Nox
One click flips your Mac between light and dark
Nox is a small menu bar app. Click its switch and your whole Mac goes dark or light. Add the Safari or Chrome extension and web pages go dark too, while Nox's own switch is on.
Version 1.4.3. The download button always gives the newest build.
Mac: macOS 13 or later. Windows: Windows 10 or 11, with the free .NET 8 Desktop Runtime. Free, open source (MIT licence), no account needed.
What it does
Dark mode, one click away
macOS dark mode normally stops at the edge of the browser, so most websites stay bright. Nox fixes that while its switch is on.
One switch for the whole Mac
Click the switch in the menu bar to flip light and dark. Right-click it to open the panel.
Websites follow along
With the Safari or Chrome extension on, bright pages get a dark look while Nox is dark. Pages that already have a dark design are left alone.
Private by design
No account, no network access and no analytics. The extension only checks whether Nox's switch is on. It never reads or sends what you browse.
A smooth fade
Nox fades to dark or light and waits until every app has finished changing, so you never see a half-switched screen.
Other apps' menus stay open
Flipping the switch no longer closes menus that other apps have open.
Websites dark on Windows
There is now a short setup for websites on Windows too, so pages can follow the switch there as well.
Share with a friend
On a Mac, one click packs the app up and opens the share sheet, so you can send it to a friend by AirDrop.
Menus stay open
Click another icon in the menu bar and this panel stays open instead of closing on you.
No zoom on Windows
Pinch, Ctrl and the mouse wheel, and Ctrl with plus or minus no longer zoom the Nox panel.
A closer look
Set the night, skip the glare
Screenshots of Nox. It also turns on by itself at the times you choose.
Install
Install Nox
Download it, open the disk image, drag Nox into Applications. Nox is signed and checked by Apple, so it opens like any normal app.
MacYour computer
macOS 13 or later
Download for Mac Nox.dmgOr paste this into Terminal. It downloads, installs and opens Nox in one go.
curl -fsSL https://solomon-69.github.io/Mac-Apps/download/install.sh | bash -s nox- Open the downloaded file and drag Nox into Applications.
- Open Nox from Applications. Look for the switch in the menu bar and click it.
- Follow the welcome window and press Allow on Apple's prompts. Nox needs this to change light and dark.
- For websites: in Safari go to Safari, Settings, Extensions, tick Nox and set it to Allow. For Chrome, click Open extension folder in the Nox panel, then use Load unpacked on chrome://extensions.
WindowsYour computer
Windows 10 or 11
Download for Windows Nox-windows.zip- Right-click Nox-windows.zip and choose Extract All. Keep the folder somewhere permanent, for example Documents.
- If asked, install the free .NET 8 Desktop Runtime from Microsoft.
- Run Nox from the extracted folder. Click the icon in the system tray (near the clock) to flip Windows between light and dark.
- If Windows shows a warning, click More info, then Run anyway.
Questions
Good to know
Why do websites stay bright?
Check that Nox's switch is on, that the extension is ticked in Safari with Edit Websites set to Allow, and that the extension is loaded in Chrome.
Do pages change when my Mac goes dark by itself?
No. Web pages only go dark when Nox's own switch is on. Your Mac's dark mode on its own does not change them.
Why does it ask for Automation and Screen Recording?
Automation lets Nox switch light and dark. Screen Recording is only for the smooth fade: Nox takes one still picture at the moment of switching. The picture stays in memory and is never saved or sent.
Some sites look wrong when forced dark.
Forcing a dark look on every page cannot be perfect. If one looks odd, turn the website option off in the panel, and please report the address on GitHub.
Does it collect any data?
No. Nox, the Safari extension and the Chrome extension make no network requests and have no analytics or accounts. The full detail is in the privacy notes.
Opening the app
Mac: every app here is signed and checked by Apple (notarized), so it opens like any normal app: open the download, drag to Applications, double-click. Windows: the first time, SmartScreen may warn you: click More info, then Run anyway. You can check a download against the SHA-256 fingerprints in each release (the SHA256SUMS file) on GitHub.