Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave • Hacker News Board

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#91

Post by plehoux » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

matchbok wrote: post #88

rhacker wrote: post #87

As usual Apple has set off a major change in the way we do business. Newspapers, Apps, Slack, everything is going to start supporting dark mode. I think the original way we tackled "custom color schemes" of the OS was too much - we allowed people to set individual colors for everything. Once again apple has simplified that to just light mode and dark mode. And that's how the rest of the industry will finally tackle c…

Sad to realize that if Slack had a real, native app, most of the conversion would be a simple toggle.

As shown here, Electron app can support this easily: https://medium.com/missive-app/make-your-electron-app-dark-m...

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#92

Post by Brajeshwar » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 5:00 PM UTC

For those, who like the Dark Theme on Mojave but not dark-dark everywhere.

  $ defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool Yes

Logout and Choose “Dark Mode".

Revert Back

  $ defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool No

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#93

Post by dewiz » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 5:04 PM UTC

Detecting the user preference for dark mode seems like one more variable to fingerprint and identify users, isn't it?

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#94

Post by leppr » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 5:10 PM UTC

red-tea wrote: post #23

saagarjha wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This API, presumably, once websites adopt it and actually add CSS to support darker themes.

No. This is a different thing. The problem is when people haven't coded their CSS correctly and assume default background is white and then set a non default foreground of black or something. Those sites will still break for dark themes even with this API. In fact, if people actually understood the first C in CSS, this thing wouldn't even be necessary.

Dunno why you're being downvoted. This indeed is a very widespread problem. Even some Google services (like Google Docs) have it.

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#95

Post by reificator » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 5:24 PM UTC

modernerd wrote: post #8

This is a great blog post to build awareness of the prefers-color-scheme feature. But I don't think it's safe to assume that someone who sets a dark UI also wants web pages displayed like that. I set dark mode in macOS to have the UI fade into the background and reveal the content; I don't want or expect that websites will present white text on a dark background too. That's fine for coding but can be less readable fo…

> But I don't think it's safe to assume that someone who sets a dark UI also wants web pages displayed like that.

If it's done well, absolutely it's safe to assume.

I am extremely excited to research and start using this feature. I don't want to force anyone to use dark UIs that don't want them, but simultaneously I can't bring myself to make more light-themed apps and pages when I want exclusively dark themes for everything that runs on my machine.

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#96

Post by untog » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

matchbok wrote: post #88

rhacker wrote: post #87

As usual Apple has set off a major change in the way we do business. Newspapers, Apps, Slack, everything is going to start supporting dark mode. I think the original way we tackled "custom color schemes" of the OS was too much - we allowed people to set individual colors for everything. Once again apple has simplified that to just light mode and dark mode. And that's how the rest of the industry will finally tackle c…

Sad to realize that if Slack had a real, native app, most of the conversion would be a simple toggle.

Not really. Slack would have to have a real, native app that used exclusively stock OS controls. I very much doubt they'd do that, so there would still be a lot of work required to implement dark mode.

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#97

Post by josho » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 6:00 PM UTC

Fuxy wrote: post #71

josho wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious, I ended up turning off dark mode because I found web pages were jarringly bright compared to everything else on the screen.

Don't you use websites that have a dark theme more instead. I always preferred websites that allowed me to select a dark theme and it seems to be more and more popular to do that. Hell even you-tube does that now.

This is great, it means many sites won't have much work to support the CSS media query.

I still would prefer to change a setting once, rather than establish a profile on every website to enable a dark theme.

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#98

Post by Sharlin » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 6:23 PM UTC

Fuxy wrote: post #71

josho wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious, I ended up turning off dark mode because I found web pages were jarringly bright compared to everything else on the screen.

Don't you use websites that have a dark theme more instead. I always preferred websites that allowed me to select a dark theme and it seems to be more and more popular to do that. Hell even you-tube does that now.

Well, Youtube should have had a dark theme from day one. It makes zero sense to show videos on a bright white background.

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#99

Post by wlesieutre » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 6:26 PM UTC

Cub3 wrote: post #80

S_A_P wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a counterpoint, I find a white app or webpage jarring in dark mode and much prefer light/white text on dark background. I’m happy that the rest of the os is catching up with how I’ve run my IDE for years.

Agreed, i've been using the DarkReader extension to make everything 'Dark Mode' https://darkreader.org/

Another option for Safari is Nightlight

https://www.gofake1.net/projects/nightlight.html

Re: Using Dark Mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

#100

Post by crazygringo » Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 6:55 PM UTC

I'm not sure I can take it anymore. Websites are just getting too complicated to design and build.

First it was desktop with mouse -- easy. Then responsive design requiring both desktop and mobile layouts, as well as interaction design with both mouse and touch. Now what if users start expecting both light and dark versions of websites? "We show the mobile version of the menu with its own hover on small screens only, but the hover only appears if JavaScript detects a mouse, but wait we need a different hover color when it's in dark mode!"

Not to mention other standard things like making sure it works in all major browsers, or even that interactive things like comments or voting have non-JavaScript fallbacks, or that the order of elements is appropriate for screenreaders.

I love using dark mode at night, and as a user would love for every website to follow it too. But as a developer, there are just too many combinations to design and test for, and it's growing exponentially!