I don't think I can handle the new Finder design (bubbles/circles around toolbar icons). Is there a way to disable all this?

a month ago by Séimhe (sé / é) to c/macos

This is a sensitivity of mine that many might not relate to, but the extra visual noise in toolbar buttons (bottom) versus Sequoia (top) will actually make it very difficult for me to focus on the content of my work.

WilliApple posted a way to disable liquid glass completely on Tahoe in his quick video here. This isn't just the slider or reduced transparency, but fully disables it by running the commands here: https://pastebin.com/raw/Cb7X37G6

But as you can see in the video and the comments, there are side effects that might be a step too far for most.

Does anyone know if this works differently on 27? I really would need to get rid of the bubbles/circles around all the toolbar icons on Finder, and preferably the rest of the system.

Upgrading to 27 would mean getting two more years out of my M1 which is on Sequoia currently. I can't believe bubble wrap in the toolbars is what's going to take me out.

Edit: I've come across a potentially better command that targets a specific application, in this example, Finder:

defaults write com.apple.finder com.apple.SwiftUI.DisableSolarium -bool YES
killall finder

I don't recommend anyone run these commands for me specifically since we don't know the outcome. But if you already have and can confirm that this works for macOS 27 it would be a massive help.

kingofras 8 points a month ago

In solidarity. The hard truth is that UI design jobs are done by people who could be our kids.

Back in the day, there was a reskinner for WinXP that allowed you to make things look like the old OSX Aqua.

Best we can do is System Settings > Accessibility > Display: reduce transparency, and there’s also an ‘Increase contrast’ which works, but obviously has some side effects.

Al rumors are that 27 will allow you to manage the LG a bit better, but I really wish apple allows us to have granular skin control. 27 seems like a tok update, so I wouldn’t worry about things getting worse.

save

path: 0 25882998, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 2

Seimhe 5 points a month ago

Is that WindowsBlinds by Stardock you're thinking of? I absolutely loved that software and still miss it today.

And thanks for the info (and solidarity!). But does reduce transparency actually work for the toolbar icons? I thought it only worked on control centre dropdown and elements that overlap content.

save

path: 0 25882998 25883185, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 1

kingofras 1 point 25 days ago

Can’t tell if it does, and yes WindowBlinds! Good memories!

save

path: 0 25882998 25883185 25892797, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0

doenietzomoeilijk 2 points 25 days ago

Oh gods, that's really fucking horrid. Like a 90ies Linux windows manager theme, where "gloss!" and "bezel!" are more important than "adds something to the whole" or even "radius of the grouping thingy doesn't clash with that of the window".

At this point the Linux window managers surpassed Apple, which (and I say this who has been solely using Linux for close to a decade, now) was something I didn't expect.

Apple used to care about interface. A lot.

save

path: 0 25898487, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1

Seimhe 2 points 25 days ago

It reminds me of that prank where someone's stapler was set in jello.

I preferred Apple in the early years because they had consistency across all the apps, file managers, browser, etc. But now linux has that too so I'll have to make the switch eventually.

Crazy that it can't be disabled but they seem to be designing for touch/fat-fingers over the mouse pointer now.

save

path: 0 25898487 25898841, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0