is just the absence of any colour. Irrespective of the kind of display that your phone has (AMOLED or IPS LCD), this mode surely has an impact on battery life.
Other Benefits of Grayscale Mode
Apart from saving battery, Grayscale mode can also help you control the amount of time spent on your mobile phone. A black and white display is obviously less attractive than a full-colour display. In the present time, mobile phone addiction is a pretty serious issue. A lot of people spend over ten hours a day using their smartphones. People are trying various techniques to fight their urge to use smartphones all the time. Some of these measures include disabling notifications, deleting non-essential apps, usage tracking tools, or even downgrading to a simple phone. One of the most promising methods is switching to Grayscale mode. Now all the addictive apps like Instagram and Facebook would look plain and boring. For those who spend a lot of time gaming, switching to Grayscale mode would cause the game to lose its appeal.
Thus, we have clearly established the many benefits of this comparatively unknown feature hidden in your smartphone. However, unfortunately, this feature is not available on older Android versions like Ice Cream Sandwich or Marshmallow. In order to use this feature, you need to have Android Lollipop or higher. However, if you desperately want to enable Grayscale mode on old Android devices then you can use a third-party app. In the next section, we are going to show you how to enable Grayscale mode in the latest Android devices and also on old Android devices.
How to Enable Grayscale mode on Android
As mentioned earlier, the Grayscale mode is a hidden setting that you won’t find easily. In order to access this setting, you need to enable Developer options first.
Follow the steps given below to unlock Developer options:
1. Firstly, open the Settings on your phone. Now click on the System option.
2. After that select the About phone option.
Now you will be able to see something called Build Number; keep tapping on it until you see the message pop up on your screen that says you are now a developer. Usually, you need to tap 6-7 times to become a developer.
Once you get the message “You are now a developer” displayed on your screen, you will be able to access the Developer options from the Settings.
Now, follow the steps given below to enable Grayscale mode on your device:
1. Go to the Settings of your phone.
2. Open the System tab.
3. Now click on the Developer options.
4. Scroll down to the Hardware Accelerated Rendering section and here you will find the option to Stimulate Color Space. Tap on it.
5. Now from the given list of options select Monochromacy.
6. Your phone will now instantly get converted to black and white.
Take note that this method works only for Android devices running Android Lollipop or higher. For older Android devices you need to use a third-party app. Apart from that, you will also have to root your device as this app requires root access.
Follow the steps given below to learn how to enable Grayscale mode on old Android devices:
1. The first thing that you need to do is download and install an app called Grayscale on your Android smartphone.
2. Now open the app and agree to the license agreement and accept all the permission requests that it asks for.
3. After that, you will be taken to a screen where you will find a switch to turn on Grayscale mode. The app will now ask you for root access and you need to agree to it.
Now you will find a switch added to your notification panel. This switch will allow you to turn on and turn off Grayscale mode as per your convenience.
Recommended:
Switching to Grayscale mode will not affect your device’s performance in any way. On most devices, the GPU still renders in 32-bit colour mode and the black and white colour is just an overlay. However, it still saves a lot of power and prevents you from wasting a lot of time on your smartphone. You can switch back to normal mode at any time that you feel like. Simply select Off option under Stimulate colour space. For older Android devices, you can just tap the switch on the notification panel and you are good to go.
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