Gradience recolors libadwaita apps and the Adwaita theme on GNOME through a simple GUI. The project was archived in 2024 and no longer gets updates, though it can still work on some setups, and a maintained fork now exists.
This guide shows how to install Gradience, apply a palette, fix Flatpak apps, and undo every change. It also covers what to use instead when Gradience breaks on your GNOME version.
Why Adwaita theming is awkward on GNOME
Adwaita is the default light and dark theme of the GNOME desktop environment. This, along with the GTK4 library, attempts to provide a more ‘unified’ look across all the applications that are installed on the GNOME desktop. Which is very hard to do since the applications are very fragmented across many distributions and libraries. KDE desktops and applications use the QT library, and applications are written in many languages, including Python, C, Flutter, etc.
Gradience enables effortless customization of the Adwaita theme for the GNOME desktop. The software application is simple to install across multiple Linux distributions with an easy user interface. The in-built Monet engine offers color customization by extracting colors from a wallpaper and transforming the GTK4 desktop theme.
GNOME also has a list of applications that are part of the GNOME circle and are verified to look exactly like the developers want the GNOME desktop to look. However, this transition from GTK3 to GTK4 has not been without controversy. Many people from the community have been complaining that GNOME is becoming less customizable with every update since customizability has been the pinnacle of the Linux desktop.
The default Adwaita theme might still not be for everyone since it might be too ‘boring,’ one might say. Before GNOME 47 it lacked accent colors, and it still lacks interesting folder icons. We have already covered how you can change the GTK4 theme on your desktop using a CSS file along with altering the Icon theme as well on the GNOME desktop environment.
Is Gradience still maintained?
No. The Gradience team announced the archive on June 29, 2024, after no new maintainer came forward. GitHub’s own archive stamp on the repository reads July 23, 2024. The last stable release was 0.4.1 in March 2023.
- March 2023: version 0.4.1 became the last stable release, a bug fix update.
- August 2023: a 0.8.0 beta was added to GNOME Shell theming but never became a final release.
- June 29, 2024: the team archived the project after no maintainer stepped in.
- August 5, 2024: the Flathub packaging repository was archived as well.
Newer releases of GNOME, GTK 4, and libadwaita changed the stylesheet, so some Gradience features stopped working. Users reported broken Flatpak theming, a white Nautilus sidebar, and a Flatpak runtime that had reached the end of life.
The app began in July 2022 as AdwCustomizer, became Adwaita Manager, and ended up as Gradience after a Reddit poll. A GNOME designer had asked for a name nobody would confuse with an official GNOME app.
Two things keep it usable. Libadwaita apps read ~/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css when they start, so a palette you already applied stays in place. And Vivid Gradience, a fork, builds on the GNOME 50 runtime and brings back GNOME Shell theming.
Effortless Gradience Installation Guide
If you do not know how to code in the CSS language, then Gradience has got your back. In this tutorial, we will discuss how can we install this application on different Linux distributions and also try to customize our default Adwaita theme a little bit.
On a Fedora workstation
To install Gradience on a Fedora workstation, we first need to enable the Fedora COPR repository. You can do that easily by typing the following commands in your terminal window:
sudo dnf copr enable lyessaadi/gradience
sudo dnf install gradience
The COPR repository is community-built, and the upstream README still lists it. Check the latest build against your Fedora release before you install.
On Arch Linux
On Arch Linux and any of its derivative Linux distributions, such as EndeavourOS or Manjaro, you can install this application from the Arch User Repository (AUR). Just open a Terminal window and install it using your favorite AUR helper:
paru -S gradience
If you do not want to use any AUR helper, then you can directly build the app by typing the following commands in your Terminal window:
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/gradience.git
cd gradience
makepkg -sic
The AUR also carries gradience-git for the newest commit, though the repository stopped moving in 2024. The AUR page blocked my automated request during this refresh, so check the package’s out-of-date flag before you build.
As a Flatpak
Gradience is not available in the official repository of Ubuntu or any of its derivative distributions, such as Linux Mint or Pop OS. Still, you can take advantage of the Flatpak packaging system and install this application even if you are using a Linux OS from the Debian family. Just make sure that Flatpak is enabled on your distribution, and then type the following commands in your terminal to install the application.
flatpak install flathub com.github.GradienceTeam.Gradience
Why the Flathub command may fail
When I checked on October 22, 2026, the Flathub page for this app returned a 404. Its Flathub packaging repository was archived in August 2024. The command above may fail on your system, so try the Vivid Gradience route below first.
Install Vivid Gradience, the maintained fork
Vivid Gradience is a fork that builds against the GNOME 50 runtime. It is not on Flathub, so it installs from the project’s own signed Flatpak repository. The README calls the work an early-stage revival, so expect rough edges.
Enable Flatpak and Flathub first, as the Flatpak guide above describes. On Debian-based distros, the apt command installs the package.
flatpak install --user https://superuser-miguel.github.io/Vivid_Gradience-repo/VividGradience.flatpakref
flatpak run io.github.superuser_miguel.VividGradience
The first command subscribes you to the project’s repository at the user level, so Flatpak update brings new releases. The second starts the app. A one-off VividGradience.flatpak bundle also exists on the releases page, but it has no update path.
On NixOS
The upstream README lists Gradience for NixOS 23.05 and later, using either of these commands. I did not check whether nixpkgs still carries it, so treat this route as unverified.
nix-shell -p gradience
nix-env -iA nixos.gradience
The first command opens a temporary shell with Gradience and the second installs it into your profile.
Set up Flatpak and GTK 3 apps for theming
Gradience writes its CSS to your home directory, but only some apps can read it. Native libadwaita apps pick it up on their own. Flatpak apps and GTK 3 apps need extra setup.
Native libadwaita apps
Apps such as Nautilus need nothing extra. They read the generated stylesheet from ~/.config/gtk-4.0/ at launch, so quit and reopen an app after you press Apply. Libadwaita reads the named colors once at startup, so a window that was already open keeps its old palette.
Flatpak apps
Flatpak sandboxes block access to your host config folders by default. Grant every Flatpak app access to the GTK 4 folder with an override, or use Flatseal (a GUI for Flatpak permissions) and add xdg-config/gtk-4.0 under Other files for All Applications.
sudo flatpak override --filesystem=xdg-config/gtk-4.0
The sudo makes the override system-wide. The xdg-config/ prefix is Flatpak’s shorthand for your ~/.config directory, which is why the path looks unusual. Gradience’s Preferences window can also apply the override for you.
GTK 3 apps
GTK 3 apps ignore libadwaita colors, so Gradience relies on the adw-gtk3 theme (a GTK 3 port of the libadwaita look). Install it from your distribution’s repository or the adw-gtk3 GitHub project, then select it in GNOME Tweaks under Appearance. Sandboxed apps cannot see host themes, so they need the Flatpak build and the gtk-3.0 override too.
flatpak install flathub org.gtk.Gtk3theme.adw-gtk3
sudo flatpak override --filesystem=xdg-config/gtk-3.0
Skip the extension, and host apps get adw-gtk3, while Flatpak apps quietly fall back to stock Adwaita, with no error to explain it.
Vanilla GTK 4 apps
Plain GTK 4 apps that do not use libadwaita need a different route. The adw-gtk3 project documents it in a GTK 4 guide.
Taking the First Leap: Launching and Customizing Gradience
Once installed, Launch Gradience from the Application Grid/Menu, and then you will see the welcome screen. Just accept the risks and then proceed further.
Now, in the next step, you will be asked to select the settings you want to customize, select both the options, and proceed further.
Now, you will see the interface of this application. It is very easy to use, and everything is properly labelled so that you do not get confused.
You can either select colors from the color palette or simply type the hex value designated to the color if you want to customize anything. The most interesting thing about this application is the Monet engine (notice the second tab). It can extract colors from a photo (let’s say your wallpaper), and then you can apply those colors along with the Material Design theme as your color palette directly from there.
After hitting Apply, just close every application and log out and log back into your desktop, and you will see your theme applied on the GTK4 applications. By default, Gradience also ships with a ‘Pretty Purple’ theme, which you can apply directly from the presets located on the top right.
There is a large list of community-generated presets as well on their GitHub page, which you can import to the application as well. There is a search feature, but it was broken at the time of writing this article.
Presets, custom CSS and the command line
Save, share and import presets
Gradience saves a palette as a preset that you can export, import and share. The community preset repository was archived with the rest of the organization on August 14, 2024, so expect no new submissions.
Generate a palette from a wallpaper
The Monet tab builds a Material Design 3 palette from any image you give it. A contributor ported the color library to Python for the 0.1.0 release. The release notes warned that generation can run slowly.
Add custom CSS in the Advanced tab
The Advanced tab accepts raw CSS for tweaks that colors alone cannot reach. Gradience also listed a plugin system among its features, though the plugin repository was archived with the rest of the organization.
Use the command line
The documentation lists CLI commands for presets, favorites, import, apply, download, Monet and Flatpak overrides, plus raw JSON output. To see the welcome screen again on the next launch, reset the first-run setting:
flatpak run --command=gsettings com.github.GradienceTeam.Gradience reset com.github.GradienceTeam.Gradience first-run
This runs gsettings inside the Flatpak sandbox and clears the first-run flag. Non-Flatpak installs run the same gsettings command without the Flatpak wrapper.
Revert Gradience theming
Resetting takes one click in the app or a few commands by hand. Back up any gtk.css you wrote yourself before you start, because the manual route deletes the whole folder.
Reset from the Preferences window
Open Preferences and go to the Theming tab. In the Reset & Restore Presets group, press Reset for GTK 3 or for libadwaita apps. Reopen your apps afterward so they drop the old colors.
Remove the files by hand
Gradience’s effect lives in one stylesheet that libadwaita loads at launch, so removing the folder restores stock Adwaita.
cp -r ~/.config/gtk-4.0 ~/gtk-4.0-backup
rm -rf ~/.config/gtk-4.0 ~/.config/gtk-3.0
flatpak uninstall org.gtk.Gtk3theme.adw-gtk3
sudo flatpak override --reset
These commands back up the GTK 4 folder, delete both generated config folders and remove the Flatpak theme extension. The last command clears every Flatpak override on the system, including unrelated ones such as a Firefox Wayland override, so skip it if you set others.
If you installed adw-gtk3 from a theme archive instead of Flatpak, delete its local copies as well:
rm -rf ~/.themes/adw-gtk3 ~/.themes/adw-gtk3-dark ~/.local/share/themes/adw-gtk3 ~/.local/share/themes/adw-gtk3-dark
Fix common Gradience problems
Colors do not change after you press Apply
Quit the app and open it again, since libadwaita reads the palette at startup. The 2022 OMG! Ubuntu review hit the same trap in its first five minutes with the app.
Flatpak apps keep the stock colors
Open Flatseal, pick All Applications and confirm that xdg-config/gtk-4.0 appears under Other files. If it does not, add it again or rerun the Flatpak override command from the setup section above.
The app will not start
Archived issues show users hitting a missing sass module on source builds and random launch failures with no clear reason. The documentation also has troubleshooting entries for startup failures and for themes that reset after a reboot. Prefer a Flatpak build over a source build.
The shell and top bar still look stock
Stable Gradience releases recolor apps but leave the GNOME Shell panel alone. The 0.8.0 beta added Shell theming and Vivid Gradience carries it forward, though it needs the User Themes extension.
How GNOME 47 accent colors compare with Gradience
GNOME 47 added a system accent color setting. Libadwaita apps follow it by default. Libadwaita 1.6 defines nine accent colors: blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, slate, teal and yellow. The libadwaita and Shell changes both merged in June 2024, the same month the Gradience team archived the project.
The setting changes only the accent. Gradience recolors backgrounds, buttons, menus and dialogs, so it covers cases the accent picker cannot. The accent picker is the safer route if you only want a different highlight color, since it needs no third-party tool.
Override the accent in gtk.css
To pin libadwaita apps to a custom accent, set the accent variables in ~/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css. Bright accents need dark text, so the example also sets the foreground. Gradience writes its own gtk.css, so back up hand edits before you press Apply.
:root {
--accent-bg-color: var(--yellow-3);
--accent-fg-color: rgb(0 0 0 / 80%);
--accent-color: oklab(from var(--accent-bg-color) var(--standalone-color-oklab));
}
Libadwaita derives –accent-color, the standalone accent tuned for contrast on plain backgrounds, from the background color unless you override it too.
Gradience alternatives for GNOME in 2026
Two tools cover similar ground today. Rewaita is a newer app on Flathub and Vivid Gradience continues the original code. The table compares both with the archived app.
| Tool | Status | Install | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gradience | Archived June 2024 | COPR, AUR or Nix | libadwaita and adw-gtk3 |
| Vivid Gradience | Early-stage revival of the fork | Own Flatpak repository | libadwaita, GTK 3, GNOME Shell and Firefox |
| Rewaita | Version 1.1.4 in July 2026 | Flathub or AUR | GTK 3 and 4, GNOME Shell, Firefox and GDM |
Rewaita
Rewaita recolors GTK 4 and libadwaita apps with ready-made palettes. An August 2026 review counted 14 light and 24 dark ones, including Nord and Catppuccin. Version 1.1.4 arrived in July 2026 with GDM login screen support and a command-line interface.
It writes CSS to ~/.config/gtk-4.0 and ~/.config/gtk-3.0, so the same Flatpak overrides apply. To theme the Shell panel, install gnome-shell-extensions and the User Themes extension, then pick Rewaita in GNOME Tweaks.
Rewaita only affects GTK apps, so Qt and Electron apps may ignore it.
flatpak install io.github.swordpuffin.rewaita
Vivid Gradience
Vivid Gradience ships 85 built-in themes and a live preview that flags text below the WCAG AA contrast minimum. Shell theming applies without logging out.
It also recolors Firefox through firefox-gnome-theme and tints folder icons to match the preset. Every Apply snapshots the previous state, so your existing theme is never overwritten.
When another desktop makes more sense
Cinnamon lets you choose an application theme and a desktop theme separately, so libadwaita workarounds do not come up. Read the Cinnamon customization guide or the desktop environment overview if you are weighing a switch.
Wrapping it up: Gradience for a Customized GNOME Experience
Even if you customize the Adwaita theme from this application, it will not change the shell theme and your desktop might look out of place because of this. So, make sure that you install the appropriate themes to your desktop by following this guide. The Monet engine is an extremely reliable feature and after applying palette from there, you only need to tweak a few things so that the text appear readable to your eyes.
Gradience creates a CSS file in your ~/.config/gtk-4.0/ directory, from where the GNOME desktop environment gets the information about various colors and buttons it needs to put on an open Window.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gradience still maintained?
No. The team archived Gradience on June 29, 2024 after no maintainer came forward, and the last stable release was 0.4.1 in March 2023.
How do I install Gradience on Ubuntu?
Ubuntu does not package it. Install Flatpak and use the Vivid Gradience fork from its own repository, since the original app’s Flathub page returns a 404.
Why does Gradience not change my Flatpak apps?
Flatpak apps cannot read your home config by default. Run sudo flatpak override –filesystem=xdg-config/gtk-4.0 or add that path in Flatseal, then reopen the app.
How do I reset Gradience and go back to stock Adwaita?
Open Preferences, go to the Theming tab and press Reset for libadwaita or GTK 3 under Reset & Restore Presets. You can also delete ~/.config/gtk-4.0 by hand.
Does GNOME 47 make Gradience unnecessary?
For accent colors, mostly yes. GNOME 47 adds nine system accent colors that libadwaita apps follow, but it does not recolor backgrounds or headerbars the way Gradience does.
What is a good Gradience alternative for GNOME?
Rewaita on Flathub recolors GTK 4 and libadwaita apps with presets. Vivid Gradience is a fork of the original that adds GNOME Shell and Firefox theming.
Which folder does Gradience write its theme files to?
Gradience writes CSS to ~/.config/gtk-4.0 for libadwaita and GTK 4 apps and to ~/.config/gtk-3.0 for GTK 3 apps when you enable that option.