https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153555
Bug ID: 153555
Summary: LibreOffice respects Windows Dark Mode setting over
its own Options
Product: LibreOffice
Version: 7.5.0.3 release
Hardware: All
OS: Windows (All)
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Severity: normal
Priority: medium
Component: UI
Assignee: libreoffice-bugs@lists.freedesktop.org
Reporter: bikehel...@gmail.com
Created attachment 185323
--> https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/attachment.cgi?id=185323&action=edit
7.5.0.3 Dark Icons on Dark Background
Hello,
Proposal: Popup a prompt to enter a Dark Mode theme when Dark Mode is detected
on Windows, but otherwise stay in Light Mode.
The problem is, LibreOffice respects the Windows/OS dark mode setting in
7.5.0.3 over its own options. If you go into Tools -> Options -> View and set a
Light theme, it instead goes with the Windows Dark Mode setting, Dark Icons on
Dark Background, Dark Text on Dark Background, and ignores what you choose.
It's very hard to see buttons or read menu options. This makes 7.5.0.3 unusable
over 7.4.5.1 and earlier versions for a lot of people. 7.4.5.1 also had the
Dark Text on Dark Background issue, but earlier versions did not. I was
fiddling with the settings on both and could not get it to behave, even though
I did manage to activate other icons on the earlier version.
This problem is currently plaguing a nearby low income seniors community. Lots
of them have vision issues, and also old bad computers. (Acer Laptops more than
a decade old are common. Some have burned out screens, so plugged in free old
17in LCDs from 2004, etc.) These people are prime users of free office
software, as they only need to track some expenses and write an occasional
letter, so it's not worthwhile to pay for anything. But now they can't see it
if they upgrade, which they are prompted to when running it.
These computers have very washed out screens while in light mode, where
anything over RGB 224 blends together. So in order to be able to see scrollbars
and move around webpages, dark mode gets enabled. Most Windows software ignores
the flag and continues to function light while in dark mode. Even Google and
Bing realized that assumption is a problem, and made it a memorized toggle on
their search pages, with two simple clicks. They ignore the Windows setting.
I suggest that LibreOffice default to Light Mode on Windows, and Popup a prompt
to enter Dark Mode, similar to the tabbed UI popup. Assuming that Microsoft's
OS settings are toggled because people like the mode is a dangerous assumption,
and respecting it is building on top of quicksand. Microsoft frequently
half-implements things, changes their implementation later without notice, etc;
I believe that LibreOffice should take the setting as a suggestion rather than
something to obey.
This probably lines up better with actual use, too. Keep in mind that there are
more seniors and more crappy computers out there than actual dark mode users,
so the majority may have enabled it just because the other mode has worse
visibility a lot of the time. Also, back when tons of Win10 upgrades were done,
between 2015 and 2016, hundreds of millions of computers were flipped to pure
Dark Mode. Not everyone bothered to change it back to what they had before. A
lot of people just got used to it. (Especially common among novice computer
users and many seniors.) Doesn't mean that they like it more than Light Mode,
though.
Is all of this dumb? Yep. Is having to second-guess Microsoft our reality? Yep.
--
You are receiving this mail because:
You are the assignee for the bug.
