HN Explorer

Ask HN: Will HN ever have a dark mode?

13 points by anthropodie ↗ HN
It's one of those sites that I frequently visit and get a glaring screen in my face when switching tabs. Just wanted to know if this feature is ever going to be available. I mean it's 2025!

27 comments

[ 0.29 ms ] story [ 41.5 ms ] thread
greentea23
I prefer sites not to implement a custom dark mode and instead to make sure their styles invert well, less work for devs, more consistency for me.

https://darkreader.org/

https://www.howtogeek.com/446198/how-to-force-dark-mode-on-e...

monomial
Agreed. Darkreader + some uBlock Origin filters to remove any residual orange and I have a perfect white on black reading experience.
BOOSTERHIDROGEN
Mind sharing the setup? Thanks.
monomial
Here are the uBlock Origin filters I'm using:

  # background
  news.ycombinator.com###hnmain:style(background-color: transparent !important;)
  # top bar
  news.ycombinator.com###hnmain > tbody > tr:first-child > td:style(background-color: transparent !important;)
  # logo
  news.ycombinator.com###hnmain > tbody > tr:first-child tbody > tr:first-child > td:first-child:style(opacity: 0 !important;)
  # footer divider
  news.ycombinator.com###hnmain td[bgcolor="#ff6600"]:style(background-color: transparent !important)
cloudking
I have one too, font sizes increased + dark mode:

news.ycombinator.com##body:style(background: #121212;)

news.ycombinator.com##td:style(color: #d0d0d0 !important; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Open Sans, sans-serif !important;)

news.ycombinator.com##td.title:style(font-size:20px !important; font-weight: bold; color: #4e8cbe !important; font-family: system-ui !important; )

news.ycombinator.com##td.subtext:style(font-size:15px !important; color: #a0a0a0; font-family: system-ui !important;)

news.ycombinator.com##table:style(background-color: #1e1e1e; padding: 15px; border-radius: 6px;)

news.ycombinator.com##div.toptext:style(color: #d0d0d0 !important; font-family: system-ui !important;)

news.ycombinator.com##div.commtext:style(color: #d0d0d0 !important; font-size: 1.5em; font-family: system-ui !important;)

news.ycombinator.com##span.c00:style(color: #d0d0d0 !important)

news.ycombinator.com##a:style(color: #4e8cbe !important; text-decoration: none;)

news.ycombinator.com##a:hover:style(color: #6aa0cc !important; text-decoration: underline;)

news.ycombinator.com##span#karma:style(color: #6aa0cc !important)

news.ycombinator.com##span.pagetop:style(color: #d0d0d0 !important)

news.ycombinator.com##textarea:style(color: #d0d0d0 !important; background: #252525; border: 1px solid #333; padding: 5px; border-radius: 3px;)

news.ycombinator.com###hnmain:style(background: #1e1e1e !important; box-shadow: 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3); border-radius: 6px;)

news.ycombinator.com##div.votearrow:style(width: 18px !important; height:18px !important; background-size: 18px !important;)

seanwilson
It's maybe good enough, but a custom palette will look more branded and getting the hierarchy and contrasts to feel just right isn't always as straight forward as colors look different based on their surroundings. So it's unlikely big brands would go for this.
jethronethro
People have been asking about/for this for years. Hasn't happened yet, and I doubt it ever will. Doesn't seem to be a priority to HN.
k310
Dark Reader for Firefox desktop works for me.

I use Dark Night on Safari, mobile and desktop.

pants2
There's perhaps no better site than HN to be open source and allow community improvements. Why isn't it?
codingdave
HN runs all kinds of algorithms to help with spam, moderation, etc. Being open source would derail all the benefits gained from that code.
krapp
Also, I think dang once mentioned there's a lot of business code for YC tangled up in the forum that they would have to remove.
paulcole
HN is a marketing campaign for a VC firm. Closed and controlled is a benefit.

Would Coca Cola or Walmart open source their ads?

krapp
That would lead to feature creep and bloat and undermine the minimalist purity of the layout. They do make improvements to the forum, but only on their own schedule and very selectively. Hacker News is a cathedral, not a bazaar.
rednafi
Native dark mode is not worth the effort in most cases. There are extensions that you can use to do it yourself if you want.
uncomplexity_
never gonna happen lol

dang always get a chuckle when you get the flashbang

dyeje
I think the idea is that it’s a forum for programmers and you can probably self serve some solution (whether that’s using a plugin, custom style sheet, making your own, etc).