Dark Mode is a reversed color scheme that utilizes light-colored typography, UI elements, and iconography on dark backgrounds—and it’s one of the hottest digital design trends in the past year. From Apple’s OS to apps like Twitter, Slack, or Facebook Messenger, the most popular operating systems and apps now allow users to switch to Dark Mode. Dark Mode is a hot topic - and there’s a good reason. Many users prefer Dark Mode because:
It’s easier on the eyes. Light text on a dark background is much better for minimizing eye strain, especially in low-light situations.
It reduces screen brightness, saving your battery life.
It can improve content legibility and make it easier for some users to consume desktop and mobile content.
They may simply have a preference for darker interfaces.
With Dark Mode popularity growing, it’s no surprise that it’s coming to the inbox, too.
Which email clients support Dark Mode?
These clients and apps currently offer Dark Mode—either as a setting that the user can set manually or by automatically detecting the user’s preferred color scheme:
Mobile Apps:
iPhone Mail
iPad Mail
Gmail App (Android)
Gmail App (iOS)
Outlook App (Android)
Outlook App (iOS)
Desktop Clients:
Apple Mail
Outlook 2019 (Mac OS)
Outlook 2019 (Windows)
Web Clients:
Outlook.com
Hey.com
But just because all these email clients offer a way to set their UI to a dark color scheme doesn’t mean that they handle your emails the same way. Email rendering is complex. An email signature that looks great in one client might look broken in another. Now, Dark Mode is adding another layer of complexity. There are various ways a Dark Mode email client might deal with your code.
We do not recommend using the dark background because HTML signatures are built using an invisible table, and its frames can appear on the dark background.
Unfortunately, we cannot override the Dark Mode settings ourselves, but there are recommended steps you can take to ensure the signature works correctly.
- Avoid background colors where possible; white can become black, and black can become white, as though they are inverted. Anything off-white can become grey.
- Use images with a transparent background where applicable to allow the background to show through the image.
- If text is used as an image, it is recommended to add a white stroke to the image before it is added to a template.
- Always test your signature before you send a message. Testing your signature in both light and dark modes is essential. While you may not be able to make your signature look perfect for every setting but you can find tricks to creating a signature that works for both dark and light optimization. If you don't have the option to test, please let us know at support@newoldstamp.com; we will be happy to help you.