Add an option to change font smoothing level in macOS

[waydabber]

Discussed in #836

^{Originally posted by waydabber July 18, 2022}
Some users seek changing the grayscale font smoothing levels in macOS via the following commands:

defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 0
defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 1
defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 2
defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 3
defaults -currentHost delete -g AppleFontSmoothing

There could be a simple menu for this under Tools for easier access.

Note, that this will not bring back subpixel font smoothing (Windows ClearType like fonts for LoDPI displays), simply change the traditional antialiasing intensity (makes fonts look somewhat lighter/bolder).

[waydabber]

According to https://github.com/1951FDG in the related discussion #836 this works in a modified form. Giorgio at Discord also confirms this: https://discord.com/channels/903276571773771796/903276571773771799/1292508610232062104

[waydabber]

But this might not work in Sequoia. At least based on the comparison performed by Giorgio, it seems like there is zero difference.

[Phillipus]

See https://www.fontsmoothingadjuster.com/

There is only one setting - off or on.

[waydabber]

Right. But now it seems (at least to some comparison tests we did at the apps Discord channel with Giorgio) that it does not do anything now, at least on Sequoia.

[Phillipus]

Right. But now it seems (at least to some comparison tests we did at the apps Discord channel with Giorgio) that it does not do anything now, at least on Sequoia.

I have Sequioa on one machine and I have set defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 0 and it does make a difference.

[waydabber]

Ok, I reopen then. Need more investigation apparently. We did pixel-by-pixel comparison though.

[Bravosierra0]

to activate the changed state, you need to run logout/login cycle. And IMHO results strongly depends on external monitor type/brand/setup and matter of taste.
for me it looks slightly criespier, fresher.

[jmesterh]

defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 0 definitely helped with rendering of text on my Dell U3014. I took a picture of the monitor output instead of a screenshot. It's subtle, but it's there.

Before

After

[waydabber]

Hi @jmesterh - is this Sequoia and Apple Silicon?

[secure-byte]

I just tried on Sequoia as I'm struggling to make Samsung neo g9 (5120x1440) usable with MacOS, and the smooth font settings work, from int 0 to int 3 there is a difference, or working as expected. It does make fonts a bit better but no where near font rendering on other operating systems. It's still bad.