Android 13 removes Google Assistant’s light theme

After the release of Android 13 on Pixel devices this year, some users noticed that the Google Assistant UI all of a sudden adopted a dark theme, even though their device had dark mode turned off. It bothered fans of light mode enough to submit an issue tracker reporting the supposed bug to Google. Now, Google is acknowledging the change and has responded that this was the intended behavior after all.

According to Google, based on the response given to the issue tracker mentioned above, the Google Assistant will always show in dark theme on Android 13 devices, regardless of the system theme chosen. This is the exact response that was given:

Google Assistant regularly tries new ideas to see what works and what could work better. This includes ways to make our products look and feel consistent throughout our product ecosystem. To offer a more helpful visual experience across all your devices, including Pixel Watch and Google TV, when you engage with Assistant on mobile Light mode is no longer available – it will now have a dark appearance, even if you have Dark theme turned off in your phone settings.

Google Issue Tracker

However, this isn’t the only part of the Android 13 UI that is inconsistent with the chosen system theme. As spotted by XDA-Developers, the Quick Settings panel is also affected by this strange implementation which is becoming an eyesore to users that prefer a brighter theme. Unfortunately, since Google confirmed that this is the intended behavior, there can be no expectation that it will be reversed to work the way it did prior to Android 13, and there is no known workaround either.

I happen to go through stages where I am using dark mode 24/7, and then some days when I feel like I want to brighten things up. Basically, my phone theme changes based on my mood and my chosen wallpaper. Since I have been using dark mode for a while now, I had not noticed this UI inconsistency until now when I manually changed to light mode and invoked the Google Assistant. Though not ideal, I don’t find it to be as annoying as others, perhaps because I really have no preference for either theme. Is this something that is affecting your Android experience? Let us know in the comments what you think.