Summary of the Pull Request
Fix unreadable caption-button glyphs and Markdown code in the separate
What's New window when the PowerToys theme differs from Windows'
default app mode.
With Windows Dark and PowerToys Light, minimize/maximize/close glyphs
and inline-code text can be almost white on a light surface. The caption
issue is a regression; the Markdown code-brush gap predates it.
This is a targeted follow-up to #48910 and #49786, not a revert of the
shared native title-bar implementation.
Before / after screenshots
Both captures use Windows Dark + PowerToys Light and display the
same April 2026 release notes. The displayed v0.99.1 is the notes'
version, not the executable's version.
Before: installed v0.102.2911.0
The minimize/maximize/close glyphs are almost invisible against the
light title bar. Inline-code examples such as DockSettings,
settings.json, G, and Win also have nearly white text on a pale
background.
After: patched local x64 Debug Settings
Caption glyphs and inline-code text are readable, while the existing
heading/link styling is retained.
PR Checklist
- Related work: #48910, #49786; no existing issue is closed by this
PR. - Communication: Separate contributor agreement has not been
established; this follows the previously identified theme-override
concern linked below. - Tests: Added a repeatable UI regression-capture script;
existing focused Settings tests pass. Screenshot review remains manual,
not an automated contrast assertion. - Localization: No new user-facing strings.
- Dev docs / product documentation / new binaries: Not applicable;
no new dependencies, settings fields, IPC contracts, or installer
entries.
Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments
Caption buttons: follow the window, not Windows' default app mode
TitleBarTheme.UseDefaultAppMode follows Windows' default app mode.
Settings applies its own Light/Dark preference to the window content, so
these can disagree.
- Add an explicit-theme overload to
src/common/Common.UI.Controls/Window/TitleBarHelper.cs. Preserve the
original one-argument API, its Windows-default behavior, and the
supported-platform guard. - In
src/settings-ui/Settings.UI/SettingsXAML/ScoobeWindow.xaml.cs,
apply the initial content theme afterInitializeComponent, then set
nativeTitleBarTheme.Light/Darkfrom the root's resolved
ActualTheme. - Track live
ActualThemeChangedevents and unsubscribe when the window
closes.
This retains #49786's shared helper and native caption rendering rather
than restoring manually assigned caption-button colors. Other
windows/modules keep their existing one-argument behavior; this PR does
not broaden the change to OOBE or Shortcut Conflict.
Markdown: extend the existing element-theme workaround to code
The pinned Markdown control captures brushes from application resources
rather than the selected element theme. The existing workaround corrects
headings and links, but not inline/fenced-code foreground, background,
or border brushes.
In ScoobeReleaseNotesPage.xaml / .xaml.cs:
- Resolve code-surface brushes through a collapsed, noninteractive,
theme-aware provider, following the existing link-provider pattern. - Apply the element-themed primary foreground and code background/border
to both inline-code and fenced-code theme properties. - Retain heading/link handling and the existing re-render path on theme
changes.
No hardcoded palette or dependency upgrade is introduced. The workaround
still points to the pending upstream fix,
CommunityToolkit/Labs-Windows#785.
Investigation timeline
| Date (UTC) | Change / inspected release | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| April 29, 2026 | v0.99.1 | Inspected source already has the Markdown |
| code-brush problem; the old code-rendering issue is not explained by the | ||
| later caption regression. | ||
| June 29, 2026 | #48910, merged 18:33:41 | Corrected What's New |
| headings/links and tracked the actual window theme for caption colors. | ||
| It did not correct code brushes. | ||
| August 25, 2026 | v0.101.2362.0 | Contains the June caption handling, |
| before its September replacement. This explains correct caption icons | ||
| but unreadable code in the older comparison build. | ||
| September 2, 2026 | #49786, merged 14:58:31 | Adopted the shared |
native UseDefaultAppMode helper and explicitly removed the SCOOBE | ||
| caption handling as redundant. This lost the app-specific theme | ||
| override. | ||
| September 21, 2026 | v0.101.2632.0 | Already contains the September |
| replacement: the caption regression predates the October candidate. | ||
| October 16 / 19, 2026 | v0.102.2883.0 / v0.102.2911.0 | Both contain |
| the replacement; the reported mixed-theme symptoms were reproduced on | ||
| installed 2911. |
#49786's consolidation and native theme-change fixes were intentional.
Its history does not establish an intent to drop PowerToys' independent
theme preference. An inline discussion posted at 15:00:33 UTC, about
two minutes after
merge,
already identifies that UseDefaultAppMode does not follow
RequestedTheme and recommends tracking ActualTheme.
Release containment above comes from source/tag inspection, not a
runtime bisect of every listed installer. The April version displayed
inside What's New is release-note content, not the installed
executable's version.
Validation Steps Performed
- Built the release-targeted x64 Debug candidate with
tools\build\build-essentials.ps1, including runner and Settings; no
replacement of the installed PowerToys binaries. - Built the Settings unit-test project and ran
ScoobeReleaseTestsplus
ViewModelTests.Generalwithvstest.console.exe: 18 passed, 0
failed. - Visually checked the same What's New window with Windows Dark while
selecting PowerToys Light -> Dark -> Windows default -> Light.
Caption glyphs, headings, links, and April's inline-code examples
(DockSettings,settings.json,G,Win) remain readable. - The reporter also inspected the patched window and confirmed it looks
correct. - Restored the original PowerToys Light setting after the capture.
- Ported the identical four production files onto current
main,
avoiding unrelated stable-branch history. - Repeated
build-essentials.ps1 -Platform x64 -Configuration Debugon
the actual main-based PR branch: solution restore, runner and Settings
all succeeded with zero MSBuild errors/warnings. - Rebuilt the Settings test project on that branch and repeated the same
focused test run: 18 passed, 0 failed.
The checked-in src\settings-ui\Settings.UITests\Test-WhatsNewTheme.ps1
repeats that live-switch capture, checks that the same notes window
survives, verifies the selected theme, restores the original app theme,
and writes PNGs plus a JSON receipt. It requires an explicitly selected
Settings PID and checks its executable identity. Run from the checkout
after opening General and a separate What's New window containing code:
.\src\settings-ui\Settings.UITests\Test-WhatsNewTheme.ps1 -AppPid <settings-process-id>
The script uses English UI labels and winapp CLI. Its default executable
is the checkout's x64 Debug build; use -ExpectedExecutable when
deliberately comparing a different build. Review the PNGs manually; a
successful capture is not a visual PASS.
Remaining manual coverage
- Windows Light + PowerToys Dark, and high-contrast transitions.
- Caption hover, inactive, and maximized states.
- Actual fenced-code rendering: the corresponding renderer properties
compile and its implementation was inspected, but no retained
fenced-code fixture was found in the fetched stable notes after
installer-hash sections were removed.
These are explicitly unverified, not claimed as passing. No full
release/module verification is claimed.
(cherry picked from commit bce86ab)
Co-authored-by: Copilot [email protected]
Copilot-Session: b53a83e5-69a1-4b97-a4c6-378bdf88657a