Google Pixel March update broke dark mode scheduling based on sunset to sunrise

It seems that the recent March update for Pixel phones has brought a bug that’ll upset dark mode users. A couple of days ago I noticed that my Pixel 7a with the March update failed to go into dark mode at sunset. I dismissed it thinking it might have been a one-off bug. However, I noticed the same happen again last night.

After a quick search on Reddit, it was clear that I wasn’t the only one experiencing the problem. Some users already flagged the issue shortly after the March update went live. 

I went digging a bit deeper and found the main thread about the problem on Google’s Issue Tracker. A user posted the complaint titled, “Dark Theme still not on at sunset off at dawn.”

However, they were on the Android 16 beta. Scrolling a bit further, another user posted that they noticed the same problem with the Android 15 QPR2 update with the March security patch. Then, there’s also a thread on Google’s support forums where 20 others claim to be experiencing the same bug.

On the Issue Tracker, a Google employee said the following back in January:

Thanks for reporting this issue. We have passed this to the development team and will update this issue with more information as it becomes available.

There were no further follow-ups since then. So it seems this bug has slyly slipped through beta testing and made its way to the final stable release too.

As for workarounds, it seems there are none. At first some users had some hope, but that quickly faded away. They had brief relief by switching the dark mode schedule to a custom time and then back to sunrise and sunset, but it turned out to be a flop later.

So it seems if you too are dealing with the bug, it might be best to wait for an update that fixes it. In the meantime, try setting up a custom time routine for dark/light mode.

Let me know if you’ve noticed the bug on your device or if it works as expected. And, in case you figured out a workaround, feel free to share it below so the rest of us can implement it until a fix arrives. Thanks in advance!