A proven engine
Dark Mode is built on a proven open-source dark-theme engine and offers four ways to generate a theme: Dynamic, Filter, Filter+ and Static — so even unusual sites can be made readable.
Author
Ivan Charad
Product lead of the Dark Mode extension at Captain Software. Ivan shapes what the extension does next and writes the dark mode guides on this site.
About
Building a calmer web at night
Ivan leads Dark Mode at Captain Software, the studio that has been making browser extensions and small web apps since 2017. His work sits between the product and its users: deciding which settings belong in the popup, reading every piece of feedback from the Chrome Web Store and turning the questions people ask into step-by-step guides.
The idea behind Dark Mode is simple: most of the web is still designed for a bright white screen, and Chrome's own dark theme only changes the browser frame. People who read, write or work late deserve a dark theme on every website — without breaking layouts and without handing their browsing data to anyone.
The product
How Dark Mode was built
The extension grew from one switch into a small toolkit, always with the same rules: fast, private and in the user's control.
Private by default
Every theme is generated locally in the browser. In the Chrome Web Store the extension is declared as not collecting or using your data — no account, no sign-up.
Control where it matters
Brightness, contrast, sepia and grayscale, a per-site list, a schedule and sunset automation, plus hotkeys — added because users asked for them.
Editorial standards
How the guides are written and checked
Official sources first. Every native setting a guide mentions — a menu in PayPal, Coursera, Gmail or SSMS — is checked against that service's own help pages. When a setting can't be confirmed, the guide says so instead of guessing.
Real screenshots. The before-and-after images are taken on the live websites with the actual Dark Mode extension, not mock-ups.
Honest about limits. If a browser extension can't help — desktop apps like Eclipse or SQL Server Management Studio, pages protected by Chrome — the guide explains the native alternative instead.
Kept up to date. Websites change their settings often. Guides are reviewed regularly, and the "Updated" date shows when a guide was last checked. Spotted something outdated? Let us know.
Goals
What Dark Mode is working towards
Comfortable reading
Less glare in dark rooms and long sessions, with sensible defaults that work without any setup.
Every website
A readable dark theme on sites that never shipped one — from documents and email to shops and learning platforms.
Clear answers
Guides in the languages people actually search in, so anyone can turn dark mode on — or off — in a couple of minutes.