Android 13 is pretty slick. In fact, Google has added many features up until now that for the most part make it feel seamless and comfortable to use. We’re to the point where I find it hard to complain about much when it comes to using my Pixel 6 Pro on a daily basis, and that’s exactly how technology ought to be. It should basically be invisible to users and remove barriers in their lives so that they can use that added convenience to increase their enjoyment and productivity.
One such area where this is extremely evident is Dark Mode. When it’s working you don’t at all think about it, but when you swap over to light mode in the middle of the night on accident or mistakenly drag your brightness slider all the way up, you feel like a torch is searing your eyes at a thousand degrees. Okay, I’m being dramatic, but only because you’ll agree with that description when it happens to you.
On that note, I’ve been experiencing a bug in Android 13 for the past several months that’s driving me nuts. Whenever my Pixel automatically enables bedtime mode and greys out my screen before I’m ready for it to (yes, I know I should be sleeping at night instead of fighting the Digital Wellbeing tools) or whenever I disable Do Not Disturb mode, my display automatically switches from dark to light mode against my wishes, and it’s super frustrating. I almost always prefer dark mode as I get eye strain quite easily, and this has persisted long enough that I’m realizing I need to say something about it.
I’ve gone into my Settings and tinkered with Adaptive brightness, dark mode, and even the night light to see if I could stop this from happening, but no dice. I also don’t have Battery Saver mode enabled, which is what I thought was causing the issue. The worst part is that every time I have this problem, it takes me by surprise again, blasting light in my face since I’d gone nearly a full 24 hours without it occurring.
Google should prioritize resolving this issue soon to improve the user experience for myself and others like me – especially where accessibility is concerned. I’ve noticed only after doing a bit of research that others have had this same problem, even in instances where they take their phone off of a charger, but I’ve yet to see an official bug report on it. Let me know in the settings if this is happening to you or if you’ve heard of it out in the wild!
