Dark Mode/Dark theme for ARCHICAD (on both macOS and Windows)

[Daniel Kovacs]

Apple introduced Dark mode in macOS 10.14 Mojave, and Microsoft also started implementing it in Windows the same year (2018).

ARCHICAD currently works when the Operating System is turned to Dark Mode, but doesn't have a dark theme yet. This change could be quite development-resource heavy (as the engine of ARCHICAD’s UI is not ready for having 2 different representations, so it would require a complete overhaul), and could also take away time from functional developments in favour of a cosmetic upgrade.

PS.: I found other similar polls but I wanted to get more specific than those. I link them here for reference (I personally like the mock-up of Emil Meijer):
Black/Dark theme option for UI
Dark GUI theme
Dark scheme

[Mike96]

This is how my AC looks now, after patching Windows themes and installing an extrenal, Steam-based dark theme (and changing viewport background color).
Sometimes there's little contrast but I prefer that than everything white.

[hpenbeoglu]

deivarch wrote:
I think dark mode is more than just doing the "cool" thing right now. With modern LED displays, using less visible light reduces energy consumption and wear and tear on the monitors. Also, for my eyes, I love dark mode on my Mac as it helps quite a bit when working late into the night in reducing glare and eye strain. Frankly, GS should have a UI designer full time constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and visual clarity. As architects, we are all spending more and more time in front of the screen. This is much more important that people think because it comes down to how we interface with our tool. Dark mode is just one element of what should be a constant evolution on the UI to make us all more efficient and comfortable in our workflows.

I totally agree. UI and colour preferences are also functional, I mean it has an effect on our daily routine.

[Rex Maximilian]

I do a lot of work in the evening and at night, since the phone doesn't ring and the texts don't ping and the emails don't ding! Anyway, I have an iMac display shining at 500 nits, (the new Mac Pros will be 1000 nits). This is mighty bright at night and messes with. my looking at the screen and off to the side looking at reference material or markups. I know I could lower the display settings, but that would also make the text and finer details harder to see (some of us have eyes that are starting to age). Dark mode would be wonderful to enhance the night work experience!

[Anonymous]

Mac OS can already do this. Just enable inverted colors in the Accessibility pane of System Preferences.

[Anonymous]

I have astimatism! Nocturne mode is a heaven! It really makes some difference to me! Less headache!

[Rex Maximilian]

randomguy wrote:
Mac OS can already do this. Just enable inverted colors in the Accessibility pane of System Preferences.
2.png
1.png

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While "Invert Colors" is a workaround in a sense. It's not desirable to have blues become orange and reds become green. Plus, the Dark Mode we want uses the Mac's pleasant dark shade of gray, as opposed to black, which is harsh.

But, if it's for a temporary time for only an hour or so at night, I guess it is better than nothing...

[Mike96]

Rex wrote:

randomguy wrote:
Mac OS can already do this. Just enable inverted colors in the Accessibility pane of System Preferences.
2.png
1.png

.
While "Invert Colors" is a workaround in a sense. It's not desirable to have blues become orange and reds become green. Plus, the Dark Mode we want uses the Mac's pleasant dark shade of gray, as opposed to black, which is harsh.

But, if it's for a temporary time for only an hour or so at night, I guess it is better than nothing...

Hands up, architects: who works for just an hour at night?

[Anonymous]

I am also for having dark mode but not in the sense that we need to have autocad feeling.
I would like to choose the color for the menu and that's it.
We already can change the grids and background.
And it would really be nice and easy for @GRAPHISOFT team to enable to change the menu colors.

The best example for this is "hpenbeoglu"post. It looks the best. And also pleasing for the eyes.

P.S. There is no need to change color sheme to black, when all the black lines change color to white. That will completely mess up the Archicad ease of use.

[Professor Pickle]

Forget the dark mode. Fix all the lunacy around window management on Macs and on Windows too for that matter. All those palettes and gizmo windows use non standard UI mechanisms on both platforms. They don't dock property outside of the main AC window, they don't show up in Expose on macOS. I have a 27" iMac and those things are a pain to manage.

[hpenbeoglu]

It's a good start!

I still prefer something like my first attempt in the early messages. Grid, pen weight & colours panels should be merged and simplified. This way it can also automatically adapt to black/white options. Pen setting is already too complicated anyway.