Shoutout to the barista who made me ditch pure black backgrounds

Was grabbing coffee at Blue Bottle in Portland last month. The app on my phone had a pure black theme, looked sleek but harsh. The barista saw me squinting and showed me her phone. She uses a dark gray like #121212 with a hint of blue. Said pure black creates halation on OLED screens. Tested it on my laptop that night. Text feels softer, less eye strain after 2 hours of coding. Anyone else switched away from #000000 after trying a tinted dark base?

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betty_fisher511h ago

Disagree with this one. Pure black is the whole point for me. I run my phone at like 20% brightness anyway, so the halation thing barely matters. Dark gray just looks muddy on my screen, like the blacks are faded. And in a bright room, the gray actually reflects more light back at me. I tried #121212 for a week and went straight back to #000000. Guess it depends on your eyes and your lighting setup.