TLDR: It involves using Android Auto
So yesterday I connected my phone to my car and launched Android Auto. Next asked Google Assistant to navigate me home. Google Maps launched, navigation started ( pretty standard stuff ) . It was night time and the Google Maps interface on Car’s Display switched to night mode sensing darkness in environment. Google maps has been doing this for a long time so I didnt notice anything different. But for some reason I decided to open my phone and there it was! The interface had turned dark on my POCO F1. The notification shade was all black !
At first I thought this must be some bug, but it wasnt random black colour in interface, it was indeed proper dark theme.
I decided to further investigate and quickly launched Settings app
And there it was , in all its glory in “Dark mode”.
My doubt had now turned into certainty, Android Auto had accidently triggered the Dark Mode on Phone. As soon as I disconnected phone from my car, the normal white interface was back instantly.
Not all MI apps are currently taking advantage of this Dark mode. Also note, this is true dark and not just theme for POCO launcher. Settings app, Messaging App, Notification Shade where all in Dark mode. However some MIUI’s own Apps like Calendar and other non MI apps were still in normal mode.
I am using MIUI 10 9.3.28 Open Beta for POCO F1 (Android 9 Pie). I am currently not sure whose implementation of Dark Mode was triggered by Android Auto:
- Hidden Dark Mode of Android Pie
- Hidden Dark Mode of MIUI 10
Do try this on your phone and let me know if it works for you.
[ You have to actually connect the phone to Car and use Car’s Android Auto in dark for it to work. Launching Android Auto App on phone without the car doesnt work]