That doesn't seem like a good strategy for a competing product.
If a person has a good point, they have a good point. This isn't a very strong Android update and neither was last year's.
With third-party apps there was a bit of a lag in support but the same goes for dark mode on iOS. Even now some apps don't support that.
But right now the main apps I use on Android all support it. Samsung Mail, OSMAnd for maps, Firefox (with dark reader extension that automatically matches the system dark mode!), most chat apps I use, password store, MS apps I use for work, etc. It's really amazing to have this. I'm sensitive to too-bright displays and most displays these days are tuned for maximum output, not minimum.