How to make SendbirdUIKit appearance follow the system appearance, including Liquid Glass?

[lookdeceline]

Keeping SendbirdUIKit — Liquid Glass chrome included — in sync when the system appearance changes. Copy the case that matches your theme colors.

Your theme colors	Case
Static, one per color scheme	1 — re-apply on every appearance change
Trait-based dynamic UIColor	2 — one line at launch

Case 1. Static colors

Leave SBUTheme.liquidGlassAppearance at its default .theme. Liquid Glass follows SBUTheme.colorScheme.

// Call on every appearance change.
static func applyStaticColorTheme(
    isDark: Bool,
    visibleViewController: SBUBaseViewController? = nil
) {
    // 1. Color scheme first. This resets every component theme.
    SBUTheme.set(colorScheme: isDark ? .dark : .light)

    // 2. Then your colors. One concrete color per scheme.
    let navigationBarGradientTint = isDark
        ? UIColor(red: 0.16, green: 0.12, blue: 0.30, alpha: 1)
        : UIColor(red: 0.93, green: 0.91, blue: 1.00, alpha: 1)

    SBUTheme.groupChannelListTheme.navigationBarGradientTint = navigationBarGradientTint
    SBUTheme.openChannelListTheme.navigationBarGradientTint = navigationBarGradientTint
    SBUTheme.channelTheme.navigationBarGradientTint = navigationBarGradientTint

    // 3. Restyle the screen already on display.
    visibleViewController?.updateStyles()
}

Register once, on the container that hosts your Sendbird screens.

if #available(iOS 17.0, *) {
    _ = registerForTraitChanges([UITraitUserInterfaceStyle.self]) { (self: Self, _: UITraitCollection) in
        applyStaticColorTheme(
            isDark: self.traitCollection.userInterfaceStyle == .dark,
            visibleViewController: (self.selectedViewController as? UINavigationController)?
                .visibleViewController as? SBUBaseViewController
        )
    }
}

Result. Group channel screen kept on display while the system appearance is toggled. The code above runs on the toggle, so the navigation bar tint and the whole screen follow it.

Case 2. Dynamic UIColor

// Call once at launch, before the first Sendbird screen is shown.
static func applyDynamicColorTheme() {
    // 1. Liquid Glass follows the device instead of SBUTheme.colorScheme.
    //    Without this, only the glass chrome stays on SBUTheme.colorScheme.
    if #available(iOS 26.0, *) {
        SBUTheme.liquidGlassAppearance = .system
    }

    // 2. Your own colors, as dynamic UIColors.
    let navigationBarGradientTint = UIColor { traitCollection in
        traitCollection.userInterfaceStyle == .dark
        ? UIColor(red: 0.16, green: 0.12, blue: 0.30, alpha: 1)
        : UIColor(red: 0.93, green: 0.91, blue: 1.00, alpha: 1)
    }

    SBUTheme.groupChannelListTheme.navigationBarGradientTint = navigationBarGradientTint
    SBUTheme.openChannelListTheme.navigationBarGradientTint = navigationBarGradientTint
    SBUTheme.channelTheme.navigationBarGradientTint = navigationBarGradientTint

    // 3. SDK default colors are static per scheme, so they stay put unless you
    //    make them dynamic too. Derive them from the SDK's own light/dark themes.
    //    The list below covers the channel screen — add what your other screens use.
    makeDynamic(SBUTheme.channelTheme, .light, .dark, [
        \.backgroundColor, \.leftBarButtonTintColor, \.rightBarButtonTintColor
    ])
    makeDynamic(SBUTheme.messageCellTheme, .light, .dark, [
        \.backgroundColor, \.leftBackgroundColor, \.rightBackgroundColor,
        \.dateTextColor, \.dateBackgroundColor, \.userNameTextColor, \.timeTextColor,
        \.userMessageLeftTextColor, \.userMessageRightTextColor
    ])
    makeDynamic(SBUTheme.messageInputTheme, .light, .dark, [
        \.textFieldTextColor, \.textFieldPlaceholderColor, \.buttonTintColor
    ])
    makeDynamic(SBUTheme.componentTheme, .light, .dark, [\.titleColor])
}

static func makeDynamic<T: AnyObject>(
    _ theme: T, _ light: T, _ dark: T,
    _ keyPaths: [ReferenceWritableKeyPath<T, UIColor>]
) {
    keyPaths.forEach { keyPath in
        let lightColor = light[keyPath: keyPath]
        let darkColor = dark[keyPath: keyPath]
        theme[keyPath: keyPath] = UIColor {
            $0.userInterfaceStyle == .dark ? darkColor : lightColor
        }
    }
}

No appearance observer, no SBUTheme.set(colorScheme:), no updateStyles().

Result. Same screen, same toggle as Case 1, and the same end state — with no app-side sync code.

Watch out

• .system is for Case 2 only. With static colors it moves the glass material while your tint stays put.
• SBUTheme.liquidGlassAppearance is launch-time configuration. A glass view reads it once, when created.
• SBUTheme.set(theme:) and set(colorScheme:) reset every component theme. Set them first, your colors after.
• A dynamic UIColor read as .cgColor, or baked into a UIImage, is pinned to the trait it was created under. Rebuild those with updateStyles().
• SBUConfig.Common.isLiquidGlassEnabled = false turns Liquid Glass off on iOS 26.0+.