Ask HN: How can I browse HN in dark mode?

Bender · 2026-09-13T17:52:03

In uBlock Origin -> My Filters:

    # HN dark Mode:
    news.ycombinator.com##body:style(background: black)
    news.ycombinator.com##td:style(color: #fafafa !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##table:style(background-color: #24273a)
    news.ycombinator.com##div.toptext:style(color: #fafafa)
    news.ycombinator.com##div.c00:style(color: #fafafa !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##a:style(color: #ffa000 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##span#karma:style(color: #faa000 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##span.pagetop:style(color: #fafafa !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##textarea:style(color: #696969 !important; background: inherit; )
    news.ycombinator.com###hnmain:style(background: #24273a !important)

farlight · 2026-09-13T17:25:50

On Android, Vivaldi supports dark more out of the box. It's actually just a toggle for the dark mode present on any chromium-based browser, and you can enable it globally in any of them in chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark

Dark Reader, often recommended, is very slow, especially on old hardware. This built-in mode is much more efficient and works well on vast majority of pages.

soniczentropy · 2026-09-13T18:06:17

Dark Reader's slowness primarily stems from its auto-detection of pages that need darkening. If you turn that off and manually enable it on pages that need it, it doesn't feel any slower than anything else

dominick-cc · 2026-09-13T18:11:39

That flag doesn't seem to work for me in android chrome or brave, when enabled HN is still very much light mode

gabrielsroka · 2026-09-13T17:55:57

So do Chrome and Brave.

accrual · 2026-09-13T17:53:06

I am using Stylus and this theme:

    body {
        background-color: #262626 !important;
    }

    body > center > table, input, textarea {
        background-color: #222 !important;
    }

    body > center > table > tbody > tr:first-child > td {
        background-color: #ff6600 !important;
    }

    /* Bright text */
    td.title a:link, span.comment font, span.comment font a:link, u a:link, span.yclinks a:link, body:not([id]),
    td:nth-child(2):not(.subtext) > a:link, input, textarea, p > a, a > u, .c00, .c00 a:link,
    a[href="http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/"], a[href="https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/"] {
        color: #ccc !important;
    }

    .admin td {
        color: #aaa !important;
    }

    /* search box and comment box */
    input, textarea {
        border: 1px solid #828282 !important;
    }

accrual · 2026-09-14T19:56:09

I set this up a while back and am struggling to find the original author. Future readers: note I did not create this theme but discovered it from a fellow HN netizen.

robgough · 2026-09-13T17:47:57

If you're on one of the betas for about-to-be-released apple OS’s, there's a new describe an extension functionality and building a dark mode for HN is exactly what I just used it to do. Super easy, and synced across all my devices.

I know this sounds like an ad, but I was pretty impressed with it

no-name-here · 2026-09-14T02:35:17

Link with some info on the feature: https://uk.pcmag.com/ai/166245/apples-new-describe-an-extens...

_fw · 2026-09-13T17:59:16

Great idea! I tried this just after reading your comment, 20s later I had a working extension that does exactly this for HN.

Thank you!

WithinReason · 2026-09-13T20:38:58

Save this in a bookmarklet and click it to turn any website dark:

    javascript:(function(){const id='_dark_mode_bm';const el=document.getElementById(id);if(el){el.remove();}else{const s=document.createElement('style');s.id=id;s.textContent='html{filter:invert(1) hue-rotate(180deg)!important;background:#fff!important;}img,video,canvas,picture,svg{filter:invert(1) hue-rotate(180deg)!important;}';document.head.appendChild(s);}})();

faster version:

    javascript:(function(){const id='_dark_perf_bm';const el=document.getElementById(id);if(el){el.remove();}else{const s=document.createElement('style');s.id=id;s.textContent=':root{color-scheme:dark!important;}html,body{background-color:#141414!important;color:#dcdcdc!important;}div,section,article,nav,header,footer,aside,main,table,tr,td,th,ul,ol,li{background-color:#18191a!important;color:#dcdcdc!important;border-color:#383838!important;}p,span,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,b,strong,i,em{color:inherit!important;}a,a%20*{color:#58a6ff!important;}pre,code,kbd{background-color:#202224!important;color:#ff9857!important;}input,textarea,select,button{background-color:#262626!important;color:#fff!important;border:1px%20solid%20#444!important;}img,video,canvas,picture{background-color:transparent!important;}';document.head.appendChild(s);}})();

Meneth · 2026-09-13T18:10:01

I used "Override colors" under Settings -> Accessibility to set nice dark colors.

Then I used userChrome.js from https://github.com/AlexVallat/firefox-scripts/ to add a button which toggles the browser preferences "browser.display.use_system_colors" and "browser.display.document_color_use", so I can still access bright mode if needed.

Rendello · 2026-09-13T17:47:41

The suggestion has been brought up and dang has commented on it over the years. He doesn't seem opposed to it per se. It's possible your descendants may live to see dark-mode HN:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23199062

See also:

dang + "dark mode": https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

dang + "on the list" (lol): https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

viccis · 2026-09-13T17:47:03

https://uso.kkx.one/style/92693

Use it with Stylus

Metricon · 2026-09-13T17:57:05

I use the "Comments Owl for Hacker News" Firefox extension - https://soitis.dev/comments-owl-for-hacker-news

It has a "Dark Mode" under options, plus it allows you to revisit a thread later and know which comments are new.

marcelo-earth · 2026-09-13T17:54:12

This is the Chrome Extension that I use, I love it because it has a Safari version that you can use on your iPhone:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hn-dark-mode/abpjfl...

layer8 · 2026-09-13T18:31:16

On Safari I use https://getnoir.app/.

stagas · 2026-09-13T17:23:53

Dark Reader extension for Chrome.

xeonax · 2026-09-13T17:23:29

Darkreader extension in Firefox

faxmeyourcode · 2026-09-13T18:22:12

Firefox desktop and mobile let you install addons like https://darkreader.org/ which work great.

tech234a · 2026-09-13T17:27:21

I still remember this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23197966

samus · 2026-09-13T17:53:11

Stock Dark Reader browser extension works well for me.

avipars · 2026-09-13T17:38:51

Very beta: https://adhn.netlify.app/

pelagic_sky · 2026-09-13T17:21:15

I use the HN Enhance extension in FF.

OnionBlender · 2026-09-13T17:26:49

https://hcker.news has multiple dark mode themes.

salvesefu · 2026-09-13T17:40:21

this is dope.

herodoturtle · 2026-09-13T17:47:13

thanks!

postalcoder · 2026-09-15T10:14:26

Coincidentally, the midnight theme was created specifically for the reason you asked this question: for using HN while lying down next to a toddler/partner. It has a reduced white point because most dark modes are too bright to use in bed near others. Def not a great daytime dark theme though – that's what the others are for :)

HeavyStorm · 2026-09-13T19:55:23

I use Dark Reader on my Firefox Mobile and on any of my pc browsers.

VCFundedGenYer · 2026-09-13T17:38:52

Use the firefox extension "Dark Background and Light Text".

backtr4ck · 2026-09-14T06:10:08

Darl Reader extension in Vivalvi

randyrand · 2026-09-13T18:29:39

iOS accessibility shortcut: 3 taps on sleep button inverts the colors of any website, if you set it up.

alanvitor · 2026-09-13T19:09:50

Opera browser supports it natively

Uzazo · 2026-09-13T17:33:34

Dark Reader extension in Safari.

marcomourao · 2026-09-13T19:55:42

On iOS, Octal.

abstractspoon · 2026-09-14T00:36:42

Try Harmonic