They plan to include a colour preference setting in GNOME 42, which is released next year. Now GNOME Developer Alexander Mikhaylenko shares details on the plans for GNOME 42. Apps (though not just apps) check that setting and then comply, or ignore it (since dark mode is not forced in the way that a dark GTK theme is, apps can ignore the setting and do their own thing).Ī colour scheme preference is already surfaced in elementary’s Pantheon desktop, and there are plans to plumb it in to the KDE Plasma desktop too. We (users) get to flag our preference to say “hey, use a dark appearance please”. The goal is to create something any app written in any toolkit running on any open source desktop. There’s no point in having a unified setting for dark mode preference if some apps can’t read it, or some desktops don’t use it. Wouldn’t it be easier if there was a single, unified, and cross-desktop ‘preference’ users could mark instead? Then, any app, tool, website, or widget that wants to respect a user’s choice would know where to look, what to look for, and how to comply. A theme-based switch also means some apps/websites then have to (try to) detect what theme the underlying system is running (for which there isn’t a standardised way).

But changing GTK theme the best way to approach this?įirst off, GTK themes aren’t a ‘supported feature’ in GNOME desktops, and let’s not forget that not everyone is running a GNOME desktop or using GTK apps.

Major desktop Linux distros, including Ubuntu and Pop!_OS, do include a dark theme option. Now, you’re probably thinking: “Joey, Ubuntu already has a dark mode: I use it” - and you’re not mistaken. Right now Linux desktops lack a standardised, system-level way for users to indicate to the system, its apps, and even the websites they visit that they’d prefer them to use a dark appearance. GNOME 42 is on course to ship with support for a proper ‘dark mode’ toggle.

Android developer dark mode