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Configure day, night, and overnight themes

BoatKit has three display appearances:

  • Day uses a light palette for ordinary daylight viewing.
  • Night removes bright light surfaces while keeping strong chart and control contrast.
  • Overnight uses a much darker, red-led, low-contrast palette for a sleeping cabin or a display used during night navigation.

These preferences are stored only for the current Viewer. Changing one tablet, phone, or browser does not change another display.

Choose normal day and night switching​

Open Settings → Preferences → Colors, then choose Day / night switching:

  • Match This Device follows the device's light or dark appearance setting.
  • Auto by Sunset/rise uses the vessel's position and timezone to calculate the next change.
  • Always Night and Always Day keep the selected base appearance.

Overnight automation is evaluated separately and overrides the resulting Day or Night appearance while it is active.

Enable Overnight on a schedule​

Set Overnight mode to Schedule, then enter the start and stop times in 24-hour HH:MM format. The schedule uses the Viewer device's local clock and can cross midnight—for example, 22:00 through 06:00.

Enable Overnight from the device signal​

Set Overnight mode to Device light / brightness. The settings page shows the live signal that the current device exposes and provides separate entry and exit thresholds:

  • Most Android devices report ambient illumination in lux. Some Android hardware has no accessible light sensor; BoatKit reports that instead of estimating a value.
  • iPhone and iPad report current screen brightness as a percentage. This is a proxy for the desired viewing level, not an ambient-light measurement.
  • Browser and desktop viewers may expose no compatible signal. Use a schedule on those displays.

The reading must remain at or below the entry threshold for 15 seconds before BoatKit enters Overnight. It must remain at or above the higher exit threshold for 5 seconds before BoatKit leaves Overnight. The separate thresholds prevent passing lights, shadows, or a hand over the sensor from repeatedly switching the display.

Adjust the thresholds while looking at the live reading on the actual mounted device. Sensor range, placement, screen brightness behavior, and obstruction by a case or dashboard mount vary between devices.

Choose a color palette​

The Standard and Higher contrast choices each preview complete Day, Night, and Overnight palettes. Higher contrast preserves more separation within every mode; Overnight remains substantially dimmer than ordinary Night.

Test the selected palette on the physical helm or cabin display. Automatic appearance changes improve viewing comfort but do not replace a proper display-brightness setting, safe watchkeeping practices, or the required navigation equipment.