The current situation at Stack Exchange

To summarize staff member Aaron Shekey's comment on this issue in Stack Exchange's GitHub repository, the new Stacks design doesn't have code coverage(?) to swap themes based on user-preference or OS setting.

A dark theme will also introduce additional complexity to support when developing new features or fixing existing bugs. This is not feasible when there are over 200 themes supporting about the same number of Network sites, as you would also have to test each one individually on top of testing desktop/tablet/mobile breakpoints.

While a dark theme is a highly-requested feature and one I would also welcome, I personally do not see this happening anytime soon even when it has been added to the Roadmap as I understand the complexity involved.

The next best solution

In the meantime, I have created a userscript "Stack Exchange Dark Mode" that works for ALL Network sites (a bold claim, but try it out yourself!), and supports all moderator/hidden pages as well (like post timelines). I am using this and will actively fix bugs when I come across them, especially when design changes.

My userscript also automatically does two levels of dark, which you can't implement using userstyles. There's a black/midnight mode for very late nights (10 pm-6 am), and a dark-grayish mode all other times.

The current situation at Stack Exchange

To summarize staff member Aaron Shekey's comment on this issue in Stack Exchange's GitHub repository, the new Stacks design doesn't have code coverage(?) to swap themes based on user-preference or OS setting.

A dark theme will also introduce additional complexity to support when developing new features or fixing existing bugs. This is not feasible when there are over 200 themes supporting about the same number of Network sites, as you would also have to test each one individually on top of testing desktop/tablet/mobile breakpoints.

While a dark theme is a highly-requested feature and one I would also welcome, I personally do not see this happening anytime soon even when it has been added to the Roadmap as I understand the complexity involved.

The next best solution

In the meantime, I have created a userscript "Stack Exchange Dark Mode" that works for ALL Network sites (a bold claim, but try it out yourself!), and supports all moderator/hidden pages as well (like post timelines). I am using this and will actively fix bugs when I come across them, especially when design changes.

My userscript also automatically does two levels of dark, which you can't implement using userstyles. There's a black/midnight mode for very late nights (10 pm-6 am), and a dark-grayish mode all other times.

Features

• Supports all network sites, not just Stack Overflow!
• Works on Chat.SO, Chat.SE, Chat.MSE!
• Dual dark themes - midnight black for late nights
• Inverts SVG colours
• Some elements have reduced opacity until focused/mouseover (sidebar modules/images/timestamps). Some important colours are retained.
• Code highlighting in darker colours
• Darker post revision colours
• Dark code snippet editor
• Ensures no blinding white elements even if SO adds new features in future
• Works on all ~66 SOMU userscripts (found here)
• Support for SO, SU, SF, and other network site logos (instead of just plain white)
  
• Open source

Install

The current situation at Stack Exchange

To summarize staff member Aaron Shekey's comment on this issue in Stack Exchange's GitHub repository, the new Stacks design doesn't have code coverage(?) to swap themes based on user-preference or OS setting.

A dark theme will also introduce additional complexity to support when developing new features or fixing existing bugs. This is not feasible when there are over 200 themes supporting about the same number of Network sites, as you would also have to test each one individually on top of testing desktop/tablet/mobile breakpoints.

While a dark theme is a highly-requested feature and one I would also welcome, I personally do not see this happening anytime soon even when it has been added to the Roadmap as I understand the complexity involved.

The next best solution

In the meantime, I have created a userscript "Stack Exchange Dark Mode" that works for ALL Network sites (a bold claim, but try it out yourself!), and supports all moderator/hidden pages as well (like post timelines). I am using this and will actively fix bugs when I come across them, especially when design changes.

My userscript also automatically does two levels of dark, which you can't implement using userstyles. There's a black mode for very late nights (10 pm-6 am), and a dark-grayish mode all other times.

The current situation at Stack Exchange

To summarize staff member Aaron Shekey's comment on this issue in Stack Exchange's GitHub repository, the new Stacks design doesn't have code coverage(?) to swap themes based on user-preference or OS setting.

A dark theme will also introduce additional complexity to support when developing new features or fixing existing bugs. This is not feasible when there are over 200 themes supporting about the same number of Network sites, as you would also have to test each one individually on top of testing desktop/tablet/mobile breakpoints.

While a dark theme is a highly-requested feature and one I would also welcome, I personally do not see this happening anytime soon even when it has been added to the Roadmap as I understand the complexity involved.

The next best solution

In the meantime, I have created a userscript "Stack Exchange Dark Mode" that works for ALL Network sites (a bold claim, but try it out yourself!), and supports all moderator/hidden pages as well (like post timelines). I am using this and will actively fix bugs when I come across them, especially when design changes.

My userscript also automatically does two levels of dark, which you can't implement using userstyles. There's a black/midnight mode for very late nights (10 pm-6 am), and a dark-grayish mode all other times.

The current situation at Stack Exchange

To summarize staff member Aaron Shekey's comment on this issue in Stack Exchange's GitHub repository, the new Stacks design doesn't have code coverage(?) to swap themes based on user-preference or OS setting.

A dark theme will also introduce additional complexity to support when developing new features or fixing existing bugs. This is not feasible when there are over 200 themes supporting about the same number of Network sites, as you would also have to test each one individually on top of testing desktop/tablet/mobile breakpoints.

While a dark theme is a highly-requested feature and one I would also welcome, I personally do not see this happening anytime soon even when it has been added to the Roadmap as I understand the complexity involved.

The next best solution

In the meantime, I have created a userscript "Stack Exchange Dark Mode" that works for ALL Network sites (a bold claim, but try it out yourself!), and supports all moderator/hidden pages as well (like post timelines). I am using this and will actively fix bugs when I come across them, especially when design changes.

My userscript also automatically does two levels of dark, which you can't implement using userstyles. There's a black mode for very late nights (10 pm-6 am), and a dark-grayish mode all other times.

The current situation at Stack Exchange

To summarize staff member Aaron Shekey's comment on this issue in Stack Exchange's GitHub repository, the new Stacks design doesn't have code coverage(?) to swap themes based on user-preference or OS setting.

A dark theme will also introduce additional complexity to support when developing new features or fixing existing bugs. This is not feasible when there are over 200 themes supporting about the same number of Network sites, as you would also have to test each one individually on top of testing desktop/tablet/mobile breakpoints.

While a dark theme is a highly-requested feature and one I would also welcome, I personally do not see this happening anytime soon even when it has been added to the Roadmap as I understand the complexity involved.

The next best solution

In the meantime, I have created a userscript "Stack Exchange Dark Mode" that works for ALL Network sites (a bold claim, but try it out yourself!), and supports all moderator/hidden pages as well (like post timelines). I am using this and will actively fix bugs when I come across them, especially when design changes.

My userscript also automatically does two levels of dark, which you can't implement using userstyles. There's a black mode for very late nights (10 pm-6 am), and a dark-grayish mode all other times.