
Ask HN: Can't focus when writing code in dark mode - vucetica
Seeing fellow programmers left and right switching to dark mode and everyone seems very happy. I gave it a try a few times but it just doesn&#x27;t work. I can&#x27;t focus.<p>It is not the time that I need to get used to a different syntax highlighting scheme because I switch between editors all the time. I&#x27;m perfectly fine as long as the background is lighter than the foreground, so it has to do something with the dark mode itself.<p>Is it that I have to give it more time (so I can stop noticing that &quot;something is wrong&quot;), or simply it doesn&#x27;t work for some people? And if so, what am I losing (reduced eye fatigue, better sleep...)?
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derekp7
The more light that hits your eyes, the more your iris contracts. The smaller
hole makes for a clearer image (think of a pinhole camera). People who like
dark mode have good vision at screen distance. For some others, they need to
strain their eyes more to focus at that distance.

For me, the best is to have dark text on a light enough background, enough
screen brightness overall, and a well lit room (natural light is really good,
as long as it isn't coming from behind me).

~~~
juliancox
I can’t agree with this more. I’m a 52 year old coder with older eyes and
light mode with decent background lighting works much better for me than any
other option.

I’m also old enough to recognise the current fashion trend for dark mode is
exactly that - a current fashion trend. They come and go all the time in every
area and can be ignored if they don’t work for you.

If you’re more productive in light mode stick with it, stop worrying, and
ignore the sheep who say dark mode is better. You can churn out code while
they fiddle with their IDE settings to optimise the latest productivity hack.

------
johnchristopher
Most dark modes hurt my eyes, it seems like white characters or graphics on a
black background burn my retina (like a glare). For video editing,
photoshoping or any apps I use normal `white` mode. For coding I use solarized
liked theme with pastels and soft colours.

It could be debated but I think it's a matter of personal taste, habits,
personal sensitivity to light and scientific-based explanations and that each
of those aspects carry a different weight depending on the person.

~~~
rammy1234
+1 for solarized theme. IDE solarized are better than dark mode. Most of the
dark modes are actually hurting the eyes. Heavy contrast and font blur is very
common thing in dark mode.

------
eckza
I’m a huge Light Mode guy. I use the morning color scheme in vim, and the
light schemes in VS and VSCode.

I do run f.lux, static at 49k... but I have found that dark editor schemes
make me feel claustrophobic (!).

Everyone’s different! It just might not work for people like you or I, and
that’s okay. :)

~~~
vucetica
Exactly the feeling that I have (claustrophobic).

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olav
I started as a developer in the 80s on vt100 terminals with green and amber on
black screens. I vividly remember how nice it was to switch to a light
background without flicker and have never looked back. Choose what works for
you.

~~~
fallinghawks
I had VT100s in university and it was all green or amber monitors until
Windows 3.0. It was a relief to the eyes to have something that looked like
regular print on white paper. I find the default colors of dark mode syntax
highlighting distractingly bright. The colors against white (or rather, light
grey) seem less contrasty.

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closeparen
I have my IDE and terminal themes following OSX Dark Mode, which I switch in
and out of throughout the day depending on ambient lighting. My screen is
perpendicular to the window, but still there's a period in the afternoon where
it's almost impossible to read dark mode text.

At first I couldn't find a way to automate this and was doing it manually, but
there are plugins for both iTerm [0] and IDEA [1].

Think of it as an adaptation for working in a dark environment, not something
you use all the time.

[0] [https://iterm2.com/python-
api/examples/theme.html](https://iterm2.com/python-api/examples/theme.html)

[1] [https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/12515-dark-mode-
sync](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/12515-dark-mode-sync)

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bretthowell
It seems most of us develop astigmatisms from using our screens less than an
hour, particularly when at a 40 dev angle (like a laptop, phone) [1] and
despite being temporary (mins, hours, days) the astigmatisms themselves vary
in angles and wavelengths (read dark text, light text) effected from person to
person. All of this adds up to no one person having the same level of strain
from the same colors/brightness, and then compounded by it constantly changing
and shifting with eye strain. For example, one of my eyes has trouble focusing
on dark blue on bright white as the day progresses, the other eye hates red on
black.

[1]
[https://eyewiki.aao.org/Physiology_of_Astigmatism](https://eyewiki.aao.org/Physiology_of_Astigmatism)

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lordnacho
Dark vs Light mode seems to be the next Vim vs Emacs religious war. I'm on the
Dark side.

I've not only got all my IDEs in dark mode, all my browser apps use stylus to
darken things if the app doesn't already have it, and my MacOS is set to be
permanently dark. And naturally my terminal window as well, and my mobile apps
on all devices.

I simply find the strain on my eyes is a lot less. Particularly at night if I
feel I need to reply to a message or use the laptop for whatever reason, it
doesn't make my eyes hurt to open it. Before my dark mode revelation it would
actually make me have to close my eyes.

Aethetically it makes sense too. With dark your laptop stops being a massive
source of light, it's more of an everyday object that fits in any lighting.

~~~
ScottBurson
I've always preferred light-on-dark. I have my Emacs background set to
#000060, with primary foreground #88FF88. Very soothing.

------
dannypovolotski
Until this month, I was thinking that I like dark mode better, but then I
started experiencing vertigo, nausea and all sorts of migraines after long
programming sessions. I tried light mode and it went away. So light mode all
the way for me!

------
rement
It depends on the environment I am in. If I am in a dark room (my coworkers
like the dark for some reason) it is much less glaring to look at a dark
screen. In a well lit room (like my home office) a light theme is much easier
to use. I just switch between the Tomorrow and Tomorrow Night themes.

[https://github.com/ChrisKempson/Tomorrow-
Theme](https://github.com/ChrisKempson/Tomorrow-Theme)

~~~
shynrou
I wouldn't say it depends so much on the brightness of the room but rather the
general brightness of the screen and if there is any sort of glare on it. I
use dark mode always and switch to light mode when im sitting in a sunny area.

Dark mode has one distinct advantage: colors pop way more meaning the syntax
highlighting is more pronounced, which makes it easier to navigate the code.

------
toast0
Dark mode appeals to some people and not others. Having things available only
in dark mode would be just as bad as only in light mode. (Having things only
available in system colors, and having that have many well tested color
schemes would be most preferable, but since it's not 1995, I guess that's not
going to happen)

If you want the least eye fatigue, you gotta go with yellow on blue, like Word
Perfect of old. It's all about compromises.

~~~
lfowles
Additionally some dark modes are just bad. I've got a couple of programs that
I can only stand on light mode.

------
wdewind
I wonder if this has to do with getting less blue light. After I started using
flux I found myself getting exhausted and unable to focus after around 3-4pm
especially in the winter. Bumping flux back to only after work made a huge,
noticeable difference for me. Might be a similar effect with bright vs. dark
screen.

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DyslexicAtheist
started using and learning linux from the console so there was always a
nostalgic reason for me to have everything in solarized dark. the last 2 or so
years my eye sight has dropped due to aging but also because of way too much
time on a screen. I notice it especially during reading ebooks at night that a
dark theme isn't doing me favors so switched to an e-paper like color and
slightly reduced screen brightness for late night pdfs/ebooks reading.
(redshift does nothing for me here). an epaper color is a lot easier on my
eyes than dark mode. still use dark colors for terminals during my day work
but am also considering changing this but maybe it's because my eyes aren't
tired throughout the day as much as they're between 21:00 and 02:00 ...

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tuesday20
I hate dark mode, I thought I was weird. Glad to know there are others who
prefer light mode!

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zeta0134
Honestly I also find that I can more easily focus on light mode text when I'm
well rested. Dark mode for me mostly reduces fatigue _over time,_ preventing
the ghosting after-image that my eyes do if they stare at a white background
too long.

If dark mode isn't your cup of tea, you might try just decreasing the contrast
of your light background or lowering the brightness on your monitor to get the
same benefit. But really, your eyes are yours. If your setup works and doesn't
seem to be causing you eye strain? Use that! No problem at all.

------
fileeditview
I used to use dark mode but for a few years now I strongly prefer light mode.
For Vim and Vscode I use the papercolor (papercolor redux for vscode) theme
and on Emacs I use the hemisu-light theme. Both of them are great.

I still use most terminals in dark mode because I dislike their light color
themes.

I guess the essence is that I prefer light themes if they are really good (for
me). In the end this is all subjective and you should just choose by comparing
themes yourself and not because others use "some theme".

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edh649
Use what works for you. Personally I frequently switch between the two as I
find that light mode works better in the day for me, while dark mode is better
in the evenings/night.

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cortic
White text on black is as bad as black text on white for me; But I find off
black (12/16/33) background and off-white (248/248/248) text significantly
reduces eye-strain, for me at least.

If any of you are anywhere near 40 and feeling eye strain; you might be
starting to suffer from presbyopia as i and most do at that age, getting a
larger monitor and placing it slightly further away helps a lot more than any
theme changes.

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abraxas
Dark mode hurts my eyes. My vision is still good enough for black on white
background text but the inverse colors make it physically hurt when I try to
read the same text in the same font size due to the slight astigmatism that I
have.

Interestingly I developed astigmatism over a few short days when I was under a
lot of mental trauma. Not sure if that was causal or just coincident. Can a
serious emotional shock damage eyesight?

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apotheosis
I was in the same position as you, not too long ago. I kept reverting back to
my familiar light themes.

Switching to The Dark Side finally stuck after using it for a few weeks
straight. Now I can't imagine going back. When I switch to an app without a
dark mode, it's like staring at the sun.

I don't have any issues with dark mode. I feel like my eyes are more relaxed
not having to contend with so much incoming light.

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tpmx
I've noticed people either prefer dark or light when working. It's very
binary.

In my 20s/early 30s I really preferred a dark environment when coding. It's
how I "grew up" with my first job back in the 90s, based in a cellar.

At some point around being ~36-38 years old I randomly started feeling that I
preferred a light environment - a view outside would be really nice too.

I think it's mostly due to what you're used to.

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chadlavi
I personally prefer dark mode, but I don't think there are strong scientific
arguments for either side. It's a matter of personal aesthetic choice and
comfort. If light mode is the one for you, go for it!

edit: and I don't know about other folks, but a big part of the decision for
me is tied up in nostalgia for an age I never lived in, the whole like,
"hacker aesthetic" thing.

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cpach
I prefer black on white (or off-white) in Emacs and in the macOS terminal. It
reminds me of paper and therefore feels “natural”.

------
olefoo
if it doesn't work for you; it doesn't work for you.

Your personal productivity story doesn't have to be like anyone elses. As you
work, start paying attention to what conditions seem to work better for you.

Different brains and bodies are different, and programming as a mentally
strenuous activity requires that you pay attention to your mental wellness.

~~~
tanin
+1

This also applies to ergonomics. There's a guideline for good ergonomics...
but you'll need to experiment and personalize to fit your own ..umm...
physiology(?).

I'm actually a huge fan of dark mode. I also enable flux's night mode the
whole day; it seems to make me sleep better since I already have enough blue
light in my daily life. I don't need more from a monitor.

------
moltar
Yup same here.

I just can’t do dark mode at all. I’ve tried multiple times, using different
themes.

It’s jarring and too contrast-y on my eyes, which is distracting and I can’t
scan the code fast because of it.

How’s your eye sight? Last time I checked I was 20/20.

~~~
vucetica
I do have astigmatism, which (reading comments now), might turn out to be
important thing in light vs dark mode discussion.

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pmontra
I write code in black windows (#000) and my terminals are also black.
Everything else is white (#fff). No problems with that except the ones caused
by aging, but I'm still ok with a screen at a harm's length.

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zamalek
I am a dark mode believer, but I absolutely cannot focus when the background
is true black.

> Is it that I have to give it more time

It did take me a few weeks to get used to dark mode, but every human is
different. It may just not be for you.

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gentleman11
One problem with light modes is that they tend to be higher contrast or harsh,
or pick their colours in a weird way. Last time I looked at trying light modes
anyway, I tried over 20 extensions

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BerislavLopac
It's interesting how I find it difficult to code in a dark mode, while at the
same time I just can't use a terminal with dark characters on a light
background...

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yedava
After using light mode for several years, I tried dark mode for a few months.
Initially I really liked it, but after a while, it just felt gloomy and I
switched back to light mode.

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xaedes
I once released a programming "writer's block" by switch back from dark mode
to light mode.

I actually like dark mode, but I feel like I am still in a "light mode" phase.

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nurettin
Dark modes are great, until someone decides to use dark color fonts on dark
backgrounds (which constitutes up to 99.9% but not all of the themes)

~~~
ASalazarMX
Probably the same people who use thin, light fonts on bright backgrounds.

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meddlepal
I find it hard to focus without dark modes. Eye floaters are way more visible
on light screens.

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loopz
Try customizing your own colors, fontsize, etc. Sometimes default themes just
suck.

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iphone_elegance
I prefer it, but can't use on screens when there's heavy glare (macbooks)

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exabrial
Definitely not. Reduces my eye strain. Been doing it for about 10 years

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mbrock
I use dark mode at night and light mode during the day.

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AltruisticGapHN
It’s just a fad. I never really enjoyed dark mode. I always liked to set my
editor’s background to a slightly less bright value like #eee.

Dark mode doesn’t soothe the eyes at all. Just look away after using editor in
darkmode and you have these bright patches on your retina. With normal dark
onlight background, I never notice this.

Just a matter of not setting your monitor brightness to stupidlevels, for
example on an iMac 50 to 60% brightness is plenty. On my iPad i hardly ever
use 100% brightness.

I do like my terminal in classic dark mode, so maybe i am
contradicting,myself? But it’s not the same: i don’t stare at the terminal
continuously, idon’t edit in the terminal (eg. vim, i always use gvim).

