Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more.
Rollout begins of dark mode and Material Design within Android Messages (Update: Not anymore)
July 08, 2025
Update, August 19 at 9:59 a.m. ET:That was fast. For some reason, Google hasrevertedthe look of Android Messages back to the old layout. The change was made via a server-side update, so the company was able to pull the redesign without forcing everyone to update their apps in the Play Store.
Google hasn’t commented on why the design was pulled, but we’re hoping it comes back soon.
Original article, August 16 at 11:11 a.m. ET:Android enthusiasts really love dark themes, which is why it’s so strange thatGoogledoesn’t a) offer dark themes in all of its apps and b) doesn’t offer a system-wide dark theme in Android.
It may not be everything we want, but at least one Google app is getting the ability to go dark:Android Messages. The new version of the texting app — 3.5.048 — is slowly rolling out now to users.
Redditorswere the first to pick up on the rollout with some even posting screenshots. Check them out below:
The first thing you’ll notice that’s different (besides the dark theming, of course) is that the text messages which the user is sending are all blue, regardless of the theme choice. This is different from how it is currently with each conversation adpoting an entirely different color scheme.
This is probably great for some people, but I kind of liked the idea of each conversation being a different color. Oh well.
You’ll also notice allthe usual Material Design elementsare there now, which was inevitable.
When will you get this update? I have aGoogle Pixel 2 XLrunningAndroid 9.0 Pieand the update hasn’t arrived for me yet. I can only assume that this a typical Google slow rollout, and it will be a while before everyone sees these changes.
In the meantime, you can always hit upAPKMirrorif you have to update Android Messages right now to get some of that sweet, sweet dark mode.
Thank you for being part of our community. Read ourComment Policybefore posting.
