---
title: "Appearance"
description: "Choose the language and theme, see how much of the water shows through panels, and set the ocean life behind them."
works_on: [desktop]
---

# Appearance

Choose the language and theme, and set the ocean life behind the glass.

**Works on:** the desktop app. On the phone, Codewhale follows the phone's
language and theme. The web: not available yet.

Open **Settings › Appearance**, or pick **Appearance** in the command palette
(⌘K, or Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux). Every change applies to every open
window at once, without a restart, and is kept on this computer, not in your
account.

## Choose a language

Choose **Language**:

- **Same as system** follows your computer's language.
- **English**
- **简体中文** (Simplified Chinese)

Codewhale also speaks these languages. To use one, set it as your computer's
language and leave Codewhale on **Same as system**:

| Language | Shown as |
| --- | --- |
| Traditional Chinese | 繁體中文 |
| Japanese | 日本語 |
| Korean | 한국어 |
| Russian | Русский |
| Ukrainian | Українська |
| Vietnamese | Tiếng Việt |
| Indonesian | Bahasa Indonesia |
| Hindi | हिन्दी |
| French | Français |
| German | Deutsch |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Español (Latinoamérica) |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Português (Brasil) |
| Catalan | Català |

Picking one of these in **Language** directly: Not available yet.

Words the terminal and the app share, such as the approval choices, read the
same in both.

## Choose light or dark

Choose **Theme**: **Same as system**, **Light** or **Dark**.

## How much water shows through

Sidebars, the side panel, menus and the composer are glass over the water.
The conversation itself sits on an almost opaque sheet, so the text you read
keeps full contrast.

How much shows through follows your computer:

- On macOS and Windows, panels are **Frosted**: a soft view of the water
  behind a blur.
- On Linux, panels are **Solid**: nothing shows through.
- While **Increase contrast** is on in your system settings, panels are
  **Solid** everywhere.

The **Glass** row, for choosing this yourself: Not available yet.

## Ocean life

Behind the glass, the water is alive: a small school of fish, a jellyfish
that visits now and then, bubbles rising and light rippling at the surface.
Once in a while a whale crosses far behind everything: a blue whale,
humpback, sperm whale, orca, beluga or narwhal.

- Nothing swims behind words. Life keeps to open water and moves out of the
  way of text, and of your pointer, as a conversation fills up.
- The fish swim while your whale works and hold still while it rests. Whales
  visit only while it rests.
- When the window is hidden or nothing is happening, the water doesn't move.

| Setting | Choices |
| --- | --- |
| **Ocean life** | On (the default) or off. Off leaves still water. |
| **Whale visits** | **Never**, **Rarely** (the default) or **Sometimes**. Only while Ocean life is on. |

When your system asks for reduced motion, there are no creatures and the
water is still, whatever these settings say.

## Related

- [Settings](settings.md)
- [Accessibility](accessibility.md)
- [The whale on your screen](whale-on-screen.md)

Previous: [Settings](settings.md) · Next: [Accessibility](accessibility.md)