No matter how strong your allegiance to Android or iPhone is, you’ll probably agree that the worst thing about Android phones and iPhones is battery life. Yes, most of the new phones will get you through the day, and the advantage is clearly on Android, as some vendors have equipped their devices with massive battery packs. But battery life is never enough, especially as the battery degrades over time. Thankfully, Google just told us how to improve battery life on certain Android and most of the new iPhones, admitting a mistake in Android design in the process.

It turns out it’s something as easy as switching to dark mode whenever possible. That’s something smartphone-savvy users have long suspected, that dark mode will help conserve battery life. There is a caveat, however. The screen has to be an OLED one. But that’s absolutely not a problem these days, as most of the flagship devices out there pack OLED screens, premium iPhone X versions included.

Image Source: Google via SlashGear

Google shared data about energy consumption on phones at this week’s Android Dev Summit, SlashGear reports.

The company studied energy consumptions on phones with white and dark themes and concluded that at max brightness, the dark mode on OLED always wins. With OLED screens, each pixel lights up independently, which is why dark mode helps preserve battery life.

Image Source: Google via SlashGear

Google also showed a comparison between the original Pixel and the iPhone 7 which is self-explanatory, as long as you’re aware of the screen differences between the two devices. OLED, on the original Pixel, does consume less power on dark mode compared to the iPhone 7, which has an LCD.

All Pixels since the Pixel 3 come with OLED screens, as do Samsung flagship devices like the Galaxy S or Note, and Apple’s iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. But you won’t really find true dark modes for any of them.

Image Source: Google via SlashGear

Even Google admitted that it was wrong to impose white as the predominant color for Material Design apps. Apple’s iPhone UI, meanwhile, is also heavy on white, and there’s no dedicated dark mode on iPhone either. Interestingly, Apple launched a dark mode for Mac, although all Macs have LCD screens, which means it won’t help with battery life. Samsung phones, meanwhile, will get a dark mode via the One UI update, but not all its phones are eligible for it.

Image Source: Google via SlashGear

Just because Google told us how easy it is to “fix” battery life on OLED smartphones, doesn’t mean we’re getting dark modes from either Google or Apple anytime soon. But there may be independent apps that may offer users dark modes, with YouTube being one such example.

The idea that Google would release the first developer preview of its next-generation mobile operating system on Pi Day (March 14 — or 3/14) was a nice one. After all, rumors suggest that Android P could end up launching as “Android Pie,” so serving up the first developer build on Pi Day would’ve been a very Googly thing to do — whether the move was a hint at the new version’s release name or just some fun trolling. Instead, Google decided to surprise everyone with an unexpected Android P release on Wednesday, and Android fans spent the rest of the day checking out all of the new features baked into Google’s newest OS.

While there will likely be several additional new features added to Android P before it’s released to the public this fall, it seems clear that Android P will not be a massive update. As a matter of fact, many of the new features Google is highlighting in Android P are, dare we say, a bit boring. 2018 may turn out to be a year of refinement for both of the world’s top mobile platforms though, because Apple is also rumored to be shifting focus in iOS 12 away from exciting new features so that it can work on improving stability and performance.

Even still, there are definitely some great new additions in Android P, and one of them can be yours right now.

Even if you have a Pixel or Pixel 2 smartphone that’s able to run Google’s first Android P Developer Preview, we strongly suggest that you fight temptation. It’s natural for Android enthusiasts to want to check out Google’s latest and greatest Android features as soon as possible, but the first build of Android P is nowhere near being ready for public consumption. It’s best suited to developer devices, not the phone you carry with you all the time.

Even if you fight the urge to update your Pixel phone — or if you have some other Android phone that isn’t even compatible with the Android P Developer Preview — there’s still a way that you can get a taste of Android P.

Everyone seems to love the new look of Android P’s home screens, which have gotten a terrific refresh in Android P. The top of the screen is largely unchanged, but the dock is completely different. The new look is great, but far more important is the fact that it puts the Google search bar right at the bottom of the screen where users can easily access it. Here’s a screenshot from Android news blog Droid Life:

We love it, but not quite enough to install an incomplete, potentially buggy version of Android P. Luckily we don’t have to. Droid Life has managed to get its hands on the official Android P launcher, which is an updated version of the Pixel Launcher found in Android Oreo. Want to check out the awesome new launcher on your own Android phone? You can download it right here