Color UI
Color UI is an app to explore vivid colors and convert them into various formats. Tailored for the needs of Designers and Developers ...
Description
Color UI is an app to explore vivid colors and convert them into various formats. Tailored for the needs of Designers and Developers.
Features
• HSB: Hue, Saturation, Brightness
• RGB: Red, Green, Blue
• HEX (Hexadecimal)
• Color picker
• Export feature
• Optimized for macOS 11+
• Optimized for Mac with M1 (Apple Silicon)
WHAT’S NEW
Version 2.3:
• This update contains improvements and minor bug fixes.
REQUIREMENTS
• Intel, 64-bit processor
• macOS 11.0 or later
ScreenShots
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Size
– 7MB
Previous Versions
Editor-checked details
Recommended for exploring/converting ordinary sRGB UI colours or sampling a reference screen pixel—not as the sole truth for brand, print or accessibility compliance. A controlled workflow: read the master from source design/tokens; define sRGB and alpha; explore HSB/RGB/HEX candidates; record display ICC when sampling; export to a temporary branch; verify in browser, SwiftUI/AppKit and design tools; independently test WCAG AA/AAA across states; run colour-vision and grayscale checks; retain P3/CMYK/Lab masters instead of collapsing them to HEX; commit approved values as versioned tokens; generate swatches, visual regression and SHA-256; obtain dual review. Digital Color Meter handles basic sampling; Figma/Sketch manage systems; Sip/Litur add history/palettes; Photoshop/Affinity plus ColorSync handle professional colour; DevTools and automated contrast tests support web work.
Pros
- The focused HSB/RGB/HEX workflow is quick to learn and useful when designers and developers reconcile common sRGB values. Synchronous controls expose relationships among Hue, Saturation, Brightness and RGB channels, while HEX fits web/design tokens. The picker samples a visible reference pixel and export reduces transcription mistakes. Palettes support side-by-side candidates. A Universal build covers Intel and Apple silicon, with macOS 11 serving older systems. It avoids forcing a large project model, suiting quick sampling, teaching and small style explorations. Its narrow scope also makes it clear that CMYK, Lab, P3 and full accessibility-system work belong in specialised tools.
Cons
- Core support is limited to HSB, RGB and HEX; it lacks confirmed HSL, alpha/RGBA, CMYK, Lab/LCH/OKLCH, Display P3 and perceptual-difference workflows. Print, HDR and wide-gamut delivery needs other tools. A picker reads final display pixels, not source-file values, and is affected by ICC, True Tone, Night Shift, HDR, transparency and antialiasing. There is no confirmed WCAG contrast, colour-vision simulation, semantic tokens, ramps, variable export, team sync, version history or automation API, so it is not a complete design system. HSB/HSL and HEX gamut/alpha semantics require discipline. The App Store listing has been delisted, making official support/redownload uncertain. 2.3 notes are nonspecific, and screen sampling may require privacy permission.
Installation steps
- The site build is Color UI 2.3; release records identify a Universal Intel/Apple-silicon binary with macOS 11 minimum. Create a test palette rather than replacing production tokens. Enter known sRGB values such as #000000, #FFFFFF, #FF0000 and #808080 and reconcile HEX, RGB and HSB. HSB Brightness is not HSL Lightness—never relabel the format. Sample a solid-colour target on built-in/external displays, different display profiles and Light/Dark appearance; record source app, display ICC, scaling and whether a screenshot was colour-converted. Export and paste each value into browser CSS, SwiftUI/AppKit, Figma/Sketch or the destination, checking syntax, # prefix, case and channel range. For alpha, Display P3, CMYK, Lab/OKLCH or HDR, verify support first: the official core formats are HSB, RGB and HEX, so an information-losing sRGB value cannot replace a wide-gamut master. Maintain colour name, semantic role, sRGB value, gamut, contrast partner, source, approver and SHA-256, then run independent WCAG contrast and colour-vision checks before release.
Uninstallation steps
- Before uninstalling, export approved palettes to an open format or version-controlled text containing name, semantic role, HEX, RGB, HSB, gamut/ICC, alpha if separately defined, Light/Dark usage, contrast pair, source and approval date. Do not preserve swatch screenshots alone because display profiles and compression can transform them. Reparse every value with an independent script/design tool, calculate the palette file’s SHA-256, and prove production code references archived tokens rather than temporary app state. Quit and remove Color UI; clear preferences, recents or container only after confirming no unique value remains. Uninstalling cannot remove copied colours from clipboard history, design files, repositories, exports or cloud storage and cannot correct earlier HSB/HSL or sRGB/P3 mistakes; audit tokens and visual regressions separately.
Common errors and fixes
- If a sampled value differs from the design file, remember the screen pixel has passed through ICC, Night Shift, True Tone, HDR, alpha blending, antialiasing and browser colour management. Disable altering display features for a controlled test and treat original tokens—not sampling—as source truth. For HEX/RGB mismatch, confirm decimal 0–255, RRGGBB order, colour space and rounding; do not treat RRGGBBAA as six-digit HEX. HSB and HSL differ by definition. For external-display drift, calibrate and record the profile using one sRGB target. If pasted code fails, inspect #, quotes, commas, percentages and language syntax; a generic value is not a SwiftUI/Android/CSS template. Legible-looking text may still fail WCAG: test actual font, size, state, background and alpha independently. Saturated P3 colour clips when HEX is interpreted as sRGB; retain a P3 floating-point master and supported syntax. For picker failure, check the relevant macOS screen-access privacy permission.
What changed in this version
- The site version is Color UI 2.3, with a recorded release date of 16 December 2022. Its public update text says only “improvements and minor bug fixes”, without verifiable itemised detail, so affected modules are not guessed. The developer’s portfolio and release records confirm colour palettes, HSB (Hue/Saturation/Brightness) sliders, RGB sliders, HEX, colour picker and export, optimised for macOS 11 and M1 Apple silicon; the build is recorded as Universal Intel/Apple Silicon. This page is pinned to 2.3 and does not mix features from products that replaced it after delisting.
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Alternatives
Screenshots
