Dark Screen filter makes your display go black while everything on your phone keeps running.
Start a video, a podcast or a playlist, tap one button, and the screen goes black. The sound carries on and nothing pauses. On OLED and AMOLED screens black pixels switch off completely, so you also stop spending battery on a screen you are not looking at.
There are two modes, and that is the whole app.
BLACK
The screen goes fully black and every touch is blocked. Good for listening with the phone in your pocket, leaving a stream running, or wiping the glass clean without opening things by accident. You unlock it with a gesture you choose.
DIM
The screen goes darker than Android's lowest brightness, with a warm tint if you want one. You can still see the screen and still tap through it, so it works for reading in bed without the glare.
ADJUST IT WITHOUT STOPPING IT
A dim you cannot adjust is no use. While one is running, the notification carries brighter and darker buttons, so you can set the level straight from the shade without leaving your book or your video.
MAKE IT YOURS
Darkness from a light veil to fully black
Warm, red or cool tint for night use
Lock touches, or let them pass through
A clock that drifts slowly so it cannot burn in
Drop the backlight to its minimum
Stop by itself after a set number of minutes
Unlock with a double tap, a triple tap, four taps, a long press, or a swipe up then down
Each mode remembers its own settings, so the dim level you like is still there when you come back to it.
QUICK WAYS IN AND OUT
Add the Black Screen tile to your quick settings and black out the screen without leaving the app you are already in. A notification with a stop button stays there the whole time, so you are never stuck.
SCREEN TOOLS
A black screen is the best background for checking a display, so these come built in:
Dead pixel test, full screen colours one at a time
Burn in check, flat grey and colour fields that make ghost images easy to spot
Stuck pixel fixer, a flashing patch you drag over the spot
Touch test, a grid that finds dead touch zones
NO ACCOUNT NEEDED
There is no sign in and nothing to set up. Your settings stay on your phone.
ABOUT THE PERMISSION
To cover another app, Android needs the display over other apps permission. Black Screen asks once and you can say no. Without it the app still blacks out your display, it just stays inside Black Screen rather than covering YouTube or your player.
WHAT IT IS NOT
This draws a black layer over your screen rather than powering the display down. On OLED that is effectively the same thing and saves real battery. On an LCD the backlight stays on, so you get the darkness but not the saving.
Turn the screen dark while music and video keep playing. No account needed.