Is the Dark Reader Extension Breaking Reddit
Dark Reader is one of the most used extensions on the Internet and is available on pretty much every browser. While it does slow websites down a little it's worth it to not have your retinas burnt out whenever you visit a website. Unfortunately, there have been some issues with Reddit loading lately and a lot of people are pointing the finger at Dark Reader but is there any truth to this?
Is the Dark Reader Extension Breaking Reddit
Dark Reader, a popular browser extension used to apply a dark theme to websites, has been causing significant issues for Reddit users, particularly on Firefox, though the issue is also happening on Chromium-based browsers as well. The problem is most common when browsing Reddit’s new interface where users experience severe performance degradation. To the point that the browser freezes, slowdowns, or goes Not Responding.
So what’s Causing the Problem?
The issue can traced back to a recent change in Reddit’s styling system. Reddit has moved to using "adopted style sheets" for styling its pages. This shift introduces complications for web extensions like Dark Reader, which modifies the page's appearance by injecting custom CSS. Adopted style sheets are a newer CSS feature that enables more dynamic style updates, but they are not fully compatible with all browsers and extensions. In particular, Firefox struggles to access these adopted style sheets directly, leading to performance issues like lag and freezing.
Firefox users, especially those on the latest version (Firefox 133.0), report that Dark Reader's attempt to interact with Reddit’s adopted style sheets causes delays and browser slowdowns. When trying to browse Reddit with Dark Reader enabled, the page becomes unresponsive, and users often have to click "stop" or wait for the page to load fully, only to face continuous issues.
How Can You Fix It?
There are several solutions available, all of which are common sense but not be what you're hoping for. The simplest solution is to disable Dark Reader specifically for Reddit. This can be done by turning off Dark Reader’s effects on the Reddit domain, either manually or by excluding Reddit from Dark Reader’s default settings.
- Open Reddit in your browser.
- Click on the Dark Reader extension icon.
- Toggle the switch to disable Dark Reader on Reddit.
- Alternatively, go to Dark Reader settings and add Reddit to the exclusion list.
Disabling Dark Reader for Reddit allows you to browse the site without the performance issues caused by its interference with Reddit’s styling.
Use Reddit’s Built-in Dark Mode
Another easy fix is to switch to Reddit's built-in dark mode. Reddit offers a native dark mode that is fully compatible with its new styling system, and it does not require an external extension like Dark Reader.
How to enable Reddit’s dark mode:
- Log in to your Reddit account.
- Go to your User Settings.
- Toggle the Dark Mode option on.
As I use Dark Reader for everything, even on mobile I would suggest just disabling it for Reddit and using Reddits built-in Dark Mode. Then keep Dark Reader enabled for everything else. This seems to solve the problem so that you can keep Dark Reader's retina protection enabled for all other websites.