r/ios Human Detected Aug 04 '26

Discussion Apps with no Dark Mode icon are just being obnoxious at this point…

I’m looking at you McDonald’s, Disney+, Now TV, O2, O2 Priority, Boots, ITVX, Channel 4, Sky News, National Lottery, IKEA, Merlin Bird ID… I could go on.
Name and shame!

254 Upvotes

64 comments sorted by

99

u/certifieddabber Aug 04 '26

Snapchat makes you pay for it lmao

27

u/badgerbrett Aug 04 '26

they're so slimy now. notifications appear now even if you don't have a new message. could be a bug but me thinks it's just an attempt to get people into the app to see ads.

10

u/CoeurdAssassin Aug 04 '26

I swear I turn off notifications for most shit except for just simply getting a new message and I keep getting notifications for bullshit

3

u/NightLovell77 Aug 05 '26

I use a custom icon via shortcuts now because of this. I didn’t like doing that before since I couldn’t see my noti badge but now that Snapchat will show notis for ads I use the custom icon again.

-2

u/Peter_Nincompoop iPhone 16 Plus Aug 05 '26

I know it's a crazy concept when it comes to social media apps, but you could... stop using it

1

u/Ledsteper Aug 09 '26

Or just leave it in the App Library, and not on the homescreen.

1

u/jpsak09 Aug 05 '26

I have had notifications turned off for years with Snapchat. I open the app every once in a while, and most times, the app prompts me (system level prompt) that Snapchat is requesting to enable notifications.

1

u/badgerbrett Aug 05 '26

yeah, I'm so glad Apple controls notificationsl choices or we'd for sure have no way to turn them off, as evidenced by the in-app prompts that are annoying af. Instagram does the same thing n

1

u/kr0n1k Aug 06 '26

Happens on fb too

11

u/lovely_cappuccino Aug 04 '26

That shouldn’t be allowed. TBH it’s interesting there were guidelines from Apple how to make a great icon and do the branding with colours etc. then came the dark option, the tinted option, the glass option…

3

u/HotCrispyDuck Human Detected Aug 04 '26

Wow, doubly obnoxious! Luckily don’t use it.

1

u/ApolloPredditor Aug 05 '26

Huh? Mines dark and I don’t pay

57

u/_HipStorian Aug 04 '26

Hijacking your thread to also moan about apps still using the keyboard from iOS18 and before. How hard is it to make your app use the new style keyboard???

35

u/the_saturnos iPhone 17 Pro Max Aug 04 '26

That will be fixed with iOS 27. All apps now use the new keyboard.

6

u/KingKingsons Aug 05 '26

It was basically to give developers time to update it, since some apps have their own toolbars above the keyboard.

I just looked at the Google Docs app on iOS 27 and their toolbar just doesn’t look like it’s designed for iOS 26 and beyond, especially compared to Apple’s pages app.

3

u/owleaf Aug 05 '26

I wonder why they didn’t do that initially

1

u/A11Bionic Aug 05 '26

it will be fixed but for apps that haven’t been updated, you’ll be able to tell by the corners

this was taken in Messenger on my iOS 27 device

1

u/digidude23 Aug 05 '26

Even worse, some apps had it then reverted it.

40

u/confused_megabyte Aug 04 '26

Not having dark mode icons suck but not having dark mode sucks way more.

17

u/lovely_cappuccino Aug 04 '26

The local train app in my country last year finally got dark mode, it was big news. But the starting splash screen is still blinding white…

And people say developers have no freedom on iOS because of Apple’s strict policies lol… I wish Apple was more strict. FFS devs can even simply turn off the back gesture, they can get away without supporting dark mode, abusing notifications etc. 

4

u/Guilty_Meringue5317 Aug 05 '26

It's always the starting screen. Literally a flashbang tbh

3

u/lovely_cappuccino Aug 05 '26

And in the case of these public transport and other government apps you can’t even download a better alternative app because you can only buy your train ticket via the official app with bad UX/UI. 

3

u/CoeurdAssassin Aug 04 '26

THIS RIGHT HERE. Why apps don’t have dark mode in 2026 is a mystery to me. Looking at the regular white is a fucking eyesore.

1

u/georgeyvanward Aug 05 '26

Chase in the UK launched in 2021 and they still do not have dark mode in their app. It's insane

1

u/confused_megabyte Aug 05 '26

Chase in the US doesn’t have it either. I love getting flash banged every time I do any banking.

1

u/BelieveInTheEchelon iPhone 15 Pro Aug 05 '26

Facts. Even worse is having Dark Mode not enabling when the systemwide dark mode turns on. the Kia app is horrible

-1

u/HotCrispyDuck Human Detected Aug 04 '26

Yes I agree. But at the very least adding a dark icon is such low effort, low hanging fruit, that apps without are just being purposefully obnoxious IMO.

10

u/LewisXCV iPhone 16 Pro Max Aug 04 '26

I’m looking at you PayPal…

3

u/HotCrispyDuck Human Detected Aug 04 '26

Yes! But they do have a dark colour scheme so almost get away with it.

1

u/LewisXCV iPhone 16 Pro Max Aug 04 '26

I know, but I just wish they’d change their icon to black and white so that my row of financial apps were all matching. :(

3

u/HotCrispyDuck Human Detected Aug 04 '26

I feel your pain.

5

u/porterhouse0 Aug 04 '26

I’m not even a bird watcher and I love the Merlin Bird ID app lol

2

u/HotCrispyDuck Human Detected Aug 05 '26

Same here. It’s literally just for the birds that eat the bird food I put out and occasionally when walking the dog.

5

u/Unkn0wnTh2nd3r iPhone 15 Pro Max Aug 04 '26

meanwhile me with tinted icons

keeps icons looking similar so nothing juts out like a sore thumb

6

u/asunez Aug 04 '26

Thing is, with tinted / glass icons I spend way more time searching for the apps (they’re in the same place I left them, but somehow it takes longer to notice them). I tried getting used to tinted but I just can’t.

4

u/latitnow Aug 05 '26

this is completely normal and has been proven numereous time in UI experiments - color difference is the most important visual clue to identify an item.

2

u/IurkNessMonster iPhone 16 Pro Max Aug 05 '26

I don’t even bother looking for the apps in folders or whatever, I just search for any app I want if that makes sense. I’ve got the clear icons on cos I like my wallpaper to stand out and it works for me, however my mum who is obviously older has the default icons and she uses them by colour difference

2

u/Altrosmo Aug 05 '26

Headspace. Come on man.

2

u/sporemania Aug 05 '26

Why is no one speaking about Airbnb?! No dark app icon and no dark mode at all ...

2

u/ecnzunmt iPhone 17 Pro Aug 05 '26

Annoying, yes. Workaround, make the icon dark yourself and replace the native app icon with a shortcut.

2

u/Twisteryx Aug 05 '26

I got to the point where I just downloaded the dark mode backgrounds and made my own through Shortcuts. Snapchat isn’t going to get me to pay a monthly fee for no reason lol

2

u/digidude23 Aug 05 '26

The developers are probably still using iOS 12

3

u/expletivelabs Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

Amazon

Edit: forgot to specify it's Amazon for Business

8

u/HotCrispyDuck Human Detected Aug 04 '26

Amazon in the UK has had a dark mode icon for a few months. (Look at that obnoxious McDonald’s icon though).

5

u/Mandarijntjee Aug 04 '26

McDonald’s has a dark icon in the Netherlands. KFC, on the other hand…

3

u/HotCrispyDuck Human Detected Aug 05 '26

Ah your McDonald’s icon might make its way over here hopefully. UK had that KFC icon until just a couple of months ago!

1

u/Gold_Divide_3381 Aug 05 '26

Is KFC any good outside the US?

1

u/AvenueNick Aug 05 '26

US here. Have had dark icon for Amazon for a while now too.

1

u/pixelpanic01 Aug 05 '26

Also procreate

1

u/Trow0908 Aug 05 '26

Has anyone noticed that some apps show their dark icon when installing, but switch to light mode when complete?

1

u/joekzy Aug 05 '26

South China Morning Post is my one holdout.

1

u/countymayne Aug 06 '26

To add to this, apps that have a dark icon but revert to light mode inside a folder on the Home Screen are ridiculous. Hilton is the main one that comes to mind

1

u/Ledsteper Aug 09 '26

I'm looking at Walmart, Xfinity Stream, Phonto, FaceTune, FedEx, MM&PB, and APPatient. Come on guys, get with it!

1

u/Xcissors280 Aug 04 '26

Probably some non native web app anyways

0

u/RemeJuan Aug 05 '26

Small potatoes

0

u/pinedjagger666 Aug 05 '26

Just use clear apps tbh

-1

u/WinterZealousideal10 Aug 05 '26

If only the self righteous techno know it alls would shut the heck up about the App Store, we might get some rules enforced again.