Issue number: internal

What is the current behavior?

Themes are still using the stepped color variables.

What is the new behavior?

The CSS variable--ion-background-color-step-{number} is no longer recommended for use and has been replaced by a more intuitive and standardized naming convention as part of Ionic's new theming structure. The functionality provided by the old variable has been replaced with a new set of CSS variables that use the same color values but are named:--ion-color-gray-{number}.

This new structure aligns with how other popular design systems and frameworks are setting up their color palettes (e.g., using names likegray,red,blue, followed by a number to denote the shade). Additionally, it follows the proposal agreed upon within the design doc.

• Added gray tokens based on themes and palettes
• Replaced background stepped color variables with gray tokens

The CSS variable--ion-text-color-step-* is being replaced by--ion-color-text-* to adhere to the standardized naming convention for Ionic's new theming structure (--ion-color-*-*). This change aims for greater clarity and consistency within the framework's color palette.

• Added text tokens based on themes and palettes
• Replaced text stepped color variables with text tokens

The original thought was to use only the--ion-color-gray-* variables for all purposes (backgrounds, text, icons, etc.). However, it was quickly determined that text color requirements are not a 1:1 match with the gray steps designed for backgrounds and other elements. Text often requires a different shade to maintain proper contrast and readability across various theme palettes (especially between high contrast and high contrast dark modes). Introducing the dedicated functional variable--ion-color-text-* solves this issue by allowing text color to be defined independently based on the current palette's needs.

Does this introduce a breaking change?

• Yes
• No

You simply need to swap the text of the background stepped variables with the gray variables. The number suffix remains exactly the same:

Unlike the migration for background colors, the number suffix for text colors is not a direct swap. Due to the inverse nature required for contrast, the new text variable number is calculated by subtracting the old number from 1000.

Other information

• Gray: preview

• Action sheet: basic

• Alert: basic

• Breadcrumbs: basic

• Breadcrumbs: collapsed

• Card: basic

• Checkbox: bottom content

• Datetime button: basic

• Datetime: basic

• Datetime: color

• Infinite scroll: basic

• Input: fill

• Input: basic

• Input OTP: basic

• Item: dividers

• Item: basic

• Label: basic

• List header: basic

• Loading: basic

• Modal: sheet

• Note: basic

• Picker: basic

• Popover: basic

• Progress bar: basic

• Radio group: supporting text

• Range: basic

• Refresher: basic

• Searchbar: basic

• Segment: basic

• Select: fill

• Select: basic

• Select: bottom content

• Textarea: fill

• Textarea: basic

• Textarea: bottom content

• Toast: basic

• Toggle: bottom content