Safari introduces Adaptive Dark Mode in 27.3

Safari 27.3 beta introduces Adaptive Dark Mode, a feature designed to provide a consistent dark experience across the web. When enabled, Safari adapts light websites and presents them as dark. This is particularly useful for users in dark mode, as almost 40% of web page loads are from such users, yet only 10% of page loads support dark mode.

Adaptive Dark Mode analyzes the colors on a page and estimates whether it's predominantly light or dark. If the page has a light appearance, it adapts the page to be dark. It uses a color matrix to invert the luminosity of colors while preserving hue, ensuring that light backgrounds become dark and dark text becomes light. The feature maintains sufficient contrast, as defined by the WCAG 4.5:1 contrast ratio, ensuring transformed content remains usable.

It also takes care with images, leaving most unchanged but transforming icons and logos when needed. For the best results, web pages should follow modern web development practices. Developers can help by swapping bitmap images for SVG, using solid or gradient colors in CSS, and adding padding to containers. Users can also prevent Adaptive Dark Mode from transforming a specific page by using the color-scheme meta tag.

Safari ensures user privacy is protected, preventing websites from detecting when Adaptive Dark Mode has been applied.