A dark mode for Sepia

justin_reeves · January 28, 2026, 6:49pm

I made a dark mode for Sepia (last night), the only preinstalled theme with a serif font (Charter), the theme I use most (and like), but I think it can be too bright.

netnewswire://theme/add?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjustin-reeves.net%2F26%2Fsepia-dark.nnwtheme.zip

If you’re on Sequoia and 6.2.1 (like I am), you may notice “link decoration” changed from dotted to underlined, but that was done for 7.0 (by Eric A. Meyer!).

It installs as a separate theme called “Sepia Dark” and doesn’t replace Sepia in settings (like, for example, GitHub - mischreiber/nnw-themes: Custom themes for NetNewsWire and Default).

Any feedback welcome. I considered trying to make a pull request (something I’ve never done), but I don’t know why Sepia doesn’t have a dark mode, and this one may not be good enough in some obvious way.

justin_reeves · January 28, 2026, 7:25pm

If netnewswire://[…] doesn’t work on Discourse: https://justin-reeves.net/26/sepia-dark.nnwtheme.zip

justin_reeves · January 29, 2026, 10:05pm

https://netnewswire.com/help/mac/6.1/en/themes.html#:~:text=Just%20double-click%20the%20unzipped%20file%20and%20confirm%20if%20you%20want%20to%20install%20it

Just double-click the unzipped file and confirm if you want to install it.

Since this doesn’t work in Files (you have to use the share sheet), and scheme links don’t work on Discourse: justin-reeves.net/meta

justin_reeves · January 29, 2026, 10:44pm

justin_reeves · February 10, 2026, 6:38pm

Added some color to bold/strong text to make it stand out/easier to read (to my eyes).

For example, in an interview where the questions are <strong>:

brent · February 11, 2026, 4:30am

Thanks for this!

Would you do a PR? I think people would enjoy a dark Sepia theme. Though maybe it should have a different name, since it isn’t really Sepia-colored?

justin_reeves · February 11, 2026, 6:00am

Currently, it’s a dark mode for the Sepia theme, not an independent theme (it’s Sepia when the system display/appearance is Light).

justin_reeves · February 12, 2026, 12:36am

I tried to suggest Sepia (Light) [maybe I failed], and it may not be visible in screenshots, but according to “ColorHexa”:

Sepia (Light)

Background: “light grayish orange.”

Text: “very dark orange [brown tone].”

Accent: “very dark orange [brown tone].”

Hover: “dark moderate orange.”

Bold: “very dark desaturated orange.”

“Tiqoe” (Dark)

Background: “very dark (mostly black) orange [brown tone].”

Text: “grayish red.”

Accent (unchanged): “very dark orange [brown tone].”

Hover: “dark moderate red.”

Bold: “dark grayish orange.”

Hover:

Accent: