Appearance resets to Light mode every morning despite selecting 'dark'

[lhalman]

Hi all!

I'm frustrated that despite selecting 'Dark' in the appearance settings, my Mac seems to always reset to 'Light' mode when I'm using it again the following day. Is this a bug? Is there anything I can do to make it stick with 'Dark' mode?

Specs:

 

[TimothyR734]

You can try a free app called NightOwl see if that keeps it in dark mode

 

[lhalman]

You can try a free app called NightOwl see if that keeps it in dark mode

Thanks for this suggestion — does it work for Catalina? It clearly names itself as dark mode toggler for Mojave.

 

[TimothyR734]

yes it works in Catalina been using it since the very first beta of Catalina

 

[lhalman]

yes it works in Catalina been using it since the very first beta of Catalina

Thanks! I'll try it out and update.

 

[TimothyR734]

Thanks! I'll try it out and update.

just make sure the sunrise to sunset is unchecked and dark mode is selected

 

[lhalman]

Sadly, I did as suggested with using NightOwl and it's done nothing different — when I wake up my computer in the morning it's back to light mode

 

[nickdalzell1]

I got the exact opposite--Mine is set to Auto (either manually setting dark or light works fine) and it goes to light just fine during the day. But when it's night, it remains stuck on light. I can toggle manual and back to auto and it then adjusts to dark but it refuses to do it automatically. Sometimes, if I close my laptop's lid and re-open it, it adjusts properly but not while I'm using it (such as watching videos). Night shift seems to work perfectly fine.

 

[TimothyR734]

maybe this could help https://github.com/TimothyRLaMora734/Dynamic-Dark-Mode

 

[nickdalzell1]

I've just accepted auto mode as broken and since 90% my MBP usage being during evening I just left it manually set to dark.

 

[TimothyR734]

This should work if you delete NightOwl

 

[Taz Mangus]

@lhalman and @nickdalzel1, does the issue happen in a new user account?

 

[nickdalzell1]

Never bothered to create a different user account. This one is tied to my Apple ID and I prefer to keep everything in sync

 

[Taz Mangus]

Never bothered to create a different user account. This one is tied to my Apple ID and I prefer to keep everything in sync

It seems that it is more tied to the time of day and user account preferences.

 

[nickdalzell1]

My user account on my Mac is integrated with my Apple ID. even the password is the same and I like Touch ID to unlock it. All my music, photos, etc are there. So are my SMS/iMessages. Creating a new user account to 'fix' it might fix dead auto mode maybe, but without all the integration with my Apple ID it's not worth the cost. fix one problem by breaking a ton of other features.

The time of day/location are supposed to be utilized in the auto mode to determine when to go light or dark and mine always goes light fine, but if you're watching a video when it's supposed to switch to dark, it won't. it just stays light all the time until i toggle manual/auto again. Night shift works fine and everyone says it's part of the Night Shift settings. I still say it's a Catalina bug. The dynamic wallpaper adjusts correctly though.

 

[Taz Mangus]

My user account on my Mac is integrated with my Apple ID. even the password is the same and I like Touch ID to unlock it. All my music, photos, etc are there. So are my SMS/iMessages

The new user account was to just try out the dark mode auto and manual. The issue could be with your user account. Auto dark mode works great for me. I will have to try the manual dark mode and see if I have the issue.

 

[nickdalzell1]

manual dark mode works fine here. Same with the opposite. My iPhone switches automatically fine as well. Same Apple ID. It's not a probem with my account. My Mac uses the same ID as my phone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV.

As I said I live with the annoyance. It's not a deal breaker. I love my Mac. But the feature that made it auto was my primary reason for updating to Catalina and it works sporadically at best, most of the time never. Also, my Apple Watch no longer unlocks my Mac.