I just want to know is it possible to enable dark mode in unity for free? now that every program lets its’ customer use the dark theme for free to save them from eye strain… So is there any way we can do that in unity?
Thanks in Advance
2 Likes
If you’re a student you can apply for a student plan: Unity Student plan – Access the real-time 3D development platform and workflows professionals use to create immersive experiences across industries.
Dark Theme is included.
Thanks Mate… i will for sure.
In Unity 2019.3 and newer it is possible, see https://github.com/xeleh/enhancer
1 Like
Was possible. Starting with Unity 2019.3.15+ the Dark Theme feature is disabled thanks to Unity deciding that they didn’t want people to be able to alter it after all and removing the features that the asset was using to do so.
https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/issues/enhancer-package-bypasses-dark-theme-entitlement
Just be aware that the student license is non-commercial only. You will either have to lose the dark theme by downgrading to Unity Personal to sell your apps, or you will have to subscribe to Unity Plus/Pro to continue accessing the dark theme.
You only need pay $40 monthly.
$40/month for one minor feature is definitely not worth it.
(Yes, I know the plus/pro subscriptions have more than just the dark theme, but that’s not the point.)
3 Likes
Unity Plus/Pro users are prioritized when reporting bugs, only reason to pay for license (other than making more than 100k). Cant understand why people care so much about dark theme.
2 Likes
Not having the Dark Theme doesn’t effect me personally. It’s the business decision to not offer the Dark Skin to all free users that I disagree with. The fact that you don’t even get access to Unity’s source code without paying an expensive fee. The fact that Unity is selling paid assets worth $250+ that doesn’t even work properly with the most modern version of Unity with HDRP. The fact that Unity is still selling Bolt scripting after they acquired it, and they are also working on another visual scripting solution at the same time (and visual scripting assets like UNode actually have better features than Bolt 2 as well). The fact that good old HLSL shaders are going to be obsolete due to the new render pipelines, making thousands of assets unusable with the new pipelines. Just about every new feature Unity releases is destructive, therefore it demands the developers precious time to implement the feature (DOTS, HDRP/URP, UI Elements/Toolkit, new Input System).
The Premium Price for the Dark Skin is the cherry on top.
7 Likes
Why do you want dark theme in the first place?
White text on black background creates afterimages. At least in some people.
I get headache and go almost blind after 30mins reading on white background. Only solution for me is to set monitor and nvidia brightness to min but then dark areas are hard to distinguish what isn’t good for general gamedev.
Tried flux but it makes screen brighter, tried many other things like matching background wall brightness to monitor brightness but nothing helps 
2 Likes
You’re in the minority though. Most people don’t have an eye condition that requires them to use a dark theme to be able to do anything for a lengthy period of time, and for people who have normal vision using a dark theme can be worse as it can strain your eyes.
https://www.androidauthority.com/dark-mode-1046425/
https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/53264/dark-or-white-color-theme-is-better-for-the-eyes
It is possible that your monitor is too bright. For some reason modern day LCD manufacturers chase contrast, but install insane settings by default. Something like contrast 100 brightness 0, and with lamp strength sufficient to burn a hole in the wall behind you. Those need to be toned down. I usually dial contrast down when I get new display immediately.
2 Likes
I would recommend to get a calibration done, it’s important for content creators that our monitors are calibrated to standard when doing color profiles, Lightmapping etc. As a bonus it also calibrate the correct brightness.
Edit: brightness is very important when doing Lightmapping
2 Likes
Did you read the links?
The top post on stack exchange/the mentioned study:
“This result seems to suggest that, even though performance in light mode may be better in the short term, there may be a long-term cost associated with it.”
That alone should be reason enough to make dark mode an option.
You also got:
-
While light mode performs better, those gain seem to be more short-term. Long-term exposure may be result in myopia
-
Providing a dark mode though is still recommended though because of the potential long-term effects with light mode, some visual impairments perform better in dark mode, and some users simply prefer it.
-For applications which provide long-form reading (books, articles, even news sites), dark mode options are recommended.
Every single operating system and the major app got an update in recent years to include a dark mode. Also, there are browser plugins to “darkify” popular websites that are still purely white.
It’s to reduce power usage and eye strain. Especially big screens are like huge lamps you stare in for hours - especially bad in the evening on darker months where we got sunset here around 4 pm. That’s why “dark mode” is often called “night mode” 
Not to mention emitting blue light which sends false information to our brain that thinks it’s still midday and the organism is “updated” accordingly. This disturbs the sleep schedule. For this reason, it’s also not recommended to stare at the phone in bed before sleep.
Hence we got help from f.lux (reducing blue light by changing color temperature) and dark modes reducing the amount of light generally emitted. I did start sleep better after switching to f.lux and dark mode wherever I could.
Once you switch your computer environment do dark mode, every single bright app or website annoys you. Especially if you can’t use f.lux because your work is color-sensitive.
Unity is the only application known to me (and I have all systems, apps and frequently used websites set to dark) that charges money for a health-related feature…
4 Likes
Always funny to see people defend Unity and try to justify the absurd reason of not having an openly accessible editor theme for everyone.
7 Likes
Choosing to use the dark theme without having a condition is in my opinion no different than the president taking that unproven medicine for the pandemic. It’s a very short sighted (pun intended) move that could very easily lead to more problems down the line.
I already have occasional wrist trouble. Last thing I want to do is add eyesight impairments to that list due to ignorance.
Speaking of ignorance if you can’t tell the difference between someone trying to point out that the dark theme may not be the best feature to take advantage of and someone trying to defend a company then you may not want to take part in the thread for fear of making it obvious.
I’m always amused people choose the dark theme of all things to yell about when Unity is guilty of far worse than that.
I’m using minimal brightness and contrast settings also for monitor. Will try buying flicker-free LCD but cant find any with 27″ 1440p 240hz specs.
Which is why a dark skin is better… Your mentioned study before literally mentions that dark theme might be better in the long run… “This result seems to suggest that, even though performance in light mode may be better in the short term, there may be a long-term cost associated with it.”