Inspired by the Arctic night sky and the slow drift of the Northern Lights, this theme blends deep navy and teal shadows with luminous blue and green accents to create a calm yet vivid coding environment. Dark, cool backgrounds keep the editor restful, while bright cyans, fresh greens, and soft lavenders add clarity and energy to key syntax elements.
A dark theme from the Codigrate Nature collection, released 2023-08-13. Tags: Arctic, Cinematic, Luminous.
Sold on codigrate.com for $2.99, one payment, tax included: add it to your cart, pay with Stripe (cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay), and download the theme right away. No account needed. Personal licence; a digital download, so all sales are final (see the terms of sale).
Getting started on Xcode
- Download the zip with the Download button. Inside are two theme files: one for Xcode 26 ( .xcworkspacecolortheme ) and one for Xcode 16 and earlier ( .xccolortheme ).
- Copy both files into ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/FontAndColorThemes/ ( in Finder, Shift+Cmd+G takes you to the path; create the folder if it is not there ).
- Xcode 26: open Settings → Appearance, click Choose next to Theme and pick the theme under Custom. Xcode 16 and earlier: Settings → Themes lists it after a restart.
- The theme paints the source editor, the console and the documentation view; the window keeps the macOS look.
Aurora Borealis color palette
Every named color of the Aurora Borealis palette, free to download for MacOS, CorelDRAW and Figma.
Aurora Borealis on every platform
- Aurora Borealis for JetBrains (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Xcode ($2.99), this page
- Aurora Borealis for VS Code (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Chrome (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Open VSX (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Slack (free)
- Aurora Borealis for MacOS Terminal (free)
- Aurora Borealis for iTerm2 (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Ghostty (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Rhino (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Zed (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Sublime Text (free)
- Aurora Borealis for Line
From the blog
- Anatomy of a Dark Theme: Aurora Borealis: Anatomy of Aurora Borealis, a dark IDE theme: a deep blue night backdrop, a soft grey foreground, and syntax in the real colors of the Northern Lights.
- Dark Mode and Light Mode: What Your Eyes Actually Want: Neither mode is easier on your eyes by default. What dark and light mode do to your pupils, why good dark themes skip pure black, and how to pick by room light.
- How Light Makes Colors: Every color is made of light. See how red, green and blue light add up to build any color on a screen, and why screens glow instead of stain like paint.
