If you spend a lot of time on your iPhone/Mac computer reading articles on the web, chances are that your eyes will hurt after sitting in front of the screen for several hours. Bright light and small font lead to eye strain, headaches, and a decrease in focus.

Turning on dark mode (night mode) is a great way to reduce the stress on your eyes at night. It is easier to stay focused on your work because your content stands out, while darkened controls and windows recede into the background. Also, it helps you save battery, especially if you have an OLED panel on your laptop.

Dark Mode uses a dark color scheme that works system-wide, a dramatic new look that’s easy on your eyes and helps you focus on your work. Including the apps that come with your Mac, all third-party apps can adopt it, too.

By keeping the brightness low and turning on dark mode in the Safari browser, you can lessen the harmful effects of nightly internet surfing. Also, Dark Mode will protect you from harmful blue light and other harmful rays that your screen might throw at you.

Now, there are several ways to enable Dark Mode in your Safari browser. You can either use the built-in dark mode or apply dark mode to your macOS design base. Below are some instructions on how to enable dark mode in the Safari browser on Mac computers and iOS devices.

Enable the dark display on macOS

If you activate the display in the dark mode under macOS, the Safari browser will also be in the dark. Any website you visit that supports dark mode will appear in dark skin. However, websites that do not support night mode are not displayed in the dark theme.

Follow the steps below:

1. Click here to open that Apple menu.
2. Choose System settings
3. Now click on the system settings Generally Symbol.
4. In the general settings next to the Appearance Options, choose Dark.
   • Light: Use a light appearance.
   • Dark: Use a dark appearance.
   • Auto: Automatically use the light appearance during the day and the dark appearance at night.

You will find that everything in your macOS is now dark, even the Safari browser skin goes dark. Also, the websites you visit in Safari will become dark skin if it supports dark theme mode.

Manually select dark reading mode

You can also turn on dark mode in the Safari browser to visit websites in dark mode. However, this will only work if the websites you are visiting have a dark mode version to browse.

1. Open Apple Safari on the Mac.
2. Visit any website;
3. Click on the Reading mode tab to the left of the address bar.
4. After that, click on the Tab to the right of the address bar.
5. Now select in the menu Dark circle under section A at the top right.

This will load the website page in reader view mode in Safari mac as well as dark skin tone. You can deactivate the dark reader skin at any time by deactivating the options menu “Show Reader View” or “Hide Reader View”.

Use a Safari extension on macOS

Using the default dark mode of the Safari browser does not switch every website to dark mode. If you want to turn all websites into dark mode, you can use a third-party extension. In addition, third-party extensions have features like turning the dark mode on and off automatically.

The recommended extension is Dark Reader and Night Eye. Night Eye is free to download; However, it does cost if you want to use all of its features. On the other hand, Dark Reader isn’t free. You have to buy it first to use it.

Both extensions have great reviews and ratings; However, there are other extensions as well. You can simply open the Apple App Store on your Mac device, then find and install an extension to enable Night Mode in Safari.

Another great option available for Safari is the Nightlight browser extension. The extension is free and available for those using macOS 10.13 or later. With the optional timer settings, you can enjoy dark mode on Safari without ever having to toggle it on and off. The nightlight will automatically shift the color patterns when at night, then back again during the day.

Enable Dark Mode in Safari for iPhone / iPad?

Similar to Safari on Mac computers, Apple Safari on iPhone/iPad supports turning on dark mode. There are two ways to enable dark mode in Safari iOS.

Enable dark mode on iOS / iPadOS

The system-wide dark mode also turns the Safari browser skin dark. If you browse a site that supports dark mode, it will automatically be converted to night skin.

Steps to enable system dark appearance on iPhone/iPad:

1. Open Apple settings App.
2. Scroll down and open the screen Display & Brightness Menu.
3. In the Appearance section, select the Dark option.

This will turn the entire Apple iOS skin into a dark mode view. This setting also changes the Safari browser app and enables dark mode on the iPhone.

Selecting Dark Reader Mode on the Safari iPhone

If you are an avid reader, consider using Reader mode in the Safari browser. In Reader mode, you have the option to choose the dark background of the site.

Here are the steps to enable Dark Reader view in Safari iOS:

1. Start the Safari app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Visit any website.
3. Tap the Reader Mode Button to the left of the address bar.
4. Choose Show Reader option from the list.
5. Tap that again and select the Dark color circle right.

Shortly after, the website appears in both Reader’s View and dark skin.

Using a Safari Extension on iOS / iPadOS

Just like third-party extensions for Safari for Mac, there are a lot of Safari extensions available for iOS and iPadOS as well.