Settings
Appearance settings
Appearance controls themes, colors, app icons, and layout options. Open Settings → Appearance. These choices are app-wide: every Space shares them.
Theme
Choose System, Light, or Dark.
- System follows your OS light/dark setting as the day changes.
- Light locks the app to light mode.
- Dark locks the app to dark mode.
You can also pick light and dark presets. Optional background or foreground colors let you nudge the canvas when a preset is close but not quite right.
Try System first if you already switch your Mac with the clock. Switch to Light or Dark when you want Glyph to stay put.
Accent colors
Accent color tints controls, focus rings, and highlights. Options:
- Neutral
- Orange
- Glyph Red
- Cerulean
- Tropical Teal
Pick the one that reads well with your theme. Accents show up on active items and key controls, so choose something you can spot without fatigue.
Corners
Corner style sets how sharp or rounded UI corners feel:
- Brutalist: sharp edges
- Default: balanced corners
- Soft: rounded corners
Pair Brutalist with a stark theme if you like a hard UI. Soft fits denser, calmer layouts.
Typography
Open Settings → Typography to set fonts and sizes for three roles:
- Interface: menus, sidebar, buttons
- Editor: note body while you write
- Monospace: code and Raw Markdown
Bump editor size for long sessions. Keep interface size readable in the sidebar. Monospace matters most when you live in Raw Markdown or Vim Mode.
Layout and display toggles
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Folio Mode | Turns Folio Mode on or off as your reading and writing layout |
| Classic All Notes grid | Uses the classic grid for All Notes |
| Translucent sidebar | Gives the sidebar a translucent look |
| Show database column color | Shows color on database columns |
Editor width, under Settings → Editor, changes how wide the note column feels. Compact keeps lines short. Wide uses more of a large monitor. Comfortable sits in the middle.
Folio Mode and Classic All Notes grid change how you browse and read. They do not change how Markdown files save on disk.
Custom themes and app icons
Import a custom theme when you want your own light and dark colors. Choose an app icon separately under Settings → Appearance. These choices apply across Spaces on this Mac.
Start with the theme template
- Open Settings → Appearance.
- Find Custom themes.
- Copy the template or save it as a JSON file.
- Open the file in a text editor.
The template contains a name, version: 1, and separate light and dark palettes. Change the name and colors, then save the file.
Use the supplied template so every required color is present. Glyph imports theme files; it does not provide a full palette editor inside this section.
Theme colors
Each palette needs these fields:
| Field | Used for |
|---|---|
background | Main background |
surface | Secondary surfaces |
elevated | Raised surfaces |
canvas | Canvas background |
foreground | Main text |
border | Borders |
accent | Accent color |
accentHover | Accent hover state |
link | Links |
danger | Destructive and error color |
Use hex colors such as #1A2B3C or #ABC. Both light and dark palettes must include all ten fields.
Import and select
- Return to Custom themes.
- Choose the import control and select your JSON file.
- Choose the imported theme in the light or dark theme selector.
- Check the result in the corresponding appearance mode.
System appearance follows macOS and uses your selected light or dark theme as appropriate.
Theme names must be between 1 and 40 characters and contain letters or numbers. Use a distinct name. Glyph rejects names that conflict with built-in or already installed themes.
Revise or remove a theme
Keep your original JSON file so you can edit it later. To import a revision, remove the installed theme first or give the revised file a new name.
Use the remove control beside an installed custom theme to remove it from Glyph. You can import its JSON again later.
Change the app icon
In Settings → Appearance, find the app icon picker and choose an available icon. Choose the default icon to return to the standard Glyph design.
The app icon is separate from icons assigned to notes, folders, tags, or Spaces.
How to tune it
- Set Theme (System, Light, or Dark).
- Pick an Accent.
- Set Corners if the default feels wrong.
- Open Settings → Typography to adjust interface and editor sizes.
- Open Settings → Editor to set Editor width and Beautiful Tags.
- Return to Appearance for Folio Mode and translucent sidebar.
Tips
- Start with Theme and Accent, then Typography and Editor width.
- Translucent sidebar looks best when the window sits over a calm desktop background.
- Appearance never needs an open Space. Set it on first launch if you want.