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Future — Preferences, ColorManager & Backup

Desktop xLights ships ~96 preference options across 10 panels plus a 38-colour ColorManager and a backup/restore stack. iPad today exposes ~10 @AppStorage keys covering session/UI state only — zero coverage of the desktop preferences surface.

Source: §2.17 + §2.21 of the 2026-04-23 gap analysis (Phase M).

Status

Not started. B25 ColorManager bracket-palette landed for the effects grid; the rest of the ColorManager (and every preference panel) is desktop-only.

Preference panels

# Panel Options Persistence Severity
PR-1 Backup 6 (BackupOnSave, BackupOnLaunch, BackupSubfolders, PurgeInterval, UseShowFolder, BackupDirectory) wxConfig P2
PR-2 CheckSequence 7 disable-check toggles (DupUniverse, NonContigCh, PreviewGroup, DupNodeMG, TransTime, CustomSize, SketchImage) per-show P3
PR-3 ColorManager 38 colour swatches (Timing Tracks ×5, Effect Grid ×28, Layout ×4) + global text colours ×2 + Suppress Dark Mode + Import / Export / Reset Defaults per-show P2
PR-4 EffectsGrid 11 (Spacing, EffectBackgrounds, NodeValues, GroupEffectIndicator, SnapToTimingMarks, DoubleClickMode, SmallWaveform, DisplayTransitionMarks, HideColorWarning, ShowAlternateTimingFormat, BellOnRender) wxConfig P2
PR-5 Other 18 (Email, HardwareVideoDecode, HardwareVideoRender (7 backends), ShadersBgThreads, GPURendering, VideoCodec, Bitrate, ExcludeVideos, ExcludeAudio, PromptBatchIssues, PurgeDownloadCache, IgnoreVendorRecs, LinkControllerUpload, ModelRenamingAlias, MinimumTipLevel, RecycleTips, ControllerPingInterval, EnablePositionZones, ShowZoneIndicator) wxConfig P2
PR-6 Output 4 (UseFrameSync, ForceLocalIP, DuplicateFramesToSuppress, xFade/xSchedule mode) wxConfig P2
PR-7 RandomEffects dynamic — checkbox per installed effect (~80 toggles) wxConfig P3
PR-8 SequenceFile 14 (RenderOnSave, LowDef, SaveFSEQ, DefaultBlending, RenderCache mode, AutoSaveInterval, FSEQVersion (5 options), UseShowFolderRenderCache, RenderCacheDir, MaxRenderCacheSize, UseShowFolderFSEQ, FSEQDir, MediaDirs list, DefaultViewForNew) per-show P2
PR-9 Services (AI keys / endpoints) dynamic — per-service property grid + Test button iOS Keychain P2
PR-10 ViewSettings 12 (EffectIconSize, ModelHandleSize, EffectAssistWindow, ShowPlayControlsOnPreview, AutoShowHousePreview, EnableBaseShowSettings, TimelineZooming, HidePresetPreviews, ZoomToCursor, DisableKeyAcceleration, GroupCenterCrosshairSize, ColorPaletteSize) wxConfig P2

ColorManager (PR-3 in detail)

PR-3 is the largest single-panel piece and the one most likely to surface in tester feedback. The desktop panel exposes:

  • 5 Timing-track colours (Fixed, Single Mark, Bracket, Phrase, Word).
  • 28 Effect-grid colours (selection halo, timeline cursor, bracket fills, ruler labels, etc.). B25 already covers the bracket palette — the rest of the 28 is still desktop-only.
  • 4 Layout-tab colours.
  • 2 global text colours.
  • Suppress Dark Mode toggle.
  • Per-show Import / Export / Reset Defaults buttons.

iPad coupling: B25's persistence already routes through the xLightsImportChannelMapDialog-adjacent show-folder XML; full ColorManager would extend that round-trip rather than introduce a new store.

Backup / restore

# Item Severity Effort
L-2 Full show-folder backup zip / .xsqz snapshot P2 M
L-3 RestoreBackupDialog (multi-panel browser) P2 M
L-4 Backup purge (auto-delete > N days) P3 S
L-6 External-change watcher for xlights_rgbeffects.xml P3 M
L-7 Conflict-resolution UI for concurrent edits — Defer
L-8 Backup On Save / Backup On Launch toggles (PR-1 surface) P2 S
L-9 Alternate Backup destination (F11 hotkey on desktop) P3 S
L-10 Show base directory toggle P2 M

Why deferred

  • iPad lives off @AppStorage for UI state and per-show XML for document state. Both paths work; what's missing is the user- facing settings surface.
  • ColorManager (PR-3) is the highest-value individual entry — several testers are likely to ask for darker / higher-contrast themes once they're using the app daily.
  • Backup (L-2..L-9) is partially covered by iCloud Drive's own versioning + the Phase G .xsqz packager. Native iPad backup UX would be additive, not blocking.

When to come back

  • After Phase H ships, in roughly this order: PR-3 ColorManager (highest user-visible value) → PR-4 + PR-10 (effect-grid view settings users notice every session) → PR-8 (sequence-save knobs) → backup stack → the rest.