Dark Mode + GUI

Discuss MyInfo and get help here
Post Reply
theone
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:22 pm

Dark Mode + GUI

Post by theone »

Hi Petko,

Couple of questions:

Many coders & professional writers working long hours only use dark themes on IDEs and other software.

1) Will there be a Dark Mode (theme) for MyInfo 7 ?

+

2) Is the GUI library kit updated to a modern looking one for MyInfo 7 ?
Any chance of a single screenshot please before the new site is ready ?

Thanks. :)
Petko
MyInfo Support
Posts: 3239
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2004 4:33 pm
Contact:

Post by Petko »

Dark mode is planned for one of the next updates of MyInfo 7. The user interface is updated indeed. I think that you will like it.
theone
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:22 pm

Post by theone »

Hi Petko,

If there is no dark mode, like many who need it, i will have to wait before I buy.

Dark Mode was promised before the official release of v7. I want to buy v7 but need to know if Dark Mode, or better still BLACK Mode (aka AMOLED) was implemented in v7 or v7.1 or v7.2 ?

I need it mainly for being easy on the eyes for working long hours plus saving battery on the laptop.

Thanks.
Telesto
Posts: 3377
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2017 5:32 pm

Post by Telesto »

Hi Theone

Dark-Mode isn't implemented, yet. I have no clue about the roadmap. I do know that implementing Dark-Mode being quite a task. Especially the editor will cause quite some trouble. Looking at the competitors

The first step would be a fully functional Dark Theme, IMHO. More general speaking theming support. Which will be a quite a task by itself to iron out all UI glitches. True dark mode would be the next step. For typing and such this would be not to problematic, I guess, but gets rather complicated with content pasted from the web.
theone
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:22 pm

Post by theone »

Hi Telesto,
Thanks for your reply.

Some of us had been pressing Microsoft and other big names for dark mode since the 1990s! One by one, apps first then OS, they all did it. At first they laughed. Serious workstations, old and new, costing huge amounts for graphics, gfx, 3D/4D, CAD, cinema editing & color correcting, .... always have had dark mode for 30 years and longer. Some as I recall, insisted on their own lighting engineers to install the lights in the room too, dark rooms. Today a big percentage of users on all platforms and apps use dark software. Now, it is ubiquitous.

This is a must, specially for most serious professional writers who stare at the screen for long hours, day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Of course there are some who stare into a big white bright lightbox daily for long hours year after year until they meet someone who just smiles at them and hopefully saves their eyes.

Add I said, on mobile devices and laptops, it saves battery too. Dark mode has to be done. It's not an option, it's a necessity.

The sooner devs do it, the more unnecessary work they save themselves in future as their apps grow and modifying it becomes much harder. Add the code gets entangled.

Microsoft Windows has an option now for some libraries and development kits to tell Windows if they want to follow the dark mode option in windows or not.

Another way, using GTK3 or Qt or whatever, is to code using libraries, not as bad as old days when everything has to be more level coded. This should be done ASAP before engine codes for apps get too entangled. The sooner the better.

The framework theme for t any app includes all GUI library elements: Windows, scrollbars, buttons, menus etc.

The documents themselves should also follow. Editor elements are library elements too. If it's an external document like docx etc, those can have their own settings.

Apart from Windows option of following the dark mode option, the other way as I said is to hard code the app using the libkit. Here there are three options.

Either a light or dark mode.
+
Or more than a binary choice, many themes: light, dark, Black (AMOLED), colored options etc.
+
Or following a generic theme system such as CSS, GTK3, or whatever else. Depending on the IDE used by the dev to make the app, choices are limited. But hard coding can do anything.

A Black (AMOLED) is even better than a mere dark. More would be better. Once the theme engine code is done in whatever way, adding more than 2 themes can be easier. Or not if the dev codes everything at low level for only 2 modes.

Anyway a dark or black mode is a must. It will be done. The longer it's delayed, the more painful and longer work it will be. In business a problem is sometimes called a frog. Delaying it is the usually the norm but there is a famous rule which saves much unnecessary work later, they say before attending to lesser issues: "Eat the frog first".
Crystal401
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:59 pm

Post by Crystal401 »

+1
We need dark mode.
I have been using black background and white text as a temporary solution, but it still has limitations.

Related:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7197
theone
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:22 pm

Post by theone »

Yes i have been doing that since the weekend (I bought version 7). In Tools (menu): Options: Display
I could not set the 2 backgrounds black or even dark, just a little dark, because the node that has the focus (highlight) is very bright and so can not have light font, just a little light font on a little dark background.
But you can imagine how fabulous Myinfo 7.x will look with a Black (AMOLED) or even just a dark theme. Never mind saving our eyes or laptop battery.
BTW version 7 is awesome, thanks for the great/hard work.

https://ibb.co/ykvYtRF

.
theone
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:22 pm

Post by theone »

Hi Petko,

I know you have been working on this for years.
Is it possible to have Dark Mode which is standard on most apps these days as an:

"Experimental Feature"

Which can be downloaded as an alternative installer for MyInfo ?
Or somehow enabled as experimental feature in settings or plugin install ?

I think the feedback and tests will be useful to you too.
Even if it is not 100% ready yet.

Thanks.
Post Reply