According to a recent rumor, Apple is expected to introduce what they are calling “Theater Mode” to iOS 10.3. For those unfamiliar, it was suggested that Theater Mode could be a dark mode for iOS devices where the UI will be given a darker finish. However as it turns out that maybe the rumors were wrong.
In the iOS 10.3 beta that Apple had started to seed to its developers, the feature was nowhere to be found. Instead it seems that Theater Mode was actually found in watchOS 3.1.3 which seems to suggest that it is an Apple Watch feature as opposed to an iOS one. Interestingly enough despite it having been launched on watchOS 3.1.3, it is only now that this feature was discovered.
According to Apple’s developer website, the description of Theater Mode reads, “Introduced in watchOS 3.1.3, Theater Mode lets users quickly mute the sound on their Apple Watch and avoid waking the screen on wrist raise. Users still receive notifications (including haptics) while in Theater Mode, which they can view by tapping the screen or pressing the Digital Crown.”
This is completely unrelated to what the rumors were saying. It is possible that maybe a dark mode is still in the cards for iOS, but maybe it won’t be called Theater Mode. However like we said the latest iOS 10.3 beta does not make any mention of such features, so either the rumors are false or it will come in a later beta build.
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