Skip to main content
Blackwood
New Member
August 14, 2023

Allow developers to switch Page-level variables (e.g. Light/Dark mode)

  • August 14, 2023
  • 45 replies
  • 5079 views

We have a design system set up with tokens (variables) to enable all components to switch between light and dark mode.

For developers/viewers to see what a screen should look like in Dark mode, we have to duplicate that screen. But as an editor I can set the colour mode variable at the Page level to Dark and all screens on the canvas/page turn to dark mode.

If developers/viewers could also do this, I could delete the dark mode duplicates of every screen and only have one copy of each screen, defaulted to light mode, and then just toggle dark mode as needed.

This would be much more efficient on memory usage and maintenance.

45 replies

SohrabNiroo
New Participant
May 17, 2024

We should wait for Figma to give this update. I tried everything and no luck with good results.

Andy33
New Participant
May 22, 2024

I always need to clone all my screens for other variable modes that viewers can see those. Would be good to have this not only for devs but also for viewers.

May 23, 2024

+1 would love to see this!

June 13, 2024

This is a must have.
I don’t want to give our devs the ability to edit just to be able to swap tokens for themes etc…

in dev mode it should be non destructive change where devs can view different versions of a screen… no impact on the design view… it’s as simple as that 😊

Ognjen1
June 20, 2024

We really need this ASAP.
Our design system is SoT for everyone in the team. Making double screens for light/dark mode is pain since the files are already huge an updating them takes ages. If I make duplicate files and turn one into dark mode then keeping the SoT true in both files is pain.
You solve one thing and make another problem.
Thank you!

July 2, 2024

Any update? Thanks!

Lucie_GUILLAUME
July 4, 2024

Will be really usefull !
Have two mode (btc and btb) with different icons. If I could easily get both versions by switching modes, I’d avoid having to go back and forth with the designer for the slightest element.

JP_Bantigue
July 30, 2024

I agree. This would really be useful.

Currently, we have to duplicate screens just for devs to see the differences. Why can’t variables be toggleable for the Devs too? This would prevent us from creating multiple versions of the same mockup, and also, prevent us from updating the cloned mockups whenever we change the originals.

Ricardo_Verginelli
August 19, 2024

This would indeed be very useful, recuding the amount of artboards and the file size, solving a lot of performance issues on large files.

August 26, 2024

Agreed. This is a significant feature enhancement for our team. Currently, we have to grant developers Full Design access to be able to see different variable modes which poses a risk for file management. Additionally, it creates extra work for our designers to have to copy and maintain variants of the same design. While developers have to move back and forth between different designs.