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Themes and appearance

You can change how the dashboard looks: light or dark, the background behind everything, and whether panels are frosted glass. You can also build your own animated background and share it.

Light, dark or auto​

Click the theme menu in the top header (or in the launcher's top bar). Pick Light, Dark or Auto — Auto follows your device's setting.

Each mode lists a few suggested backgrounds; click one to apply it. More… opens the full background picker.

The same three choices are under Account Settings → Appearance → Color mode.

Change the background​

Open the picker from More… in the theme menu, or from the avatar menu → Change Background.

The Change Background dialog on the My Themes tab, showing the slots-used counter, the Buy Slot, Fork Template and Create buttons, and the four tabs.
TabWhat is there
My ThemesBackgrounds you made or forked, with how many of your slots are used
CommunityThemes other people made that were approved for everyone
TemplatesReady-made themes. Click to apply, or ⑂ to fork one and edit your copy
SwatchesPlain colour backgrounds, and Your Custom Colors

On Swatches, choose a background and accent colour of your own. ✨ Enhance adjusts the accent so text stays readable — for dark mode, light mode, or both.

Slots​

Every custom theme you keep uses one slot. When they are all used, ⚡ Buy Slot unlocks another for Jolt. The price is on the button and rises with each slot you buy. Delete a theme you no longer use to free its slot.

Build your own theme​

Click ＋ Create in the picker, or Account Settings → Appearance → Open editor, to open the theme editor. A theme is a scene of image layers that move at different speeds as you move the cursor, giving a sense of depth.

In the editor:

  • Layers — add images as layers, set how far back each one sits and how much it moves, and give elements one of the built-in animations.
  • Scene — the base colour, the accent colour for buttons and badges (with Enhance), how strongly the scene follows the cursor, and colour filters for each mode.
  • Toolbar — preview in Dark or Light, Preview UI to see sample cards over your scene, toggle Blur and Parallax, and Preview only (or press Tab) to hide the editor and see the scene alone.

Save with Save. The drop-down next to it offers Save & Apply and Save, Apply & Exit.

Images you upload for a theme are stored in My Files.

Share it with the community​

A saved draft shows Submit for Review in the editor's toolbar.

  1. Finish and save your theme.
  2. Click Submit for Review.
  3. Wait for a Theme Approved or Theme Not Approved notification under Achievement.

An approved theme appears on the Community tab for everyone, and can earn you up to 1,000 Jolt. Where you allow it, others can fork it into a theme of their own.

Visual blur​

Visual blur gives panels a frosted-glass look over the background. Turn it on or off with Visual Blur in the avatar menu, or Account Settings → Appearance → Visual blur.

Blur costs graphics performance. If the dashboard feels slow on an older laptop or phone, turn it off.

Next steps​