f.lux v41: Big Sur and Apple Silicon support

herf

f.lux v41 is available for download, with these changes:

Apple Silicon support
Support for DCI-P3 wide-gamut displays: now these screens look much better, and should match sRGB colors. Previously, they looked a bit greenish and oversaturated, but now they look better than standard gamut displays.
Darkroom fix on M1/Apple Silicon
Sparkle updater at v1.24.
41.3 also fixes unnecessary updating of ICC color profiles (not needed on M1)
41.4 fixes "white cursors" on some Intel macs

Known issues

Dim on disable doesn't work on Apple Silicon
With multiple monitors, f.lux settings may be slow to show up on a secondary screen, until there is a screen redraw
A dark UI is on our list, but it's locked to light for the moment as we are still figuring out how to make it look OK.

Things to check

Any signs of "white cursors" (as we saw in Catalina)
Darkroom should continue to work on all macOS versions/GPUs
Any user interface problems (old or new macOS)

To install this version

Download https://justgetflux.com/mac/Flux.zip or visit our website (https://justgetflux.com)
Quit any running f.lux versions
Run the new build from Downloads

MaintenanceCosts

Thank you for all your hard work!

Still experiencing the white cursor on my 2019 16" MacBook Pro (5500M), running Big Sur 11.1 and f.lux 41.1. The issue only occurs when the machine is running the integrated graphics; whenever it switches to the 5500M, the cursor displays correctly. Two other machines without switchable graphics (iMac Pro, 2016 13" MBP) do not have the issue; they didn't have it under f.lux 40.1 or Catalina either.

herf

Okay, we did rollback the Catalina fix on Big Sur to see what would happen. Sounds like they have not fixed it on some integrated Intel GPUs.

I believe right now it is OK on older Intel, Radeon, and M1.

We probably should add this back to 41, via a preference rather than 100% of the time, since it messes up the chromaticities a bit, so we prefer not to do that for everyone.

alvarnell

MacUpdater indicates this is a new public release, but you haven't changed the Appcast to indicate that, so I cannot update from within Flux. Is that correct or is v41 still in test?

herf

Yes we often release software as the main download before it updates everyone.

For instance, we found out this build doesn't work on 10.10.5, so we'll fix that before the update.

flrntclt

Thanks for the update !
Unfortunately, the white cursor is back since v41.3 on my Macbook Pro Retina 13" (mid-2014) running on Big Sur.
Hope this helps identifying the issue.

herf

thanks for the note. Does this machine have NVIDIA+Intel or only integrated graphics?

flrntclt

@herf Only integrated graphics (Intel Iris 5100)

herf

okay we posted a 41.4 build that rolls this halfway back (hopefully less impact on color but should make cursors OK).

https://justgetflux.com/mac/Flux41.4.zip (also live as main download)

Berkana

I recently got an M1 MacBook Air running MacOS 11.2.3, and Flux is behaving oddly on my Mac.

It used to be that when I inverted the screen colors (ctrl+option+cmd+8) the inversion would also be warm colored, as if the inversion happened before the Flux spectrum/color warming gets applied, but now, when I invert the screen, it looks like the inversion happens after the Flux spectrum warming gets applied, and everything looks intensely blue.

This problem also exists for dark room mode. Some of the times I use dark room mode requires me to invert the screen colors (I prefer to read light text on a black background when reading in the dark), and in dark room mode, inverting the screen turns everything blue and white.

Is there some way to get Flux to be applied as the top most "layer" or process that is applied to the display? Something about the new Macs is messing up some really important features I used to use all the time—namely, inverting the colors on the screen. I need this to work right.

vxctvr

I am on Big Sur 11.2.3 and the f.lux software asked me to update it to 41.4. After the update, I am now beginning to experience the white cursor issue some other people are mentioning. I have not experienced this issue ever before. My preference is at 1900k.

herf

@vxctvr I will send email with a test to run.

Berkana

@herf I installed the most recent update, but there is still an unresolved issue: when in darkroom mode, when I invert the screen colors (because some things I read are already light text on a dark background, and darkroom turns it into dark text on a red background, and I prefer to read red text on a black page) the screen goes blue/cyan.

herf

thanks @Berkana - which machine are you using? Do you have an Intel GPU or a discrete one?

Berkana

@herf I am using an M1 Macbook Air. Even if I'm not using darkroom mode, when I invert the screen colors to read light text on a dark background, everything turns blue. See this photo of my screen:

Flux 41.4 bug

It looks like the flux filter is being applied, and then everything is being inverted, rather than the color inversion being applied, followed by the flux filter.

herf

Yes it does seem to work in the other order on Intel machines. (invert, then color, rather than the reverse.)

Do you use the system hotkey to turn it on?

I guess right now the only fix (other than asking Apple to change it) would be for us to implement our own invert so we can fix things up when this happens.

Berkana

@herf I do use the system hotkey combo (ctrl + option + cmd + 8) to turn it on.

Is this bug a problem with the OS or the hardware? Why would it change between intel and M1?

fluxuser782

I still have white cursor with i7 2018 Mac Mini. No issues with Mac mini 2012 with i7 processor.

I recently switched to an LG Ultrawide 35WN65C and the f.lux experience it pretty bad. Suspect the display is largely to blame.

Color temp is way off when using 85 hz refresh via HDMI. Much too blue when compared with my previous Apple Cinema Display 24", side-by-side. Set to 65hz, it's closer to "correct" but maybe not quite.
When waking from display sleep, the display shows native color for a moment, then blinks and comes back at adjusted color temp, then back to native, then back to expected color.

The display seems to be "resisting" flux, but mainly in the 85 hz mode.

herf

The white cursor bug should be fully fixed in 41.5 - we have not updated people on 41.4, because it works for most people there.

Our main download link should be the latest version.

For the LG - you will need to find an ICC file to calibrate the device. We depend on good calibrations.

Berkana

@herf I have some questions.
When I run "dark room mode" in Flux, clearly, Flux is able to do a scren color inversion before going monochrome, because I get red text on a black background. Could you offer some method to toggle the screen color inversion from Flux (at whatever layer or sequence of operations Flux is doing this), because I really need the ability to pick the inversion when in dark room mode, and Apple hasn't fixed things on their end. Sorry about troubling you about this, but this is a real problem for me.