Big Sur dynamically switches between black and white icons depending on desktop background

[6twenty]

This means that choosing the image style based on whether dark mode is enabled or not is not sufficient to choose the correct image, as the menu bar may be using black icons or white icons regardless. This is a screenshot of my mac with dark mode enabled, but a light desktop background image, and setting anybar to the "black" image:

My desktop image is a dynamic wallpaper, so in the evening it's much darker and the mac switches to using white icons.

[6twenty]

Not that I know anything about Mac app development, but on reading up about this it sounds like the most reliable solution is to set setTemplate:YES on the "black" and "white" images so that the os can invert them automatically when it wants to use white menu bar icons instead of black ones. I imagine this would mean also removing the _dark code that switches to the "_alt" variants.

[tonsky]

Well the trick with _dark is that on "black" on light scheme is a filled circle but empty donut on a dark theme. It changes shape, otherwise filled black circle will become filled white circle, and calling filled white circle "black" is weird.

Is there any way to detect when Big Sur changes menubar color?

[6twenty]

Ah, that's a good point. From the searches I did, no, there's no known Big Sur API to detect when it switches between white & black icons.

Would it be an option to add entirely separate images instead? E.g. "donut" and "fill" - using names that don't relate to light or dark at all - that have setTemplate:YES on just those ones?

[tonsky]

I am thinking making them black with white outline (black) and white with black outline (white). That way they will work on both backgrounds, without switching.

[tonsky]

Made filled and hollow, added inverted borders to black and white, removed _alt versions. Published 0.2.3. Thanks!

[6twenty]

💐 thank you!