I’ve been seeing a lot of requests for dark themes in studio lately. In light of this, I wanted to request a feature that I believe would satisfy an even larger audience : Can custom themes be CSS based, and studio’s interface would be fully modifiable with that?
If you take a look at the Atom.io IDE, it allows you to fully customize its interface.
You can have transparent panels, image backgrounds, custom colors…you can make any kind of interface you want with it (holographic interfaces, flat simplistic interfaces, etc.), since it loads CSS themes.
Better Discord also does the same thing.
Now for the important question : Why should this be added?
Some people would be satisfied with a simple dark interface, similiar to Visual Studio’s dark theme. The problem is, there are a ton of people out there who end up googling “Visual Studio black theme”, because they are not happy with the dark grey color and instead want a fully black interface.
People like to personalize their experience while using their tools. Some people put stickers on their laptops. Other people modify the theme of their IDE so it has transparent / holographic menus with a space wallpaper in the background.
By giving developers the ability to make studio exactly the way they want it, you’re making the experience better for them. It entices them to work longer (sounds silly, but it has some truth to it), gives them that vibe that they want while developing, etc.
I know when I’m developing or making music, I set the ambiance to match what I’m working on. If I’m making a game that takes place in a jungle, I change my computer’s theme to a jungle theme, and I listen to soft jungle music.
Something as simple as full flexibility in terms of theming can go a long way with the IDE’s users.
This would satisfy people who want dark themes, and it would satisfy people out there who really like to nerd out and make their dream interface.