Where is dark/light mode preference?

xz4gb8
xz4gb8
Community Member

Opening 1Password 7 results in a jarring experience as the sidebar is dark mode (I see light gray on darker gray) but light mode (black on white) for the objects and contents panes. The "Mini" (really midi) interface is always dark mode. For some of us, dark mode for text is harder to read. I can't find any preferences to help me.

Help me!


1Password Version: 1Password 7 Version 7.1.1 (70101001) AgileBits Sto
Extension Version: 4.7.3
OS Version: macOS 10.13.6 (17G65)
Sync Type: AgileBitsCloud

Comments

  • Hi @xz4gb8

    There isn't a dark / light mode setting in 1Password. In v7.1.1 there is only one "skin" for the main app. In v7.2 we will be introducing support for Mojave's Dark Mode and that will be controllable at the system level. The coloring of 1Password Mini is already controlled by the system preferences (dark vs light menu bar).

    I hope that helps. Should you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to ask.

    Ben

  • xz4gb8
    xz4gb8
    Community Member

    Ask the programmers what it would cost to give the user the choice of following the system prefs or choosing the light/dark setting.

    Some of us read better on paper (light mode) but otherwise use dark mode while editing pictures, videos, etc.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @xz4gb8 - we don't sell individual features of 1Password "a la carte" like that; 1Password is what it is. I will pass along your suggestion of making dark/light mode a user-selectable option within 1Password, however. Thanks for the suggestion!

  • xz4gb8
    xz4gb8
    Community Member

    @Lars - I'm not asking AgileBits to sell a feature, I am requesting that the 1Password Product Manager compare the cost of coding and testing against the perceived intangible return in Customer Satisfaction.

    This should not be a new experience.

  • Gotcha. Thanks for your input. :)

    Ben

  • ScottyTheMenace
    ScottyTheMenace
    Community Member

    I really hope you consider going back to the light-colored sidebar or at least providing an option for a "light" theme or something. This dark background trend or "dark mode" thing that everyone's doing is much more difficult to deal with visually, especially having to continually shifty from light backgrounds to dark and back. Maybe it's just my eyes, but I've always hated it because it's more difficult to see and use. Thanks.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @ScottyTheMenace - we sometimes catch flak from users of 1Password across multiple platforms, who complain that the apps don't look and function identically everywhere. We understand this complaint, but the reason that's the case is that we try to respect the design and code specifications of the OS for which we're designing, which means by definition that our apps - though we make significant efforts to have them be familiar on all platforms - will never be identical...because the OSes on which they run have different conventions for style and function. On the Mac, we try to follow the light/dark preference of the new macOS 10.14 (“Mojave”), allowing the user to have a lighter or darker theme depending on what they have set in System Preferences. I don't know that we'll be returning to a darker sidebar, but I'll certainly pass along your wishes on the matter to the design team. Thanks for taking the time to share them! :)

  • ScottyTheMenace
    ScottyTheMenace
    Community Member

    Thanks Lars.

    1. I've only ever used 1Password on macOS. I guess I didn't state that, sorry.
    2. The last version of 1Password had the same light color across the full app UI, now it has a dark left-most column/sidebar.
    3. I'm not running Mojave so I have no dark/light preference to set; the 1Password sidebar is just dark and difficult to read.

    Are you saying that if I upgrade to Mojave then I'll be able to get rid of the dark sidebar in 1Password? If not, then I don't understand your comment.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @ScottyTheMenace - in answer to your (2) - yes. We did indeed change the sidebar to a darker color, and there's no "toggle" to switch it back. That's part of the new design. I can certainly let our designers know you preferred the old way. The rest of my comment was just color commentary (pun intended) because Mojave includes a much darker scheme, which 1Password does indeed follow.

  • Osplo
    Osplo
    Community Member

    I hate MacOS Mojave dark mode, but I loved the 1password dark mode in Firefox. I'd love to continue having it in dark mode, despite using the OS in light mode.

    So, I also vote for a preference somewhere so we users simply choose which mode we prefer, regardless of the system mode. Or it could be a multiple choice: a) Light b) Dark c) OS mode (default as it is now).

    Please. Thanks!

  • Thanks for your perspective, @Osplo. :)

    Ben

  • ScottyTheMenace
    ScottyTheMenace
    Community Member

    Coming back to this now having just installed macOS Mojave and seeing 1Password 7 on it for the first time. I was hoping that, in Mojave, 1Password would respect the user setting for dark mode. Sadly, it doesn't, at least not fully. Instead, it respects the light mode setting in the main pane but ignores it for the sidebar, leaving a hybrid "half-dark mode" and forcing my eyes to adjust every time I shift them from to the sidebar to the main pane and back.

    I know many people love dark mode, but many others (myself included) find dark backgrounds very difficult to read and tiring on the eyes. Maybe it's a medical condition, I don't know, but I do know other people have difficulty with dark backgrounds, too (see https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/88282/sidebar-contrast-font-size-and-theme-options-for-vision-impaired#latest).

    Operating systems have dark mode/light mode and accessibility settings for a reason. I implore 1Password to respect these user settings for the full app. As it currently stands, the experience in the app is not very pleasant.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @ScottyTheMenace - thanks for the comments. I'm sorry you don't like the color scheme in 1Password 7 for Mac, but this isn't really a bug -- even in light mode, we intentionally changed the sidebar to be a darker blue. I can certainly pass along your wishes to our development team for consideration, but to be clear, this isn't merely a case of improperly respecting user System Preference settings regarding dark or light mode, but rather a conscious design choice.

  • ScottyTheMenace
    ScottyTheMenace
    Community Member

    I never said it was a bug. I said it was intentional disregard of stated user preferences, ie., "we intentionally changed the sidebar to be a darker blue" even when a user has light mode selected in their system preferences. What's the point of that? Why would you even have a light mode if you simply ignore user preferences on it? You're forcing dark mode on people who are physically bothered by it and have stated a preference in their system settings not to use it. I don't see what you gain by doing that.

  • @ScottyTheMenace

    I'm sorry it seems we're having some sort of disconnect. What you're seeing isn't dark mode. The sidebar for 1Password is just dark blue. That's how it was designed to look. There is no user preference in 1Password for sidebar color — it displays the color our design team picked for the UI. It doesn't have any relation to Apple's dark mode feature.

    Ben

  • ScottyTheMenace
    ScottyTheMenace
    Community Member

    Whether you call it "dark mode" or not, it's light text on a dark background. A rose by any other name.... You recognize the system choice of light or dark backgrounds, yet the sidebar never changes. You deliberately designed your software to ignore that user preference in the sidebar.

    Dark backgrounds are very difficult for some people to read. I selected light mode in macOS for this very reason. Why force dark backgrounds on people who've made an explicit choice not to have them, even though you recognize it in the rest of your interface? What purpose does it serve to make only the sidebar have a dark background?

    You're basically saying, "We know that you made a deliberate choice to have light backgrounds, but we're going to ignore that in this part of our software but not in other parts of our software." It wholly arbitrary.

  • Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this @ScottyTheMenace. Design is certainly a very subjective topic. I'll pass your comments along to our design team for their consideration for future versions of 1Password.

    Ben

  • ScottyTheMenace
    ScottyTheMenace
    Community Member

    Thanks. You say design is subjective, but when software design honors a user choice in one part of the software but deliberately ignores it in another, I'd call that arbitrary.

    I really hope 1Password decides to begin honoring user system settings instead of ignoring them.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    :) :+1:

  • curiousgirl
    curiousgirl
    Community Member

    Your new design looks fantastic- beautifully sleek and contemporary. But it's hard to read! Ease of use is a high priority for shoppers choosing a productivity app like a password manager. Your marketing department might think that's a bigger deal.

  • @curiousgirl

    Thanks for the feedback! Is there anything in particular that you find to be hard to read? We display text in a number of different ways in the app, so it would be helpful if we could narrow down which presentation(s) is causing trouble.

    Ben

  • ScottyTheMenace
    ScottyTheMenace
    Community Member

    For me that means get rid of the dark mode sidebar. The entire sidebar is in dark mode regardless of the preference set in the system by the user, and despite your defining it away as "not dark mode" (whatever that means; it's a dark background and light text, the very essence of dark mode). Light text on a dark background is difficult for many to read, which is the reason the switch exists in the OS. Just have the full application honor that stated user preference.

  • Thanks, @ScottyTheMenace. :+1:

    Ben

  • david_d
    david_d
    Community Member

    Coming back to 1password after a few years -- fixed dark mode on sidebar might be a dealbreaker. Any ETA on a possible configuration to allow light mode throughout the app?

  • @david_d

    Thanks for taking another look. 1Password 7 is a fairly mature offering at this point -- it has been on the market for 2.5 years. There are no plans for significant UI changes as far as I'm aware. You may want to give 1Password X a try.

    1Password X

    Ben

This discussion has been closed.