macOS 26 Beta Dark Mode Icons Fallback Removed

Post: In macOS 26 Betas 1–3, the system applied an automatic dark-mode fallback for app icons. This ensured consistency across the Dock and Finder even when developers hadn’t provided dark assets.

Since Beta 4, this fallback was removed. As of Beta 7, icons now rely entirely on developer-updated assets. The result is mixed light and dark icons in the Dock, breaking visual consistency and making app recognition slower in dark mode.

Observed behavior: • Icons without dark assets are displayed in their original light version. • Some apps (e.g. Final Cut Pro) show a gray border treatment that feels inconsistent with the rest of the UI. • The fallback applied in Betas 1–3 is completely absent.

Expected behavior: System should provide a fallback rendering until developers supply proper dark assets, or offer a toggle in System Settings → Appearance (e.g. “Force Dark Icons”).

This is still present in Beta 7. Is there any plan to restore the fallback mechanism or provide a user option?

macOS 26 Beta Dark Mode Icons Fallback Removed
 
 
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