Is there a way to make Scrivener automatically switch to a Dark Mode theme in Windows when Windows switches to its own dark theme? The only theme switching I see is to:
(If late in the evening) Put on sunglasses to prepare my rods and cones for the blazing whiteness
Window>Theme>Dark Mode
Restart Scrivener
The Default theme is always (in the evening, blinding) white.
(I feel dumb asking this; I suspect the answer is obvious. But when I searched for “Dark Mode” in the KB, none of the first items were not about dark mode. The first FAQ was about licensing. Which I suppose is a dark subject for some, but not what I’m looking for.)
Not tethered to change with Windows apps.
However, there are themes available from File → Options → General → Manage, among which you’ll find what you need.
Part of the problem is that Scrivener technically doesn’t have a dark mode. It has some themes that paint the interface dark and most of the text white, but it does nothing on top of that to accommodate the look. Bright yellow highlights scream from the abyss, all your comments in the inspector look like search lights, all of your style highlights become unreadable, inline annotations way too dark to read, et cetera. The other problem is the phrasing, it has some themes. Which theme do we select? If you prefer one you downloaded, how would it know to select that, and not the stock theme named “Dark Mode”?
These are problems that have solutions, of course, all the way down to the algorithms that recolour shading and foreground colours to maintain intent without sacrificing legibility. But none of that is done yet.
The other part of the problem is much simpler: it has only become possible, fairly recently, to detect the system setting on this matter. This is something we will probably adopt in the future, but as noted, we would want to solve some fundamental problems with “dark mode” as it stands, before automatically pitching someone into what could be a readability nightmare that they have to then go out of their way to figure out how to turn off.
Thanks for that explanation. I would be in favor of and appreciative of the ability to designate a theme for “light” and “dark” modes in Windows. That way the user can decide what seems best. In my less-than-expert perspective, this would not require alghorithms.
You can. File → Options → General → Manage (button to the bottom left of screen) → Dark Mode → Restart Scrivener. Done.
It’s just not Windows Dark Mode, but a Dark Mode theme. I’m sure many users select it, among others.
For that one specific aspect it will probably go in the same direction as the Mac on this one, and keep the preference completely invisible: it just tracks the last light/dark mode theme that you used and restore it upon switching.
I don’t understand your last comment, there were multiple missing components of dark mode raised, and not all of them were meant to share the same solutions, if that’s what you meant.
I simply meant that if the user can designate a theme for when Windows is in “Light” and “Dark” mode respectively, then nothing more is required. I think . . . ??
The only way to know if you’re satisfied with the dark mode theme is to try it out.
Personally I don’t like it because of the interface on which Scrivener is developed. That’s my preference, and I’m able to handle light mode, because modern computers are made not to fry your pupils and subtly reduce the colour blue, which apparently has the ability to deprive you of sleep.
Others love a Dracula look, or Tarzan’s jungle, or whatever, hence the expansion of themes.
