A white background “flashes” during the initial spotlight launch… for approximately ½ a second, so it is hard to time a screen grab. However, the exact same white background is sustained for 3 to 10 seconds every time I select/launch any of the streaming options. It only relents when the streaming site fully renders. This is what I see while a streaming site is loading:
https://imgur.com/n9gJ1fyRegardless of whether it "flashes" or remains constant for several seconds, when you are in a dark room using a dark skin, this is absolutely blinding… Not joking even a little bit.
Granted, some sites (YouTube, Google Images, Ice Cast, etc.) are mostly white even after fully rendered, so there is nothing to be done about that I suppose. But for those sites that are very dark when fully rendered (Radio Paradise, lastFM, Soma FM, Digitally Imported, etc., i.e., the ones I actually use), it would be great if my eyeballs weren't in flames while waiting for them to load!
What seems like a no-brainer fix to me is, while a site is loading just default to whatever hex color the skin specifies for
List Back in the XML file (relevant XML input line below is from ModernCards Dark). After all, this is the color of MC's content area right before it turns solid white! While this is not really an issue with light/bright skins, using the color specified for list background for
every skin is the completely obvious solution.
<LIST>
<Colors Text="909090"
Back="2b2b2b" SelectedText="000000" SelectedBack="3A3A3A" HotText="018fff" Gridline="333333" GridlineBack="2f2f2f" OverText="a3a3a3" />
Unfortunately, Spotlight and streaming sites white background during load is only part of the problem. MC’s interface also has permanent primarily white backgrounds (for all skins, dark or light) for the home/top level pages for: Streaming, Drives and Devices, Playlists, and Podcasts. And there is also Cloud Play. That page makes zero use of any skin's defined elements: it uses a different font, it ignores the skin's defined buttons and scrollbar, and of course, it uses the white background. The Cloud Play page aesthetic completely clashes with the rest of skin, and that is true regardless of which skin is loaded.
All of the above can make navigating MC using a darker skin very jarring and unpleasant… This issue alone keeps me on the lookout for another media player where I don’t have to deal with this (but still satisfies other functionality that MC does so well). All these issues have occurred in every major release for many years now (except spotlight obviously since that was new in v29). I find it impossible to believe this is a "just me" problem. If you are unable to replicate it on your end that would be utterly baffling.
As for Podcasts, Drives and Devices, etc. with their permanent mostly white backgrounds… to my recollection, those pages have not changed since the earliest days of MC. In the early years of my MC use this was not terribly bothersome, because I always used light skins. But for the last 5+ years or so, I only use dark skins, and now those white "homepages" are blindingly annoying. In addition, they could certainly benefit from a facelift even if the white background were not an issue.
Why doesn't MC simply use the background color
that every skin specifies to create a consistent appearance as the default color for every page/view? This has been a complete mystery to me for years. The list/content area is the list/content area, regardless of whatever the page is presenting. Please please please… Update this to use/match the skins
specified background color.
Sorry for the rant. I guess this one has been building up for a decade+
.