What's new?


What’s new in Material Theme UI v9.5.0

Yet another small update but with some new features worth checking.

Rounded Tabs

As the New UI is now the default for all users, it’s now become easier to add more customization to the UI.

To celebrate that, we are introducing a new setting to customize the tabs’ design: Rounded Tabs.

Rounded Tabs
Rounded Tabs

This feature mimics the new tab design introduced by Google in their navigator, Google Chrome, which makes the tabs more rounded and looking like pressed buttons.

This design isn’t popular with everyone, so it’s disabled by default, but you can give it a shot in the Material Theme > UI Components settings.

Other fixes

  • Add Sticky Lines background to color scheme
  • Fix parameter colors in Color schemes
  • Fix performance issue when multiple settings are modified

What’s new in Material Theme UI v9.4.0

This version only brings bug fixes and improvements

Fixes

  • Refactor locale management to support the new framework
  • Fix deprecations
  • Fix Cancel Button not working on Custom Theme Settings
  • Fix “Auto expanding” search and replace
  • Support for 2024.2

What’s new in Material Theme UI v9.3.0

This version introduces small features and improvements to the plugin.

Custom Action Button Radius

As a follow-up to the feature introduced in version 9.2.0, Use Original Tool Window Hover Buttons, this version introduces yet another feature requested by the community to control the border radius of all Action Buttons.

You can find this setting in the Material Theme > UI Components Settings

Action Buttons Radius Settings
Action Buttons Radius Settings

Comparison:

Full Rounded buttons
Full Rounded buttons
Half Rounded buttons
Half Rounded buttons
Not Rounded buttons
Not Rounded buttons

More Overlays

This setting supplements the Overlays setting by adding way more triggers to the list of popups that trigger the overlays.

Currently, the Overlays are displayed when most popups are displayed. However, there are still a few popups that do not trigger the overlays, such as the Find In Files popup, or the Git Branches, as this would be too intrusive for some users.

But there are people that do not mind the overlays, and as such, this setting was added to allow those users to display the overlays in much more cases, such as the aforementioned examples, but also:

  • When dropdowns are opened
  • When light popups are opened
  • etc.
Git Branch Overlays
Git Branch Overlays
Dropdown Overlays
Dropdown Overlays

This setting is disabled by default to not get in the way of the users’ workflow, but you can enable it in the Material Theme > Features settings.

Others

  • Color Schemes: Change the color of the Identifier Under Caret to be a shade of the Accent Color
  • Color Schemes: Change the default console font to Hack with fallback to JetBrains Mono
  • Color Schemes: Add Prompt separator Color
  • Fix removal of underscore in the Project Title Widget
  • Fix display of TypeScript Additions settings page
  • Fix discrepancy between the Editor Tabs and Tool Windows Tabs
  • Color Schemes: Fix Micronaut and Angular Template background colors
  • Color Schemes: Fix Angular Signals color
  • Color Schemes: Add a different color for MongoDB properties
  • Language Additions: Deprecate the Severity Provider to use regular annotations again

What’s new in Material Theme UI v9.2.0

Use Original Tool Window Hover Buttons

This feature is the result of a particular demand by some users to restore the original design of the tool windows buttons.

As you may know, the plugin changed the look and feel of those buttons to look like the Material Design look and feel, by replacing them with a transparent circle of the accent color. However some users preferred the original look of the buttons, and as such, this feature was added to the plugin.

Original Tool Window Hover Buttons
Original Tool Window Hover Buttons

Other Bug fixes and improvements

  • Java Additions: Add null and final additions
  • Refactor the Theme Selector to improve performance and limit freezes
  • Fix the issue where buttons become spaced out when changing the Custom Header Height setting.
  • Adds back the Selected Tool Window indicator.
  • Fix the issue where the Arrows Style setting was disabled if the Atom Material Icons plugin was installed but disabled.
  • Fix issue with large buttons
  • Fix issue with Toolbar icons unavailable on the free plan
  • Fix issue with File Color Gray
  • Fix Custom Line Height setting not having any effect
  • Change default value of Centered Editor to false
  • Fix default button height
  • Fix custom line height not being applied

What’s new in Material Theme UI v9.1.0

This version fixes a few problems with color schemes, as well as improves the onboarding screen for new users and also for migrating users to the version 9.0.0.

New On-boarding Screen

If you’ve been using the plugin until now, chances are that you have your own configuration throughout the years.

However, version 9.0.0 restructured how settings are kept, and as a result a migration is necessary to migrate the settings to the new format.

To help existing users with that, a new onboarding screen has been added to the plugin, which will guide you through the migration process.

Onboarding Screen
Onboarding Screen

This screen will only show us once and will trigger the migration process.

Note: You can still re-run the migration process manually through the Actions > Material Theme Features > Migrate Settings.

New Setting: Material Design Loading Icon

This setting will return the old loading icon from Material Design, which was removed at some point in the past.

Material Design Loading Icon
Material Design Loading Icon

Note: You will have to reset the IDE for the changes to take effect.

Other Bug fixes and improvements

  • File Colors: Set Gray as Excluded Files color
  • Overlays: Fix overlays not being triggered on some cases
  • Prevent NPE on MTButton
  • Prevent NPE when the Python plugin is installed
  • Color Schemes: Add New Terminal colors
  • Color Schemes: Add JVM Logging colors
  • Color Schemes: Add Tabs Scrollbar colors
  • Color Schemes: Add Error Stripe colors on Searches

What’s new in Material Theme UI v9.0.0

Hello everyone, welcome for a new round of Material Theme UI updates. First, I would like to apologize for the lateness in updating the documentation since the latest version, this year has been very rough for me, but after long months of work, the new version is here, albeit still in its early phases, so bugs and performance issues can still be experienced at this point, but hopefully they will be less and less as time goes on.

So what’s new in tow?

New Settings

The first thing you will notice is the new settings page. This is a complete overhaul of the settings page, which was long overdue. Since the beginning of the plugin, there has been only two settings overhauls, the last one going as far back as 2017 (!). Back then, the settings were organized into tabs, each tab responsible for a specific part of the plugin.

This was a good idea at the time, but as the plugin grew, so did the settings, and it started to become cramped in there, and it began being difficult to add more settings without breaking the UI.

This is why the new settings page is now organized into different pages, each page representating what was once inside a tab. This makes it easier to find the setting you are looking for, and it also makes it easier to add new settings in the future.

The new settings page is more organized, more intuitive, and using a different technology: Kotlin UI DSL rather than pure Swing. This makes it easier to maintain and to add new features in the future.

Main Settings v3
Main Settings v3
Theme Selector
Theme Selector
Accent Colors
Accent Colors

As a result of that change, the settings need to be migrated to a new format, as such, the new settings are to be found in a file named material_theme_new.xml as opposed as the previous material_theme.xml. Therefore, you will need to migrate your previous configuration before using the plugin. This is a one-time operation, and you will be prompted to do so when you first open the IDE after updating the plugin.

Migration Dialog
Migration Dialog

Upon clicking migrate, your previous settings will be migrated to the new format, and you will be able to use the plugin as usual.

Note: You can still re-run the migration process manually through the Actions > Material Theme Features > Migrate Settings.

Centered Editor

Perhaps the most controversial of the changes, is a new feature called Centered Editor. When enabled, it centers the code in the middle of the editor, as opposed as tucked to the left.

Centered Editor
Centered Editor

This feature is based on the already available Zen Mode of the IDE, found in Menu > View > Appearance > Zen Mode. But, unlike Zen Mode, which also hides all tool windows and tabs, the Centered Editor only centers the code, leaving the rest of the UI intact.

This is particularly pleasant for people working with the Tool Windows closed, or having the Tool Windows undocked, and is similar to the way pages are laid out in the modern web.

You can find the setting under Material Theme UI > Features > Centered Editor


Project Title Bar

Previously named Project Frame, the Project Title Bar sports more options than ever before. For one, it now allows you to control more elements of the screen, namely the Tool Windows and the Status Bar!

Project Title Settings
Project Title Settings

Such options allow you to colorize not only the title bar, but the tool windows and the status bar as well, giving you a more “framed” look of your IDE, similar to the famous VSCode “Peacock” extension.

Peacock Mode
Peacock Mode

Moreover, a new widget has been added on the Title Bar displaying the same contents of the Project Frame, that you can toggle ON or OFF according to your tastes.

You can also select from a list of presets for your Title Bar widget. Maybe more will be added in the future!

Title Bar Widget
Title Bar Widget

Adaptive Theme

The Adaptive Theme is a new theme that adapts itself from the color scheme. When selecting that theme, it will select the most suited color from the current color scheme as the theme colors.

You can also choose to override the colors you want from the Color Scheme Settings Page.

Adaptive Theme
Adaptive Theme

Current Theme and Custom Theme

You can now visualize your current theme colors in the Settings page under Material Theme UI > Current Theme.

Current Theme
Current Theme

This page displays a matrix of the current theme colors, with the ability to copy the theme colors by clicking on a tile. And yes, this works for non-bundled themes too!

The Custom Theme page has also been migrated to the new layout, with the option to assign a different set of colors for the Light Custom Theme.

Custom Theme
Custom Theme

Theme Selector

The Theme Selector, previously only available inside the Wizard, is now available in the settings page as well. You can now preview the themes before applying them.

Theme Selector
Theme Selector

Note: We are aware of the current performance issues with the Theme Selector, and we are working on it.

Contrast Settings

The contrast settings are available in the Material Theme UI > Contrast page, just like before.

Contrast Settings
Contrast Settings

In addition, you can now fine-tune the degree of contrast for the High Contrast mode, by adjusting the Contrast Level slider. (Only available for premium users).


Accent Mode Revamp

Another highlight of that new version is the revamp of the Accent Mode.

Accent Mode
Accent Mode

In the new Accent Mode, you will have much more options to control the look of the Accent Mode, such as the ability to add a second Accent Color, or to toggle which parts of the IDE you don’t want to be affected by the Accent Color.


Spacing Settings

Previously labeled “Compact Settings”, the spacing settings have been moved to the Material Theme UI > Spacing page, where you can adjust the spacing of the UI elements.

Spacing Settings
Spacing Settings

There, you can find the previously available compactness options, as well as two brand new settings: Header Size and Status Bar Size.

Example of a bigger header and status bars:

Big Header and Status Bar
Big Header and Status Bar

Note: Increasing the header size also increases the icons size! Maybe in the future we’ll separate the two.


New Project Tree Indicators

New Project Tree Indicators have been added to the list:

Right Border

Right Border
Right Border

Underline

Underline
Underline

Boxed

Boxed
Boxed

In addition, you can select to have a gradient instead of a solid color for the indicators.

Gradient Indicators
Gradient Indicators

Arrows Style

Previously only available in the Atom Material Icons plugin, you can now find the Arrows Style setting in the Material Theme UI > Trees > Arrows Style page.

Arrows Style
Arrows Style

Note: This setting is only available for users NOT using the Atom Material Icons plugin in conjunction with the Material Theme UI plugin.


Borderless mode

A new mode is available under Material Theme UI > UI Components > Borderless Mode. When enabled, it sets the “Border Color” to be the same color as the background, effectively “hiding” the borders from the UI components.

Borderless Mode
Borderless Mode

Round Notifications

Still on the UI Components page, you can now make the notifications round by enabling the Round Notifications setting.

Round Notifications
Round Notifications

Material Circular Loader

The Material Circular Loader is now available in the settings page under Material Theme UI > UI Components > Material Circular Loader.

When enabled, it restores the previous circular loading icon, just like the one found in the Material Design guidelines.

Material Circular Loader
Material Circular Loader

Custom Overlay Transparency

From the Material Theme UI > Features page, alongside the Overlays feature, you can now fine-tune the transparency of the overlays.

Custom Overlay Transparency
Custom Overlay Transparency

Language Additions

The Language Additions now allow you to disable specific languages rather than the whole feature.

Language Additions
Language Additions

In addition, languages have much more available options than before, with more keywords added to the tray, allowing for more customization. Oh and Rust has been added to the available languages list!


Deprecated Features and Removals

To conclude that long list of changes, there are two features that have been unshipped from the product due to low adoption and maintenance costs:

  • Recommended Plugins
  • Focus Mode

The Focus Mode have since then been adapted to a separate plugin, but it is currently unmaintained, so be aware that there will probably be no more updates unless someone else takes the reins of the project.

The Recommended Plugins was removed because plugin curation demands time and constant maintenance, and besides it was drafting away from the plugin’s core features.


Fiou, that was a lot. There are also a lot of bug fixes and improvements, as well as other deprecations and removals, but I think I’ve covered the most important ones. You can find more information in the changelog.

Please note that this version is still in its early stages, and bugs and performance issues can still be experienced at this point. But we are working hard to make it better, and we hope you will enjoy the new features!

That’s it, thanks all folks!