DarQ APP is an option for lots of people to have Dark Mode on the Wyze App
I have something to help Android users with the lack of dark mode on apps like this Wyze App that so many of us want. First, how I came to it:
I tried the “Override force-dark” option in Android developer settings, and it was okay. Actually, it was better than okay, it worked great on all my 312 installed apps except for 1 that I noticed, a chess engine app had some weird color issues. Some other apps I may not have wanted in dark mode though. I loved it 90% of the time, but I wished I could tell it to only force dark mode on specific apps, like the Wyze app. So I searched and there IS an app out there that does exactly this. I came across this article by 9to5google:
So I went and downloaded the latest DarQ app from APK mirror:
It has an option to do individual apps in Dark mode without having to have a rooted device (which I did not want to do).
To be able to connect to DarQ without root (or even without having to use ADB through a computer directly), it prompted me to install Shizuku from Google Play:
I installed this and it has multiple ways to get it running:
I went with the Wireless debugging method because it seemed the easiest without root.
So I opened that step by step guide link in chrome and just followed the instructions to enable Wireless debugging in the developer settings and told it to pair to my phone. It was simple.
Just enable Wireless debugging toggle,
Then allow wireless debugging
Follow the pairing steps
Pairing
This step only needs to be performed once.
- Notifications are disabled by default on some systems, you need to allow Shizuku to send notifications in the system’s notification settings
- Start pairing in Shizuku
- Enable Wireless debugging
- Tap “Pair device with pairing code” in “Wireless debugging”
- Enter pairing code in Shizuku’s notificaiton
Then go to the top of the Shizuku app and click to start Shizuku.
Now open DarQ, flip the enable toggle, and click on the select apps to have Force Dark enabled and select the Wyze app:
I’m honestly pretty impressed, it works great, and now I only have to force dark mode on selected apps instead of EVERY app. This is a GREAT workaround for now that is compatible with the Wyze App design and works really well IMO when it is active. I highly recommend it for you dark mode craving android users who don’t want to force EVERY app into dark mode, just a few select ones like this.
I do feel I need to mention that Wyze should still plan to develop an official dark mode layout. This method has one big flaw, and that is that anytime you reboot your phone you have to re-pair Shinzuku and relaunch DarQ (you can close everything again once it’s activated though, you don’t have to keep either app open or running). It was honestly quick to do it all a second time, so it wasn’t that big of a deal (especially for the amount of satisfaction it brings me by having dark mode work! It is definitely worth it), and I don’t reboot my phone very often, so that will be a rare thing to do, but it needs to be pointed out that this is simply a happy workaround for now. I love the Wyze-forced dark mode and I highly recommend this method.
For those who don’t want to remember to restart DarQ, you can always do the “Override force-dark” toggle in the Android settings. I thought it worked pretty well, and only found a significant color problem on 1 out of over 300 apps (the Stockfish chess engine app), so there’s a pretty good chance your apps will all work fine using this method.
Anyway, I know there are people who won’t want to do either of those options, and I respect that. I too am advocating for an official Dark Theme option, you’ve got my continued support there. The above is not posted for you…it is listed here for those like me who will be excited to have this [satisfying for some us] workaround while we wait for something official. My best wishes to all the various groups of users related to this.
EDIT: Please note that using “Forced Dark Mode” on any app can sometimes mess with QR code generation. So if you are using Forced Dark Mode and have troubles setting up a camera (for example), it could be that the QR code is partially inverted and may require that you end dark mode during setup/QR Code generation), so please keep that in mind. That is a good example of a reason why forced dark mode is a “work around” and not a viable long term solution, and why I will also continue advocating for native dark mode support, despite being very happy with this workaround for the time being. 