I don't have an answer for your specific question but if you use Firefox and have the addon uBlock Origin [1] installed then you can adjust the colors

about:addons -> uBlock -> Preferences -> My Filters, then add

    ## HN Color
    news.ycombinator.com##html:style(background-color: #080808 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com###hnmain:style(background-color: #121216 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.age:style(color: #ccc !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.c00:style(color: #ccc !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.comhead > a:style(color: #dedede !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.comhead:style(color: #dedede !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.hnuser:style(color: #ccc !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.subtext > a:link:style(color: #ccc !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.subtext > a:style(color: #ccc !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.subtext:style(color: #ccc !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.title > a:style(color: ccc !important; background-color: #000000 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##a:link:style(color: #bdbdbd !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##a:visited:style(color: #adadad !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##a:hover:style(color: #fd0000 !important; background-color: #000855 !important)

Then adjust it however you like it.

[1] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...

> When is Hacker News going to have an option for a dark mode.

Browsers have the alternate name "user agents" for a reason, they are ultimately intended to be working for you, the user.

Therefore, simply adjust your "user agent" (browser) to give you a dark mode, and you will have a dark mode, without needing or waiting for HN to change anything.

The comment from @LinuxBender here shows you one way to do so using uBlock Origin.

Probably never. Sadly the folks at HN have proved over the years that they don't really care about making this site's ui functional. There's no reason I should have to permanently zoom in on this site or make custom CSS just to do work that they should have done years ago. I can do it, but that's not the point. Is the gain in "retro styling" really worth the drop in UX? Do the people at HN truly believe that it's perfect and everyone who doesn't like it is just wrong? Or is it just laziness, (i.e. it works and our core users aren't leaving the platform over it, so it's not worth working on).

I'd love to be proved wrong though.

You can paste this snippet into the javascript console (ie F12). It's my 5 minute attempt at artsy dark colors. Code blocks are red as in Sith (star wars). And as a warning that code is dangerous.

    (function hackerNewsDarkMode() {
        let bg = '#35352B';
        let fg = '#EEEED1';

        let tables = document.getElementsByTagName('table');
        for (let i=0; i<tables.length; i += 1) {
            tables[i].style.backgroundColor = bg;
            tables[i].style.color = fg;
        }
        let codes = document.getElementsByTagName('code');
        for (let i=0; i<codes.length; i += 1) {
            codes[i].style.backgroundColor = '#300000';
            codes[i].style.color = '#FF0000';
        }
        let spans = document.getElementsByTagName('span');
        for (let i=0; i<spans.length; i += 1) {
            spans[i].style.backgroundColor = bg;
            spans[i].style.color = fg;
        }
        let a = document.getElementsByTagName('a');
        for (let i=0; i<a.length; i += 1) {
            a[i].style.backgroundColor = bg;
            a[i].style.color = '#66CDAA';
        }
        let divs = document.getElementsByTagName('div');
        for (let i=0; i<divs.length; i += 1) {
            divs[i].style.backgroundColor = bg;
            divs[i].style.color = '#FFC0CB';
        }
        let textAreas = document.getElementsByTagName('textarea');
        for (let i=0; i<textAreas.length; i += 1) {
            textAreas[i].style.backgroundColor = "#000000";
            textAreas[i].style.color = fg;
        }

        document.body.style.backgroundColor = '#000000';
        document.body.style.color = '#FFFFFF';
    }());

I just use darkreader with a toggle

No native dark mode is probably a feature to ensure you don't procrastinate a lot on the platform.

Shameless plug: I have built a HN client app with true dark mode, feel free to give it a look.

I can see dark mode on vanilla Android Chrome with no problems. Misconfigured browser or system theme perhaps?

https://i.imgur.com/3Ipp8oX.png

look great in kiwibrowser https://kiwibrowser.com/features/

Dang said he’d do it at one point and then it was never done. I desperately want it for reading in bed (iOS). Some day…

Dark mode will be available shortly after ipv6 is enabled, just wait a few more years.

If you don't mind the header color:

    html {filter:invert(.9) contrast(90%);}