The first new feature that is a must for Scrivener users on Windows is a dark mode theme. Blue light is bad for the retina and over time can harm your eyes. The more filtration done on screen the better it is for your health. That is why black is quickly becoming the background color of choice. Not only is it better for you eye’s health, it is also easier to look at.
The Windows Beta forum has attracted many users requesting this feature, more than any other feature. It already exists for the iOS version. Mac has its own dark theme with the latest OS. Microsoft is behind the times.
So L&L, make the dark mode theme your number one priority in new features. How many of you reading this agree?
I would prefer they get the core functionality done first, myself. I would think that a dark mode will be coming to Windows at some point after it is released for Mac, but there is a lot of work still to be done.
Apple only released dark mode yesterday! So, I was expecting this. Frankly, I agree completely - dark mode has been on my list for well over a year, along with potentially allowing folks to create their own dark-mode-themes for Scrivener using a CSS like syntax which can then be loaded on start-up.
Tiho and I have already proven it possible. However, Scrivener has many custom UI components that will need to be coloured individually and frequently down to the pixel, so this will be no walk in the park effort-wise; although it might seem a simple enough task. Most likely it is 3 months full-time effort and plenty of alcohol to mitigate the prosaic nature of the dry implementation. But, yes, definitely it will be a personal priority after 3.0 is released. But 3.0 is first - that’s only been a ~4 year marathon.
I can understand the sentiment about Microsoft being behind the times, Scrivener-wise, it often miffs me that Mac users always seem to get so much for free out-of-the-box from their OS. Windows is another story. In built Dictionary? No, we had to build our own, In built Thesaurus? No, we had to build our own. In built Emojis? Well, almost, in certain versions of Windows 10 Microsoft finally released something, so we built our own to work with other versions of Windows, unfortunately the list goes on - grammar, dictation, linguistic focus etc… Even the Microsoft store, was a complete bungle for years only supporting that thing called Windows RT - thankfully it died a natural death; who could have predicated? Start Menu - let’s not go there. Thankfully Windows 10 is actually a very good OS today, but the journey through versions 8 -10 was a journey indeed.
Dark mode is fantastic everywhere, I use it as much as I can on my Computer and cellphone (black screen background).
However, I think I speak for many win CUSTOMERS that we’d rather see a final release of version 3 than a theme feature.
The forums keep saying the beta is pretty much done, but the last update was months ago and L&L now says it could be another 6 months to full version. If it’s practically done, why hasn’t it been released as a final version? Years of experience have led me to shun any beta software.
Yeah I see how you read that. I said L&L at the end I was referring to "We don’t have a specific release date yet, other than stating Scrivener 3 for Windows will be available during Q2 in 2019. " https://www.literatureandlatte.com/introducing-scrivener-3
I don’t personally make much use of Dark Mode today myself…but I know there are lots of users who are eagerly waiting for it because they have physical conditions that make the traditional light-colored screen hard to use. Hell, given how much I have to take off my glasses when working on the computer, I might one day be one of those people. For those people, having Scrivener updated to include the necessary plumbing to truly support a dark mode theme (and even on Windows, it’s not as simple as just creating a new theme) is a necessity, not a luxury, and is a requirement to have in place before version 3 would be “final.”
By doing that work now, those folks can also be usefully contributing even more feedback during the rest of the beta cycle, ensuring that Scrivener is as usable as can be to as broad of a group of users as possible. Sounds like a great use of developer time in my book! (And yes, I know just a few months ago in-thread I was saying that I didn’t think it was a priority…I had a chance to rethink my position and past me wasn’t considering all the facts.)
A little more patience and compassion never hurt anyone.
Sorry, brain tumor moment! I replied to the updated release date, not what you asked that an employee said it was done. It may not have been an employee but some users have said it’s pretty much done. My bad.
[b]I’m sorry, I take fully responsibility. I’m sorry. I apologize. You’re right I was crass. I went too far on that one. I agree I did accuse them.
I think I had a bad brain episode today, I get myself stuck on something and don’t do well, just like here today.
I’m really embarrassed. If you don’t mind I’d like to delete all my comments today and slink away. I’ll pay full price for your software. Whenever it comes out this year or next year or whennot.
I’m sorry[/b]
JimRac wrote:
Hi FamilyHandyMan,
It was you. You were being rude. Here are examples:
FamilyHandyman wrote:
Please don't behave like the stereotypical pandering Mac user.
That, in your very first post to the forums. Congratulations on insulting the Mac community.
FamilyHandyman wrote:
What if you buy Photoshop but your OS version is basically Paint?
There, in your second post, you denigrate the Win 1.9 product and the L&L Win dev team.
FamilyHandyman wrote:
Bait & Switch: the action (generally illegal) of advertising goods which are an apparent bargain, with the intention of substituting inferior or more expensive goods.
Your third post accuses L&L of using a nasty trick to get customers to buy their product.
I'll stop here, as this thread likely will be deleted, so this is probably a waste of time. But in your first 3 posts you managed to insult Mac users once and L&L twice. So yeah, it's you dude.
Jim
Please have patience with me, I used to be a software developer until I had a brain tumor a few years ago. 2018 UPDATE Had my 2nd tumor! Now on Chemo! Yay! Third time should be the trick (death), so trying to make the most of my time.
I know you have been busy with the core functionality of Scrivener, so I’d like to thank you for taking the time to add Dark Mode into the Windows 3.0 Beta. I’m loving it a lot!
I’m all for a dark mode. In fact, I’ve spent way too much writing time experimenting with darker colors in the UI today. No-go there though…somehow no matter what I’ve done it just looks a bit wonky compared to a true dark mode.
But for me it’s about 50% concerning the glare of the white elements and 50% concerning helping my laptop battery last as long as possible by eliminating the brightness. I love writing outside this time of year.
FYI, if your laptop has a standard LCD display, you’re not going to save energy by using dark mode. A white pixel doesn’t use any more power than a black one; it just blocks less of the back-lighting. If you can actually turn down the backlight and see your text while outdoors, that will save your battery though.
Apparently, this may not be true of OLED displays, which are used widely in smartphones (and tablets?). I’m not up on the latest tech trends, but a quick google of “does darkmode save battery power” led me to this info.
I’ve also found that dark mode is harder to use in very bright conditions because I focus on the reflections that are more visible against black than they are against a white background. If your mileage varies from mine, then more power to you.
