[Theme Editor] Dark Theme/Dark Mode for Canvas

[matthew_keatin1]

Hello all! I am a student, and I am here to suggest an idea that I thought would make Canvas more personalized. I think a dark theme would be great for Canvas since some students like to stay up at night (not me), and the bright white light from Canvas can hurt their eyes. The main reason why I want it is because it would look better on my computer. Youtube and Google have these options, why not Canvas? Thank you for reading!

  Comments from Instructure

While we are not able to announce that this idea has been completed, it is important to celebrate that Dark Mode has been added to Canvas Student, Canvas Teacher, and Canvas Parent. (2022-07-05)

• Canvas Teacher Release Notes (IOS 1.16)
• Canvas Student Release Notes (IOS 6.16)
• Canvas Parent Release Notes (IOS 3.6)

[5_2]

There should really be a dark mode

[glg06c]

Agree. Dark mode would be nice.

[AidanCousins]

As a student who regularly uses Canvas full time, I find many hours and days I get eye fatigue and headaches from the overt amount of white in the website due to a disability in my retinas where I cannot process light correctly. If you all would be able to implement an alternative dark mode, It would seriously improve the experiences of not only students with disabilities like me, but as well, students who may be working late at night in the dark not get eye strain because of the colour contrast. Thank you for the consideration!

[MeRmo]

We need dark mode it's too bright even with the screen brightness turned down.

[MagnusAiden]

Hello all (again),

I don't think this post went up so ill do it again, apologies if it did. I am a student who like to work at nights. Unfortunately there is a lot of white space on canvas which can make cause eye strain at any time, not just nights. I would greatly appreciate a Dark Mode so the viewing experience can be more comfortable.

[urbansk6]

I think this is a great idea. Canvas is very heavy on the white space, which isn't great for anyone's eyes even if they aren't consciously bothered by it. With all the concerns going around about students sitting in front of computer screens most of the day during the pandemic, this seems like something that should be taken into consideration.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @MagnusAiden and @urbansk6 ...

There is already an open Feature Idea that sounds similar to what you're both requesting: Dark Theme for Canvas - Canvas Community.  You may want to add your comments to that one and "rate" it.

[MagnusAiden]

Thank you to @Chris_Hofer for informing me of the already posted feature suggestion, and thanks to @Naomi for merging the posts.

[ja26]

Please add an option in settings to allow users to switch from dark mode and light mode. 

[natanielf]

I am a high school student who has used Canvas LMS for several years now. I am sure dark mode would be a welcomed feature by all. Right now, in order to achieve dark mode with Canvas web, one has to use a third-party extension. This obviously doesn't provide the best user experience and also raises security concerns.

This is what Canvas web looks like with a popular third-party dark mode extension. It works, but an integrated solution would be much more elegant and would provide a much better user experience.

Canvas Web with a dark mode extension

As you can see, the extension works, but it's not very elegant. An inbuilt solution would be much more intuitive, user-friendly, and secure.

Regarding the mobile app:

I am currently using the Android Canvas Student app at version 6.10.0 and there is no dark mode feature available. I am somewhat puzzled by this because the Canvas Parent app already has an option to switch to dark mode. I don't understand why this feature was added to the parent app, which has far fewer users than the student app. Many students would really appreciate the option to change themes. Please consider adding a dark mode toggle feature to both the Canvas web app and the Canvas Student app.