1565051 - Enable `browser.in-content.dark-mode` by default and let it ride the trains

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Toolkit :: Themes, enhancement)

Description

[Tim Nguyen :ntim]

Right now, this preference is only enabled in Nightly since Firefox 68.

The only main UX issue I see is that the in-content dark mode follows the system dark theme, but not necessarily the browser theme. In my opinion, this is OK given that the default browser theme also follows the system theme, so in the default case, this is fairly consistent. The only potential mismatch would be if someone has the Light/Dark/third party browser theme on, and the opposite system theme enabled, but that sounds more like an edge-case to me.

Apart from that issue, there are only a few minor visual issues that need to be fixed in order for this to ship.

Comment 1

[Tim Nguyen :ntim]

(In reply to Tim Nguyen :ntim from comment #0)

The only main UX issue I see is that the in-content dark mode follows the system dark theme, but not necessarily the browser theme. In my opinion, this is OK given that the default browser theme also follows the system theme, so in the default case, this is fairly consistent. The only potential mismatch would be if someone has the Light/Dark/third party browser theme on, and the opposite system theme enabled, but that sounds more like an edge-case to me.

Also, if that's any relevant, Chrome actually ships it that way.

Comment 2

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

(In reply to Tim Nguyen :ntim from comment #0)

The only main UX issue I see is that the in-content dark mode follows the system dark theme, but not necessarily the browser theme. In my opinion, this is OK given that the default browser theme also follows the system theme, so in the default case, this is fairly consistent. The only potential mismatch would be if someone has the Light/Dark/third party browser theme on, and the opposite system theme enabled, but that sounds more like an edge-case to me.

Users are weird. They tend to depend on edge-case behavior and cry foul if we change it later on. So I think we should be a bit more deliberate about what behavior we want in the long run here.

Comment 3

[Tim Nguyen :ntim]

(In reply to Dão Gottwald [::dao] from comment #2)

Users are weird. They tend to depend on edge-case behavior and cry foul if we change it later on. So I think we should be a bit more deliberate about what behavior we want in the long run here.

I talked to :shorlander yesterday and he mentioned we should ideally follow the browser theme rather than the system theme, but he said we should ship this despite this limitation especially since nobody has time to work on bug 1529323 at the moment.

Comment 4

[Tim Nguyen :ntim]

[Tracking Requested - why for this release]: It's been enabled since Firefox 68 on Nightly, it would be nice to enable this by default for everyone now that there has been enough Nightly testing/feedback and since UX is also OK with this.

Comment 5

[Liz Henry (:lizzard) (relman/hg->git project)]

Once this lands, can you suggest a release note (and suggest wording for it)?

Comment 6

[Tim Nguyen :ntim]

Attachment: Bug 1565051 - Enable 'browser.in-content.dark-mode' by default and let it ride the trains. r=dao

Comment 7

[Tim Nguyen :ntim]

Release Note Request (optional, but appreciated)
[Why is this notable]: Users <3 dark modes
[Affects Firefox for Android]: no
[Suggested wording]: Built-in Firefox pages now follow the system dark mode preference
[Links (documentation, blog post, etc)]: n/a

Comment 8

[Liz Henry (:lizzard) (relman/hg->git project)]

(In reply to Tim Nguyen :ntim from comment #7)

[Why is this notable]: Users <3 dark modes

That's right, apparently VCs know it makes you "10x" !
https://twitter.com/skirani/status/1149302834619248640

Comment 9

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/8ef8dd1fdf50
Enable 'browser.in-content.dark-mode' by default and let it ride the trains. r=dao

Comment 10

[Daniel Varga [:dvarga]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/8ef8dd1fdf50