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I think it's just an individual thing, and we should all respect that. There is a litany of posts and opinions of people who say their eyes hurt with a light c

by zwaps 6y ago

I think it's just an individual thing, and we should all respect that. There is a litany of posts and opinions of people who say their eyes hurt with a light color scheme, or it produces spots in their vision, or it hurts their concentration etc. I have no reason not to believe them. Many people prefer to even show their code in a dark scheme on websites. Furthermore, many people don't care but think dark is cooler. On the other hand, I know that for myself, coding in a dark scheme is rather painful, especially if the background is very dark (as opposed to some gray). It makes it very hard to concentrate and I experience this on all of my displays. I do not have scientific evidence for any of that, nor do I really care to produce it. However, I look at code every day, so I know what works for me. The same will be true for other people here. I think developers should treat it as an accessibility issue. Apps should have a dark mode, since many people clearly need it. Apps should also have a light mode, since people like me need it.

gridlockd 6y ago
> I have no reason not to believe them. It's not that these people are lying, but it is common that people's subjective experience is biased by their expectation. If I expect that dark themes are easier on the eye, I'm likely to experience any eye strain that might be caused by a bright theme in an exaggerated fashion. Similarly, if I were to buy into this "the Pulfrich effect will slow you down" hypothesis, I might subjectively experience a benefit from switching to a light theme. I don't buy into the hypothesis, so I'm sticking with a dark theme (as well as f.lux cranked up to eleven).
darkhorse13 6y ago
This is absolutely the right approach. Who cares which is "scientifically" better? The truth is, probably around half the population prefers dark mode, the other half prefers light mode. Apps, tools, dashboards and the like should give users the choice to toggle between the two. That's it. All this evangelicalism for one mode or the other is pointless.

by zwaps 6y ago

gridlockd 6y ago

> I have no reason not to believe them. It's not that these people are lying, but it is common that people's subjective experience is biased by their expectation. If I expect that dark themes are easier on the eye, I'm likely to experience any eye strain that might be caused by a bright theme in an exaggerated fashion. Similarly, if I were to buy into this "the Pulfrich effect will slow you down" hypothesis, I might subjectively experience a benefit from switching to a light theme. I don't buy into the hypothesis, so I'm sticking with a dark theme (as well as f.lux cranked up to eleven).

darkhorse13 6y ago

This is absolutely the right approach. Who cares which is "scientifically" better? The truth is, probably around half the population prefers dark mode, the other half prefers light mode. Apps, tools, dashboards and the like should give users the choice to toggle between the two. That's it. All this evangelicalism for one mode or the other is pointless.