Darker ground, the mark on sign-in, and a dark mode that was never readable

Matches ios!144's second pass, value for value.

**Darker.** #E9DDFB → #C6AFF2, a clear step down from the whisper it was. 🔴
That forced a second change: secondary text at #505C69 read 5.0:1 on the old
bottom stop and only 3.5:1 on the new one, below AA, and most of the
explanatory copy is set in it. #413A4D now — 8.4:1 top, 5.6:1 bottom.

🔴 **And dark mode never had a secondary text colour at all.** It used the light
one, which measures **2.41:1** on the dark ground. iOS has had a light/dark pair
since it was written; Android used one value for both and nothing noticed —
because a dim grey on a dark background looks deliberate. Found by measuring
while changing the palette, not by looking. #AFA4C9 now: 7.0:1 on the lightest
dark stop, 8.5:1 on the darkest. The palette test covers the dark grounds too,
so it cannot come back.

**The mark replaces the 'F' box** on the sign-in screen, which is also the
sign-up screen here — `registering` is a flag on one composable, so both get it.

**The launcher icon was cropped.** The adaptive foreground had the mark at 72%
of the canvas, and the guaranteed-visible area is a 66dp CIRCLE: a mark that is
widest at its vertical middle gets clipped at exactly the circle's widest point.
59% now, and it is measured rather than eyeballed — compositing the foreground
under both a circle and a squircle mask clips **0 artwork pixels**.

⚠️ `R` needed an explicit import: the namespace is `io.flamenet.messenger` and
this code is in `io.flamenet.messenger.app`, so the generated class is not in
scope by package.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/MainActivity.kt

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package io.flamenet.messenger.app
 import android.os.Bundle
 import androidx.activity.ComponentActivity
 import androidx.activity.compose.setContent
+import androidx.compose.foundation.Image
+import androidx.compose.ui.res.painterResource
 import androidx.compose.foundation.background
 import androidx.compose.foundation.clickable
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Arrangement
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ import androidx.compose.foundation.shape.RoundedCornerShape
 import androidx.compose.foundation.text.BasicTextField
 import androidx.compose.foundation.text.KeyboardOptions
 import androidx.compose.foundation.verticalScroll
+import io.flamenet.messenger.R
 import io.flamenet.messenger.app.MessengerViewModel.Phase.Screen
 import androidx.compose.material3.Button
 import androidx.compose.material3.CircularProgressIndicator
@@ -349,15 +352,22 @@ private fun ColumnScope.SignIn(model: MessengerViewModel, phase: MessengerViewMo
         modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth(),
         horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally,
     ) {
-        Box(
+        // The product's mark. This was an accent-coloured tile with a bold "F"
+        // in it — a placeholder from before there was a logo, and the first
+        // thing anybody sees. iOS carries the same image; see ios!144.
+        //
+        // ⚠️ Clipped to a rounded rectangle, and that is not decoration. The
+        // artwork's background is painted rather than transparent — the space
+        // behind the globe is part of the picture — so an unclipped mark is a
+        // hard-edged dark rectangle on a pale ground. Rounded, it matches the
+        // launcher icon the person just tapped.
+        Image(
+            painter = painterResource(R.drawable.brand_mark),
+            contentDescription = null,
             modifier = Modifier
-                .size(48.dp)
-                .clip(RoundedCornerShape(Radius.medium))
-                .background(MaterialTheme.colorScheme.primary),
-            contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
-        ) {
-            Text("F", fontSize = 24.sp, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = Color.White)
-        }
+                .size(72.dp)
+                .clip(RoundedCornerShape(Radius.medium)),
+        )
         Spacer(Modifier.height(Space.lg))
         Text("Hi there!", fontSize = 40.sp, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold)
         Spacer(Modifier.height(Space.sm))

app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/Theme.kt

@@ -73,10 +73,10 @@ object Palette {
     // it, and every piece of body text sits on this: ink reads 18.6:1 at the
     // top and 14.8:1 at the bottom, secondary text 8.7:1 and 6.9:1. A
     // saturated purple would look bolder in a screenshot and fight both.
-    val GroundTop = Color(0xFFF8F5FF)
-    val GroundBottom = Color(0xFFE4D8FB)
-    val NightGroundTop = Color(0xFF241645)
-    val NightGroundBottom = Color(0xFF0D0718)
+    val GroundTop = Color(0xFFE9DDFB)
+    val GroundBottom = Color(0xFFC6AFF2)
+    val NightGroundTop = Color(0xFF1C1036)
+    val NightGroundBottom = Color(0xFF070410)
 
     val Teal = Color(0xFF3BD5B2)   // success and presence
     val Pink = Color(0xFFED497C)   // the kit's alert accent
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ object Palette {
     // ⚠️ Still needed where a gradient cannot go (a single Color parameter, a
     // system bar tint). This is the gradient's mid-tone, so the two never read
     // as different surfaces.
-    val Mist = Color(0xFFF1EAFE)        // the page ground, flat
+    val Mist = Color(0xFFD8C6F6)        // the page ground, flat
     val SurfaceAlt = Color(0xFFF3F3F3)  // received bubbles, pills, bands
     val IncomingBubble = Color(0xFFF3F3F3)
     // ⚠️ A blue-tinted grey rather than the flat #F3F3F3: an initials avatar
@@ -95,7 +95,22 @@ object Palette {
     // ⚠️ Lavender, not the old blue wash. A blue-tinted circle on a purple
     // ground reads as a bug rather than as a second accent.
     val AvatarFill = Color(0xFFEDE6FC)
-    val SecondaryText = Color(0xFF505C69)
+    // 🔴 **Darkened with the ground, not left behind it.** #505C69 read 5.0:1
+    // on the old bottom stop and only 3.5:1 on the darker one — below AA, and
+    // most of the explanatory copy on these screens is set in it. Measured now:
+    // 8.4:1 at the top of the gradient, 5.6:1 at the bottom.
+    val SecondaryText = Color(0xFF413A4D)
+    // 🔴 **Dark mode had no secondary text colour at all**, and used the light
+    // one: #505C69 on the dark ground measures **2.41:1**, far below AA, and
+    // most of the explanatory copy on these screens is set in it. iOS has had
+    // a dark variant since it was written (`secondaryText` is a light/dark
+    // pair); Android used one value for both grounds and nothing noticed.
+    //
+    // Found by measuring while changing the palette, not by looking — a dim
+    // grey on a dark ground looks deliberate, which is exactly why it survived.
+    // #AFA4C9 is the same idea in the new hue: 7.04:1 on the lightest dark
+    // stop, 8.46:1 on the darkest.
+    val SecondaryTextDark = Color(0xFFAFA4C9)
     val Divider = Color(0x1A505C69)
 
     // Semantic
@@ -105,7 +120,7 @@ object Palette {
 
     // Dark-mode grounds — these ARE the site's, since the site is dark.
     val InkSurface = Color(0xFF121A2E)   // --panel
-    val NightGround = Color(0xFF150C26)  // --bg, the dark gradient's mid-tone
+    val NightGround = Color(0xFF110A20)  // --bg, the dark gradient's mid-tone
 }
 
 /**
@@ -259,7 +274,7 @@ fun MessengerTheme(content: @Composable () -> Unit) {
                 surfaceVariant = Palette.InkSurface,
                 onBackground = Palette.Mist,
                 onSurface = Palette.Mist,
-                onSurfaceVariant = Palette.SecondaryText,
+                onSurfaceVariant = Palette.SecondaryTextDark,
                 error = Palette.Danger,
                 outline = Palette.Divider,
             )

app/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/PaletteMatchesIOSTest.kt

@@ -71,6 +71,24 @@ class PaletteMatchesIOSTest {
             "white on the gradient's light end is %.2f:1 — below AA for normal text".format(ratio))
     }
 
+    /**
+     * 🔴 The dark grounds, which had NO secondary-text colour of their own until
+     * 2026-09-07: the light `#505C69` was used on both, and measured 2.41:1 on
+     * the dark ground. Nothing noticed, because a dim grey on a dark background
+     * looks deliberate.
+     */
+    @Test
+    fun `body text clears AA on both ends of the DARK gradient`() {
+        for (ground in listOf(Palette.NightGroundTop, Palette.NightGroundBottom,
+                              Palette.InkSurface)) {
+            val ink = contrast(ground, Palette.Mist)
+            assertTrue(ink >= 4.5, "dark-mode ink on ${androidHex(ground)} is %.2f:1".format(ink))
+            val muted = contrast(ground, Palette.SecondaryTextDark)
+            assertTrue(muted >= 4.5,
+                "dark-mode secondary text on ${androidHex(ground)} is %.2f:1".format(muted))
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `body text clears AA on both ends of the page gradient`() {
         for (ground in listOf(Palette.GroundTop, Palette.GroundBottom)) {