Solace Not Switching Themes: Quick Troubleshooting Guide

Why isn’t Solace switching my Mac’s appearance?

When Solace stops switching your Mac’s appearance or colour temperature, the cause is almost always one of four things: missing permissions, a schedule that was never saved or got reset, an incorrect timezone or system clock, or Solace not running in the menu bar at the time the switch was supposed to happen.

Each cause has a distinct fix, and they can be resolved in a few minutes without reinstalling. Here is how to work through them in order.

The four most common causes at a glance

• Permissions not granted - Solace requires Automation access (to System Events) to change macOS Appearance. Without it, the schedule fires internally but the system ignores the instruction.
• Schedule not saved or not enabled - if the Enable schedule toggle is off, or your times were never confirmed, Solace has nothing to act on.
• Timezone or clock wrong - sunset and solar calculations are based on your Mac’s reported location and system time. An incorrect timezone produces incorrect switch times.
• App not running in the menu bar - Solace is a menu bar app. If it was quit or failed to launch at startup, scheduled switches will not fire until it is relaunched.

How do you check and fix Solace’s permissions?

Permissions are the most common cause of Solace appearing to run correctly - the menu bar icon is present, the schedule shows the right times - yet nothing visually changes on screen.

Step 1: Check Automation access

1. Open System Settings and navigate to Privacy & Security.
2. Scroll down to Automation and click it.
3. Find Solace in the list. If it is listed, confirm the toggle next to System Events is enabled.
4. If Solace is not listed at all, proceed to the next step to trigger the permission request.

Step 2: Check Accessibility access

On some macOS versions, Solace also needs Accessibility permission to change system appearance. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility and check whether Solace appears and is enabled there too.

Step 3: Trigger the permission prompt if Solace is missing from the list

Solace only appears in Privacy & Security > Automation once it has attempted to use System Events. If it is not listed yet, open Solace from the menu bar and use the manual appearance switch option in the popover. macOS should present a permission dialogue asking whether to allow Solace to control System Events - click OK.

If no dialogue appears, quit Solace fully and relaunch it from the Applications folder, then try the manual switch again.

After granting permissions

A restart of Solace is usually required after granting new permissions. Right-click the menu bar icon, choose Quit, then relaunch from Applications. Your next scheduled switch should now fire correctly.

How do you check if your Solace schedule is set up correctly?

Even with full permissions, Solace will not switch themes if the schedule is off or was never saved properly. This is easy to verify directly from the menu bar.

Inspect your schedule in the menu bar popover

Click the Solace icon in the menu bar to open the popover. Look for the following:

• The schedule should show distinct Light and Dark switch times (for example, Light at 7:00 AM, Dark at 8:00 PM).
• The Enable schedule toggle must be switched on. If it is off, the schedule exists but will not run.
• If times look blank, very close together, or obviously wrong (e.g., both set to midnight), the schedule may need to be re-entered and saved.

Sunset-based and weather-based schedules: check Location Services

If you use a sunset-based or weather-based schedule rather than fixed times, Solace needs access to your location to calculate the correct switch time. Without it, the schedule cannot determine when sunset occurs at your position.

To check: open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. Ensure Location Services is enabled globally, then scroll down and confirm Solace is listed with access set to While Using the App or Always.

Check your Mac’s date, time, and timezone

Solace’s sunset calculations rely on your Mac’s system clock and timezone. If your Mac is showing the wrong time or is set to the wrong timezone, switch times will be off by the corresponding amount.

Open System Settings > General > Date & Time. Confirm that Set time and date automatically is enabled and that the Time Zone field shows your actual location. If you have been travelling and your Mac has not updated its timezone, correct it here.

What if Solace used to work but stopped after a macOS update?

macOS updates are the second most common trigger for Solace schedule breakdowns. This is not a Solace-specific issue - it is a deliberate part of macOS’s privacy architecture. When Apple ships a major or minor macOS update, app permissions can be reset to their default (denied) state, requiring the user to re-grant access.

Re-grant permissions after any update

After a macOS update, go back through the permission checks above: Privacy & Security > Automation and Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Re-enable access for Solace in both places, then restart Solace.

Re-save your schedule after an update

macOS updates can also reset the system’s default appearance to Automatic (which follows the built-in light/dark schedule, not Solace’s). Solace’s schedule should override this once running, but re-opening the Solace popover and re-saving your schedule after an update helps ensure the override is active.

Check Login Items if Solace stopped launching at startup

In rare cases, macOS updates remove third-party apps from Login Items. If Solace is no longer appearing in your menu bar after a restart, it may have been removed from startup.

Open System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions and check whether Solace appears under Open at Login. If it is not listed, click the + button, navigate to your Applications folder, and add Solace. It will now launch automatically on every login and your schedule will run as expected.

How do you reset Solace to fix unexpected behaviour?

If permissions are correct, the schedule is saved and enabled, your timezone is right, and Solace is running - but it still does not switch - a full reset of Solace’s preferences is the next step. This clears any corrupted state that might be interfering with normal schedule execution.

Quit Solace completely

Click the Solace icon in the menu bar, then right-click and choose Quit. Do not just close the popover - make sure the process is fully stopped before proceeding.

Delete Solace’s preferences

Open Terminal (you can find it in Applications > Utilities or via Spotlight). Run the following command to delete Solace’s stored preferences:

defaults delete com.theodorehq.solace

If you are unsure of the exact bundle identifier for your version of Solace, or if the above command returns an error, contact support at info@theodorehq.com for the precise reset path for your version.

Relaunch and reconfigure

After deleting preferences, relaunch Solace from your Applications folder. Solace will open in a fresh state as if newly installed. Re-configure your schedule from scratch - set your preferred Light and Dark switch times, enable the schedule toggle, and grant any permissions macOS prompts for. Your schedule should then run correctly on its next trigger.

When should you contact Solace support?

If you have worked through all of the steps above and Solace is still not switching themes, the issue may be specific to your macOS configuration, security software, or managed device settings. In that case, support can investigate further with information about your specific environment.

What to include in your support message

Contact info@theodorehq.com with the following details, which allow support to identify the cause quickly:

• Your macOS version (e.g., macOS Sequoia 15.3) - find this at Apple menu > About This Mac
• Your Solace version - visible in the Solace popover or by right-clicking the menu bar icon
• A description of the behaviour: does Solace switch manually but not on schedule? Does it switch appearance but not colour temperature? Does it switch at the wrong time?
• Whether Solace is listed in Privacy & Security > Automation and whether the System Events toggle is enabled
• Whether Location Services is enabled for Solace (relevant if you use a sunset-based schedule)
• Whether your Mac is managed by an organisation (MDM / company-managed device), as managed devices can block third-party automation permissions

With that information, support can usually identify the root cause in the first reply.

Frequently asked questions