Dark mode for WhatsApp has been a long time coming, but evidence in the latest iPhone beta release suggests that when it eventually arrives, there will be two different options to choose from.

Most of the world's most popular social apps already have dark modes, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but until now WhatsApp has been a noticeable holdout, sticking with its white and gray design despite the release of iOS 13 and Android 10, both of which have their own system-wide dark modes.

According to WABetaInfo, the most recent WhatsApp beta for iOS contains evidence of a dark theme with two possible configurations.

READ ALSO:

Dissent Erupts at Facebook Over Hands-Off Stance on Political Ads

The first of these uses very dark colors, with a black background. It's possible that this design is intended specifically for phones with AMOLED screens, as black pixels on these screens are turned off and therefore use less power (at least in theory).

The second dark mode uses slightly lighter shades of gray, but the two look otherwise very similar. Both use the dark blue/green and gray text bubbles we've already seen tucked away in earlier beta releases.

When's it coming?

Even if you install the new WhatsApp beta, you won't be able to access the new options (so far they're only visible as assets tucked away in the app's installation package) and there's no indication of when the themes might become available.

The fact that the developers still seem to be experimenting with different options suggests the release might still be a few months away, but we'll keep you updated once the dark modes are available for beta testing.