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Comment by ritchiea | Hacker News Reader

Customize your device for your comfort. Even if there are studies that show on average humans retain information better reading in light mode. That's merely the average! Variation is the only certainty in biology. It's good we have options.

First I found I read my kindle more than physical books even though I prefer the look and feel of physical books. Then I found I read even more on my ipad with the kindle app showing white text on a black background.

Find what works for you. Or if you are a UX designer, provide options.

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>Customize your device for your comfort.

I think the better advice is, customize your environment for your comfort.

Often the reason why people use dark mode is that they use their devices in badly lit environments. It's not a good idea to stare into a bright monitor in a dark room, and the dark mode is arguably the wrong fix for the problem. Reading in dimly lit rooms is known to cause headaches and eye strain and should generally be avoided.

If someone really needs to work in a dark environment tools like flux/redshift are a better solution.

While true, it'd be nice if they could meet in the middle. Laptops and phones autodim but I can't say I've seen this on desktop monitors. I see dark mode (not enough of it though), auto dark mode much more rarely. Lights that autodim are a thing but not common and usually part of the internet of shit.

I don't really want to customize things multiple times daily. And if I have to pick, it will be dark, because it's easier on the eyes when the sun goes down and I dim the lights in anticipation of going to bed.

> Laptops and phones autodim but I can't say I've seen this on desktop monitors.

Modern monitors do have this. Not sure for how many years, but the one I'm currently seated by is 3 years old and has auto dimming.

I've always had that same theory -- I generally prefer light mode to dark mode, and I've also always preferred working in well-lit rooms.

> Reading in dimly lit rooms is known to cause headaches and eye strain and should generally be avoided.

If you’re reading something purely reflective like paper, sure. If you’re reading a screen that is shooting rays of light directly into your eyeballs though?

IIRC:

Dimly lit room + brightly lit cube means that whenever your vision tracks outside of the cube it will have to adjust the opening of the iris. Doing this a lot will tire your eyes out. My interpretation of this is that we should try to have about the same light level across our work spaces and that this should be a mean between long term comfort and readability. I think most of us could probably benefit from larger font sizes as well which feel easier to read in lower light to me.

My environment isn't "badly lit". I just don't want bright, flickering light blasted into my eyes at my expense.

I even block natural light using sunglasses when I go outside!

Once upon a time I stared at the Sun for a solid 20 seconds without blinking. I couldn't read text for a month, the letters disappeared from under my center vision. Why in God's name would I want to routinely stare at a bright screen?

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