Aurora User Guide

Everything from first setup to fixing a broken site — on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

1 · Setup 2 · Themes 3 · Eye care 4 · Quick controls 5 · Pricing 6 · Troubleshooting

1 · Getting started

Aurora is a Safari extension, so after installing the app you enable it once in iOS Settings. This is the one step everyone gets stuck on — it takes under a minute.

  1. Download Aurora from the App Store and open it once.
  2. Open Settings → Safari → Extensions. (On newer iOS versions the same list is under Settings → Apps → Safari → Extensions.)
  3. Tap Aurora and toggle Allow Extension on.

Settings → Safari → Extensions: toggle Aurora on.

  1. Still on Aurora's settings page, under Allow Aurora to read and alter webpages on, tap All Websites and choose Allow. Aurora needs this to re-colour pages; your browsing never leaves the device — see the Privacy Policy.

Grant access to All Websites so every page can be themed.

  1. Go back to Safari and refresh any open tab — the page should now be dark.
A Wikipedia article in Safari on iPhone before Aurora — bright white page
Before — the default bright page
The same Wikipedia article with Aurora dark mode on
After — the same page with Aurora on
Shortcut: you can also do this from inside Safari — tap the aA (or puzzle-piece) button in the address bar → Manage Extensions → enable Aurora.

2 · Themes & colours

Aurora ships 7 built-in themes — from deep blue night tones to warm sepia — and lets you design unlimited custom themes with your exact background, text, and accent colours.

  1. Open the Aurora app and pick any theme — it applies to Safari instantly.
  2. To make your own, choose Custom and adjust the colours until it feels right.
  3. Custom themes sync across your devices via iCloud — including your Mac.
Themes re-colour pages instead of inverting them, so layout, links, and images stay exactly where the site's designer put them.

3 · Eye care

Two extra layers on top of dark mode make late-night reading comfortable:

  1. Blue Light Filter — warms the page from 0 to 100%. Set it in the Aurora app; higher values feel like a paper page under lamplight.
  2. Image Dimming — tones down bright photos that would otherwise glare against a dark page. Adjustable per site, so photography sites can stay vivid while news sites stay calm.
On a Mac, Aurora can also change the web font & size on any site — see the macOS guide.

4 · Quick controls

You rarely need to open the app once things are set up:

  1. Control Center toggle (iOS 18+): Settings → Control Center → scroll to More Controls → tap the green + next to Aurora. Flip dark mode from anywhere.
  2. Live Activity (iOS 16+): shows Aurora's on/off state on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Enable it in the Aurora app.
  3. Focus Filter: Settings → Focus → pick a mode (e.g. Sleep) → Focus Filters → Add Filter → Aurora → set to ON. Aurora switches automatically when that Focus starts — dark at night, light by day.
  4. Auto Schedule: in the Aurora app, set times to turn dark mode on and off every day.
  5. Siri & Shortcuts: Aurora's toggle actions appear in the Shortcuts app, so you can automate it or ask Siri.
iOS Control Center gallery with the Aurora toggle ready to add
1 · Adding the Aurora control to Control Center
Lock Screen showing Aurora's Live Activity permission prompt
2 · Live Activity on the Lock Screen
Focus Filter screen with the Enable Aurora switch
3 · Aurora as a Focus Filter
Aurora's Auto Schedule screen with time range and active days
4 · Auto Schedule inside the app
Shortcuts app search results listing Aurora's actions
5 · Aurora actions in Shortcuts

5 · Trial & pricing

  1. Every feature is free for 3 days — no payment info required to start the trial.
  2. After that, keep Aurora with either plan, purchased inside the app: $1.99/month (cancel anytime) or $5.99 once for lifetime access and all future updates.
  3. One purchase covers both iPhone/iPad and Mac — Aurora is a universal purchase on the same Apple Account.
  4. Reinstalled or switched phones? Tap Restore Purchases in the Aurora app.
  5. Refunds follow the standard App Store policy — request one via your Apple purchase history. Details in the Terms of Service.

6 · Troubleshooting

Pages aren't turning dark. Almost always a permissions issue: re-check Getting started — the extension must be toggled on and have All Websites → Allow. Then refresh the tab.

Aurora doesn't appear in Settings → Safari → Extensions. Open the Aurora app once, then check again. If it's still missing, restart your iPhone — iOS occasionally needs it to register new extensions.

A site looks broken with Aurora on. In order:

  1. Open the Aurora app → Rules → add the site to the Blacklist. Aurora will skip it.
  2. Try a different theme — some themes apply stronger filters and interact differently with a site's CSS.
  3. Email the URL to danny.ng.it@gmail.com — I ship site-specific fixes in updates regularly.

Anything else — see the Support page for the FAQ and a bug report template.