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Steve_Digre
October 18, 2023

Variables: Ability to let 'Viewers' select color variables eg. Light/Dark

  • October 18, 2023
  • 9 replies
  • 716 views

I use color variables for a labeled-website that supports different retailer themes and have Light/Dark mode.

I want QA/Dev Figma viewer users to be able to switch retailers/theme and switch between light and dark mode. I want the interface similair to what I see (as an editor) where I can select these values under the Layers panel.

I would want to select which variables I want users to have access to.

9 replies

Wolfgang_Wire
New Member
October 19, 2023

This, very much. I wonder how Figma envisions the process to handover a multi-theme design to developers, if it is not possible for a viewer/developer to change the theme themselves. Because right now, it means I would have to copy each screen and manually set it to the according theme – which is, in a huge project, impossible, as it multiplies the artboards I have to implement a change by the amount of supported themes.

Celine_
Figmate
Community Support
November 3, 2023

Thanks for sharing your feedback about variables on the forum! We’ll pass this onto our Variable team for consideration.

Andy33
New Participant
May 22, 2024

Very much needed for viewers too.

Andy33
New Participant
August 12, 2024

3 months later, still needed.

Steve_Digre
August 13, 2024

Still a feature I would like to see

Andrii_Tsymbal
September 6, 2024

Still needed, Any news?

Cedric_Lodewijckx
October 1, 2024

Very much needed! Our developers need to switch variable modes themselves… We can’t duplicate screens for file that contain 100 screens… Otherwise we loose our single source of truth approach… Hope this gets implemented pretty soon!

1450_STUDIO
New Member
November 22, 2024

When I’m sharing a project with a client or a team member with a viewer seat, I’d like to allow them to navigate through the prototype and try out the different modes I’ve used to design the product. Like light mode and dark mode or other colour themes or UI variants.

I group my user paths into a section to which I apply a particular mode. By selecting the section and changing the mode all my UI takes on the colours and logos provided by the variables and modes I’ve defined.

I don’t understand why my colleagues can’t use this feature… By doing this, Figma degrades the performance of the project by forcing me to duplicate all the user paths with each mode applied.

Please leave the possibility of changing the mode as ‘viewer’ or ‘dev mode’!

Mike_Cordeiro1
New Member
September 8, 2025

Commenting a +1 as it’s permitted in this forum.