Sorry

This feed does not validate.

In addition, interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.

Source: https://blog.elementary.io/feed.xml

  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  2. <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  3.  <channel>
  4.    <title>elementary Blog</title>
  5.    <description>We design and develop the fast, open, and privacy-respecting replacement for Windows and macOS</description>
  6.    <link>https://blog.elementary.io/</link>
  7.    <atom:link href="https://blog.elementary.io/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
  8.    <pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2024 19:05:43 -0500</pubDate>
  9.    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2024 19:05:43 -0500</lastBuildDate>
  10.    <generator>Jekyll v3.9.0</generator>
  11.    
  12.      
  13.        <item>
  14.          <title>The System Settings Redesign Has Landed</title>
  15.          <description>&lt;p&gt;This month the biggest story is System Settings, but we also have some great progress on the new Dock and Wayland. Plus a small change to default keyboard shortcuts that you might appreciate. Read ahead to find out the new developments you have to look forward to in the upcoming elementary OS 8!&lt;/p&gt;
  16.  
  17. &lt;h2 id=&quot;system-settings&quot;&gt;System Settings&lt;/h2&gt;
  18.  
  19. &lt;p&gt;The System Settings port for GTK 4 is now completed! And not only that, we’ve landed the first step in a major redesign. Settings panes are now in charge of drawing their own window controls, which means several settings have already been updated to use a more modern paned design and others are able to use space more efficiently in their own way. You can expect further design refinements to continue to land throughout the OS 8.x cycle&lt;/p&gt;
  20.  
  21. &lt;figure&gt;
  22.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-april-2024/settings-network.png&quot; alt=&quot;Network Settings&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  23.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  24.    &lt;p&gt;System Settings has a new modern design&lt;/p&gt;
  25.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  26. &lt;/figure&gt;
  27.  
  28. &lt;p&gt;The headliner this month is definitely Application settings. We now have support for adjusting the runtime permissions stored in Flatpak’s PermissionsStore—these are set when an app explicitly asks for your permission to access a specific feature while it’s running. So if you’ve previous denied an app access to run in the background or granted an app permission to set the wallpaper, you can change your mind at any time and adjust permissions here.&lt;/p&gt;
  29.  
  30. &lt;figure&gt;
  31.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-april-2024/settings-applications.png&quot; alt=&quot;Application Settings&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  32.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  33.    &lt;p&gt;System Settings → Applications has expanded options&lt;/p&gt;
  34.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  35. &lt;/figure&gt;
  36.  
  37. &lt;p&gt;We’ve also adjusted the language of install time permissions—aka sandbox holes—to be more clear that these represent advanced system access and the implications of adjusting them. Plus the descriptions of several individual items were changed based on feedback to use less technical language. And app permission pages now show the app’s icon and description.&lt;/p&gt;
  38.  
  39. &lt;figure&gt;
  40.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-april-2024/settings-notifications.png&quot; alt=&quot;Notification Settings&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  41.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  42.    &lt;p&gt;Do Not Disturb no longer blocks Notification settings&lt;/p&gt;
  43.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  44. &lt;/figure&gt;
  45.  
  46. &lt;p&gt;Language &amp;amp; Region settings now has searchable dropdowns. We’ve also received some feedback from some folks that indicates they were looking here for Keyboard Layout or Date &amp;amp; Time settings, so we more clearly link to both of those locations to help you find what you’re looking for. If you’re not a fan of overlaid scrollbars that disappear when not in use, there’s a new setting to always show scrollbars in Desktop → Appearance. The Do Not Disturb setting in Notifications settings no longer blocks the whole view and we’ve updated the design of this pane to better reflect modern design patterns and support RTL language layouts. And Housekeeping is now completely handled by elementary’s Settings Daemon which uses SystemD timers under the hood.&lt;/p&gt;
  47.  
  48. &lt;h2 id=&quot;desktop&quot;&gt;Desktop&lt;/h2&gt;
  49.  
  50. &lt;p&gt;We’re closing in on a much better multitasking story for the new Dock. This month Leonhard implemented scrolling over an app’s icon to switch between its open windows and focusing a single open window of an app on click instead of opening new windows. We’ve also implemented a middle-click system that is aware of the FreeDesktop.org SingleMainWindow app launcher hint, so we can more reliably open new app windows when middle-clicking an app’s icon; This closes a 3-year-old feature request! This is in addition to the window spread feature that was implemented in January. The end result is a much more predictable experience that is centered on bringing you to the app you’ve clicked and an improved workflow for multi-window apps.&lt;/p&gt;
  51.  
  52. &lt;p&gt;We’re also making a major change to our default keyboard shortcuts. Pressing &lt;kbd&gt;⌘&lt;/kbd&gt; will now open the Applications menu instead of the Shortcuts overlay and &lt;kbd&gt;⌘&lt;/kbd&gt; + &lt;kbd&gt;Space&lt;/kbd&gt; will now switch keyboard layouts by default. This brings us more in line with the defaults from other desktops and operating systems and will hopefully be more comfortable for folks who rely on these shortcuts. Of course you can always change the &lt;kbd&gt;⌘&lt;/kbd&gt; key behavior and keyboard shortcuts in general in System Settings → Keyboard.&lt;/p&gt;
  53.  
  54. &lt;h2 id=&quot;wayland&quot;&gt;Wayland&lt;/h2&gt;
  55.  
  56. &lt;p&gt;Our progress towards Wayland continues this month with several fixes in our window manager. Notifications are now launched as a client of the window manager thanks to Leonhard, meaning they are no longer in the center of the screen in the Wayland session. He also did some refactoring that ensures the Wayland session launches just as quickly as the X11 session, fixed an issue with the &lt;kbd&gt;Alt&lt;/kbd&gt; + &lt;kbd&gt;Tab&lt;/kbd&gt; window switcher blocking mouse input, and fixed drag and drop icons not appearing.&lt;/p&gt;
  57.  
  58. &lt;hr /&gt;
  59.  
  60. &lt;h2 id=&quot;security&quot;&gt;Security&lt;/h2&gt;
  61.  
  62. &lt;p&gt;A quick note about security in elementary OS 7! If you’ve heard about the recent xz vulnerability, rest assured that elementary OS was not affected. We’re very fortunate to benefit from the hard work of Canonical’s security team and Ubuntu LTS. If you’re ever curious about the status of vulnerabilities you can check the &lt;a href=&quot;https://ubuntu.com/security/notices&quot;&gt;Ubuntu Security Notices&lt;/a&gt; website. You can find the Ubuntu version that system packages come from in System Settings → System on the Operating System Tab, just below the name of the current elementary OS release. As always, be sure to run your updates and avoid third party system software repositories. Choosing Flatpak for apps also keeps your computer secure and your information private with its built-in sandboxing.&lt;/p&gt;
  63.  
  64. &lt;h2 id=&quot;sponsors&quot;&gt;Sponsors&lt;/h2&gt;
  65.  
  66. &lt;p&gt;At the moment we’re just above 21% of our monthly funding goal and we’re very close to 300 Sponsors on GitHub! Shoutouts to everyone helping us reach our goals here. Your monthly sponsorship funds development and makes sure we have the resources we need to give you the best version of elementary OS we can!&lt;/p&gt;
  67.  
  68. &lt;p&gt;If you’re not already in Early Access, you can be among the first to try the next release of elementary OS and give us your feedback by sponsoring elementary &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;for as little as $1/mo&lt;/a&gt;. Beware that Early Access builds are not considered stable and you will encounter fresh issues when you run them. We’d really appreciate reporting any problems you encounter with the Feedback app or directly &lt;a href=&quot;https://Github.com/elementary&quot;&gt;on GitHub&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  69.  
  70. &lt;p&gt;A quick note about currently daily elementary OS 8 builds, there’s a big migration happening upstream to fix the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem&quot;&gt;year 2038 problem&lt;/a&gt; so until that calms down we might have a disruption in builds. You can always access previous daily builds by scrolling down the bottom of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;Builds&lt;/a&gt; page where you’ll find the most recent succesful builds of elementary OS 8 and more.&lt;/p&gt;
  71. </description>
  72.          <pubDate>Fri, 05 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  73.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-april-2024/</link>
  74.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-april-2024/</guid>
  75.          
  76.              
  77.              
  78.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  79.          
  80.          
  81.          <category>earlyaccess</category>
  82.          
  83.          <category>updates</category>
  84.          
  85.          
  86.        </item>
  87.      
  88.    
  89.      
  90.        <item>
  91.          <title>GTK 4 Porting And A Bit Of Whimsy</title>
  92.          <description>&lt;p&gt;I want to start off this post by saying, “Thank you!” to our now over 250 sponsors on GitHub for helping us reach 20% of our monthly funding goal! I’ve been seeing a ton of demand for Early Access which is super exciting. If you’re not already in Early Access, you can be among the first to try the next release of elementary OS and give us your feedback by sponsoring elementary &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;for as little as $1/mo&lt;/a&gt;. Beware that Early Access builds are not considered stable and you will encounter fresh issues when you run them. We’d really appreciate reporting any problems you encounter with the Feedback app or directly &lt;a href=&quot;https://Github.com/elementary&quot;&gt;on GitHub&lt;/a&gt;. With that, let’s talk about what we accomplished in the last month!&lt;/p&gt;
  93.  
  94. &lt;h2 id=&quot;system-settings&quot;&gt;System Settings&lt;/h2&gt;
  95.  
  96. &lt;p&gt;The GTK 4 port of System Settings is now almost complete! We merged ports for Display, Network, and Printer settings during the last month. Display settings received a big update to the way we do arranging and snapping which should be much smoother and more reliable with 3 displays thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; made sure that the colored display labels you see in the corner while arranging displays are now created in a Wayland-compitable way. Plus we’ve improved CSS styling here for higher contrast.&lt;/p&gt;
  97.  
  98. &lt;figure&gt;
  99.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-march-2024/settings-power.png&quot; alt=&quot;Power Settings&quot; width=&quot;678&quot; height=&quot;901&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  100.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  101.    &lt;p&gt;System Settings → Power has new options and shows battery charge status&lt;/p&gt;
  102.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  103. &lt;/figure&gt;
  104.  
  105. &lt;p&gt;Power settings now shows charging level and status for internal batteries and theoretically supports multiple internal batteries—though I’m not sure that’s been tested so please send feedback if you have a device with multiple internal batteries. You can also now choose to automatically set different power profiles based on whether your device is plugged in or on battery power thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt;. We’ve cleaned up some old code here quite a bit along the way and solved some issues with system hangs while getting permission for lid close settings. I’m excited to continue iterating here and hopefully have more new features to announce to you next month!&lt;/p&gt;
  106.  
  107. &lt;p&gt;I want to give a special thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/micahilbery&quot;&gt;Micah&lt;/a&gt; for donating a Wacom tablet so that I can do the port of Wacom settings. I received it near the end of the month so I’ve only made a preliminary port so far, but I’m feeling confident about being able to finish it quickly! We’re also closing in on a much larger redesign of System Settings in general, so hang tight for news on that. The new GTK 4 System Settings is almost ready to go!&lt;/p&gt;
  108.  
  109. &lt;h2 id=&quot;the-desktop&quot;&gt;The Desktop&lt;/h2&gt;
  110.  
  111. &lt;p&gt;The Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen now features a blurred background similar to the Multitasking View, thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt;. A number of improvements have landed for our Window Manager when running under Wayland as well as keeping up with the latest changes in the upstream Mutter library that it uses. And we’ve landed basic support for the Wallpaper Portal which means you can grant access to apps to change your wallpaper in a platform agnostic way as opposed to the platform-specific way we had implemented before.&lt;/p&gt;
  112.  
  113. &lt;figure class=&quot;card&quot;&gt;
  114.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-march-2024/greeter.png&quot; alt=&quot;Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  115.  &lt;figcaption&gt;The Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen now shows a blurred version of your wallpaper in the background&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  116. &lt;/figure&gt;
  117.  
  118. &lt;p&gt;We also landed launcher animations in the new Dock. It’s worth mentioning again that this is a fully GTK 4 application and not custom drawing! Animations are done with GTK transforms and timed with Adwaita.Animation&lt;/p&gt;
  119.  
  120. &lt;figure class=&quot;card&quot;&gt;
  121.    &lt;video width=&quot;842&quot; height=&quot;194&quot; autoplay=&quot;true&quot; loop=&quot;true&quot; playsinline=&quot;true&quot; muted=&quot;true&quot;&gt;
  122.        &lt;source src=&quot;/images/updates-for-march-2024/dock.webm&quot; type=&quot;video/webm&quot; /&gt;
  123.        &lt;source src=&quot;/images/updates-for-march-2024/dock.mp4&quot; type=&quot;video/mp4&quot; /&gt;
  124.    &lt;/video&gt;
  125.    &lt;figcaption&gt;Launcher animations in the new Dock&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  126. &lt;/figure&gt;
  127.  
  128. &lt;h3 id=&quot;and-more&quot;&gt;And More&lt;/h3&gt;
  129.  
  130. &lt;p&gt;The GTK 4 port of AppCenter has landed which brings with it a number of small fixes and performance improvements. Since OS Updates are now handled in System Settings, we’ve also removed that functionality from AppCenter which greatly improves performance and has enabled us to really simplify some of the backend code here. Plus, you can now opt-in to automatic OS updates during Onboarding and automatic App updates are now opt-out.&lt;/p&gt;
  131.  
  132. &lt;hr /&gt;
  133.  
  134. &lt;h1 id=&quot;updates-for-os-7&quot;&gt;Updates for OS 7&lt;/h1&gt;
  135.  
  136. &lt;p&gt;Some minor bug fix updates for GNOME Web and Document viewer were released upstream and those are available to you now.&lt;/p&gt;
  137.  
  138. &lt;p&gt;We’re also &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/browser/issues/125&quot;&gt;tracking an issue&lt;/a&gt; where some folks are not seeing any content appearing in Web. We’re working on a proper solution for this, but if you’re experiencing this issue it can be solved by manually installing the latest version of the Freedesktop GL Platform. We normally would not recommend copying and pasting Terminal commands you read on the internet, but the only way to do this manually is via Terminal with the following commands:&lt;/p&gt;
  139.  
  140. &lt;div class=&quot;language-bash highlighter-rouge&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;highlight&quot;&gt;&lt;pre class=&quot;highlight&quot;&gt;&lt;code&gt;&lt;table class=&quot;rouge-table&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;rouge-gutter gl&quot;&gt;&lt;pre class=&quot;lineno&quot;&gt;1
  141. 2
  142. 3
  143. &lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;rouge-code&quot;&gt;&lt;pre&gt;flatpak &lt;span class=&quot;nb&quot;&gt;install&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class=&quot;nt&quot;&gt;--system&lt;/span&gt; freedesktop org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default//23.08&lt;span class=&quot;o&quot;&gt;{&lt;/span&gt;,-extra&lt;span class=&quot;o&quot;&gt;}&lt;/span&gt;
  144. flatpak pin &lt;span class=&quot;nt&quot;&gt;--remove&lt;/span&gt; runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default/x86_64/23.08
  145. flatpak pin &lt;span class=&quot;nt&quot;&gt;--remove&lt;/span&gt; runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default/x86_64/23.08-extra
  146. &lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  147.  
  148. &lt;p&gt;The first command installs the missing Freedesktop GL Platform in the required version. The next two commands make sure that when this platform is no longer being used, it will be automatically uninstalled. If you’re not experiencing this issue, you don’t need to do anything and the above commands will have no effect. Apologies for the inconvenience!&lt;/p&gt;
  149.  
  150. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-these-updates&quot;&gt;Get These Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  151.  
  152. &lt;p&gt;As always, pop open AppCenter on elementary OS 7 and hit “Update All” to get your regular security, bug fix, and translation updates.&lt;/p&gt;
  153. </description>
  154.          <pubDate>Mon, 04 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
  155.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-march-2024/</link>
  156.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-march-2024/</guid>
  157.          
  158.              
  159.              
  160.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  161.          
  162.          
  163.          <category>earlyaccess</category>
  164.          
  165.          <category>updates</category>
  166.          
  167.          
  168.        </item>
  169.      
  170.    
  171.      
  172.        <item>
  173.          <title>OS 8 Now Available in Early Access</title>
  174.          <description>&lt;p&gt;I’m super excited to let you know that OS 8 builds are available in Early Access and they are now installable! While we highly recommend you don’t run these experimental builds in production, they’re perfect for trying in a virtual machine or a spare computer. Early Access is a great way to help us test new features and find bugs before they roll out to everyone. If you’re not already in early access, you can be among the first to try it and give your feedback by joining &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;Early Access for as little as a $1/mo sponsorship&lt;/a&gt;. Again beware that Early Access builds are not considered stable and you will encounter fresh issues when you run them. We’d really appreciate reporting any problems you encounter with the Feedback app or directly &lt;a href=&quot;https://Github.com/elementary&quot;&gt;on GitHub&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  175.  
  176. &lt;h2 id=&quot;system-updates&quot;&gt;System Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  177.  
  178. &lt;p&gt;The headlining feature this month is the brand new mechanism for operating system updates. Instead of being a part of updates in AppCenter, system updates now live in the System page of System Settings. The new updates mechanism is super fast and includes an option to download updates automatically. It will also let you know explicity if security updates are part of the updates package. Shoutouts to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; for his work here.&lt;/p&gt;
  179.  
  180. &lt;figure&gt;
  181.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-february-2024/settings-system.png&quot; alt=&quot;Operating System view of System Settings&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  182.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  183.    &lt;p&gt;System updates now live in System Settings and can be updated automatically&lt;/p&gt;
  184.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  185. &lt;/figure&gt;
  186.  
  187. &lt;p&gt;There’s a few reasons why we would want two separate update mechanisms in elementary OS. Under the hood, apps in elementary OS are Flatpak packages and system packages are managed by PackageKit. Flatpak apps are sandboxed from the system and can be reliably updated while your computer is running. System packages are best installed offline, when your computer restarts, to make sure services are restarted correctly and to prevent issues. By splitting apart the updates experience, it is much clearer which updates will require you to restart your computer: app updates in AppCenter will never require a restart, while system updates in System Settings will always require a restart. It also makes the underlining code much less complex and speeds up processes like checking for new updates. It also means an error in one system won’t cause updates in the other system to fail. Overall the updates experience in OS 8 will be faster, more reliable, and easier to understand, as well as being easier to automate.&lt;/p&gt;
  188.  
  189. &lt;h2 id=&quot;system-settings&quot;&gt;System Settings&lt;/h2&gt;
  190.  
  191. &lt;p&gt;Search in System Settings has been improved to return more relevant results and the titles of those results now reflect both the exact setting name they are matching and the path to that setting.&lt;/p&gt;
  192.  
  193. &lt;figure&gt;
  194.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-february-2024/settings-search.png&quot; alt=&quot;System Settings search&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  195.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  196.    &lt;p&gt;Search in System Settings now ranks results better&lt;/p&gt;
  197.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  198. &lt;/figure&gt;
  199.  
  200. &lt;p&gt;Shortcuts settings now include a new “Keyboard Layouts” section where you can set a custom shortcut to change keyboard layouts as well as change the shortcuts for emoji and unicode typing modes. And some cleanup was done in Mouse &amp;amp; Touchpad settings to make layouts more responsive, provide additional explanation text, and improve screen reader support.&lt;/p&gt;
  201.  
  202. &lt;figure&gt;
  203.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-february-2024/settings-icon.png&quot; alt=&quot;System Settings app icon&quot; width=&quot;128&quot; height=&quot;128&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  204.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  205.    &lt;p&gt;System Settings has a new app icon&lt;/p&gt;
  206.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  207. &lt;/figure&gt;
  208.  
  209. &lt;p&gt;Plus we’re using a new SettingsPage widget to improve consistency between settings views, and System Settings got an icon redesign. Finally, we’ve almost wrapped up porting System Settings to GTK 4; Network and Printer settings are in review, and Display settings is partially ported, with only Wacom settings having not been started.&lt;/p&gt;
  210.  
  211. &lt;h2 id=&quot;window-manager&quot;&gt;Window Manager&lt;/h2&gt;
  212.  
  213. &lt;p&gt;The Multitasking View has seen a number of design updates, the most noticeable of which is that instead of a plain dark grey background, it now features a blurred version of your wallpaper that is either lightened or darkened for light and dark modes respectively. You’ll also notice that the workspace cards now have rounded corners and the switcher UI at the bottom of the screen has been updated for light and dark modes as well. Thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; for working on this design update!&lt;/p&gt;
  214.  
  215. &lt;figure class=&quot;card half&quot;&gt;
  216.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-february-2024/multitasking-light.png&quot; alt=&quot;Multitasking View in light mode&quot; /&gt;
  217. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-february-2024/multitasking-dark.png&quot; alt=&quot;Multitasking View in dark mode&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  218.  &lt;figcaption&gt;Multitasking View now features a blurred background and an updated switcher UI design&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  219. &lt;/figure&gt;
  220.  
  221. &lt;p&gt;Plus, the Dock has a new multitasking feature: when multiple windows of the same app are opened, selecting that app’s icon in the dock will open a window spread instead of hiding those windows.&lt;/p&gt;
  222.  
  223. &lt;h2 id=&quot;and-more&quot;&gt;And More&lt;/h2&gt;
  224.  
  225. &lt;p&gt;The Login &amp;amp; Lock screen now has a smoother fade in animation and will respect your orientation lock settings thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt;. And we’ve improved screen reader support in Initial Setup &amp;amp; Onboarding. Meanwhile, &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt; has been hard at work on porting Files to GTK 4. And there are plenty of other improvements and new features that are still currently in review.&lt;/p&gt;
  226.  
  227. &lt;hr /&gt;
  228.  
  229. &lt;h1 id=&quot;updates-for-os-7&quot;&gt;Updates for OS 7&lt;/h1&gt;
  230.  
  231. &lt;p&gt;This month we have just one update for OS 7: a new version of Code. This new release brings a new optional “Fuzzy Finder” plugin which can be launched with the keyboard shortcut &lt;kbd&gt;Alt&lt;/kbd&gt; + &lt;kbd&gt;F&lt;/kbd&gt; and can be used to search the files of all opened projects in the sidebar. Plus improvements for dark mode, better save and restore of pane positions, new commandline features, as well as various bug fixes.&lt;/p&gt;
  232.  
  233. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-these-updates&quot;&gt;Get These Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  234.  
  235. &lt;p&gt;As always, pop open AppCenter on elementary OS 7 and hit “Update All” to get the new version of Code plus your regular security, bug fix, and translation updates.&lt;/p&gt;
  236.  
  237. &lt;hr /&gt;
  238. </description>
  239.          <pubDate>Tue, 06 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
  240.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-february-2024/</link>
  241.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-february-2024/</guid>
  242.          
  243.              
  244.              
  245.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  246.          
  247.          
  248.          <category>horus</category>
  249.          
  250.          <category>updates</category>
  251.          
  252.          
  253.        </item>
  254.      
  255.    
  256.      
  257.        <item>
  258.          <title>OS 7 Updates and More OS 8 News</title>
  259.          <description>&lt;p&gt;It’s a new year and that means we’re back from the holidays with new updates!&lt;/p&gt;
  260.  
  261. &lt;p&gt;We’re now shipping the latest GNOME Web which includes a new Tab Overview mode. Plus we’re shipping some updated icons for things like the animated downloads icon in the Headerbar and hardware access icons. And we fixed an issue that would cause the bookmarks popover to be very narrow.&lt;/p&gt;
  262.  
  263. &lt;figure&gt;
  264.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-january-2024/web.png&quot; alt=&quot;GNOME Web&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  265.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  266.    &lt;p&gt;GNOME Web now has a Tab Overview mode&lt;/p&gt;
  267.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  268. &lt;/figure&gt;
  269.  
  270. &lt;p&gt;A new version of our Window Manager is out which fixes 10 reported issues including several related to multi-monitor and workspaces. This will be the last release of our Window Manager for OS 7 as we’ve started introducing large breaking changes for OS 8.&lt;/p&gt;
  271.  
  272. &lt;p&gt;New versions of Network Settings and the Network indicator have been released that bring support for Wireguard VPNs and Opportunistic Wireless Encryption. This is likely the last update that we will see for Settings in OS 7 as well.&lt;/p&gt;
  273.  
  274. &lt;p&gt;In case you missed &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.elementary.io/lets-talk-os-8/&quot;&gt;our OS 8 post&lt;/a&gt; in November, I want to repeat that at this point our development focus has shifted to this new version of elementary OS, so the number of updates for OS 7 will continue to slow down as we get nearer to the release. Where possible, we’ll continue to release fixes and small feature updates to OS 7 but there are quite a number of larger breaks that prevent backporting.&lt;/p&gt;
  275.  
  276. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-these-updates&quot;&gt;Get These Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  277.  
  278. &lt;p&gt;As always, pop open AppCenter on elementary OS 7 and hit “Update All” to get all these updates plus your regular security, bug fix, and translation updates.&lt;/p&gt;
  279.  
  280. &lt;hr /&gt;
  281.  
  282. &lt;h2 id=&quot;os-8-early-access&quot;&gt;OS 8 Early Access&lt;/h2&gt;
  283.  
  284. &lt;p&gt;As previously mentioned, our development focus is on the next major version of elementary OS and several of our major projects are coming along nicely.&lt;/p&gt;
  285.  
  286. &lt;h3 id=&quot;gtk-4&quot;&gt;GTK 4&lt;/h3&gt;
  287.  
  288. &lt;p&gt;The Authentication dialog—also known as the Polkit Agent—has now been ported to GTK 4. System Settings now has complete GTK 4 ports for 12 of its 20 panes. 2 of the remaining panes are awaiting final review and 5 have at least made some progress on porting. Which means there is only 1 pane which doesn’t have at least a work in progress branch. As part of the porting process, we’ve been taking the time to really clean up much of this Settings code which has existed for a decade or more and modernizing the design while improving support for screen readers.&lt;/p&gt;
  289.  
  290. &lt;h3 id=&quot;dock&quot;&gt;Dock&lt;/h3&gt;
  291.  
  292. &lt;p&gt;We recently merged a branch in the new Dock to vastly improve Drag and Drop support both for reordering apps inside the dock and when dragging apps from the Applications Menu. We also merged in support for badges and progressbars and quick actions in context menus. Plus the ability to add and remove apps to the dock from the Applications Menu’s context menu. These are all features you already expect from the current dock in OS 7, but we’re excited that the new Dock is quickly reaching feature parity and in a way that works with Wayland and is built completely using GTK 4 instead of custom Cairo drawing.&lt;/p&gt;
  293.  
  294. &lt;h3 id=&quot;and-more&quot;&gt;And More&lt;/h3&gt;
  295.  
  296. &lt;p&gt;While we’re taking on some large projects to adopt the latest technology we also aren’t neglecting bug fixes and feature requests. Notifications now appear on the left for RTL languages, and sound change confirmations will no longer appear over the sound indicator if it’s open. We’ve also added support for horizontal swipe gestures for switching windows and an option to disable hotcorners for workspaces with fullscreen apps. Several larger pieces of work are still drafting such as support for the Screenshot Portal and some design changes for the Multitasking View that bring in more color. Plus, opaque panel styles received some attention and now have a soft shadow&lt;/p&gt;
  297.  
  298. &lt;figure class=&quot;card half&quot;&gt;
  299.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-january-2024/panel-light.png&quot; alt=&quot;Panel in light style&quot; /&gt;
  300. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-january-2024/panel-dark.png&quot; alt=&quot;Panel in dark style&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  301.  &lt;figcaption&gt;The Panel's opaque styles now have a soft shadow&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  302. &lt;/figure&gt;
  303.  
  304. &lt;p&gt;The current status of OS 8 builds in Early Access is that they are not installable, but you can run a Demo Mode session! Early Access is a great way to help us test new features and find bugs before they roll out to everyone. If you’re not already in early access, you can be among the first to try it and give your feedback by joining &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;Early Access for a $10/mo sponsorship&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  305. </description>
  306.          <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jan 2024 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
  307.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-january-2024/</link>
  308.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-january-2024/</guid>
  309.          
  310.              
  311.              
  312.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  313.          
  314.          
  315.          <category>horus</category>
  316.          
  317.          <category>updates</category>
  318.          
  319.          
  320.        </item>
  321.      
  322.    
  323.      
  324.        <item>
  325.          <title>Let's Talk OS 8</title>
  326.          <description>&lt;p&gt;One month ago today &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.elementary.io/os-7-1-available-now/&quot;&gt;we released elementary OS 7.1&lt;/a&gt; which provides new personalization options that make it more inclusive and accessible, protects your privacy and ensures apps always operate with your explicit consent, and addresses your feedback with over 200 bug fixes, design changes, and new features. This point release concludes our feature focus on the OS 7 series and development focus has now shifted to OS 8! Let’s take a look at what that means and the progress we’ve made in the last month.&lt;/p&gt;
  327.  
  328. &lt;h2 id=&quot;what-happens-to-os-7&quot;&gt;What happens to OS 7?&lt;/h2&gt;
  329.  
  330. &lt;p&gt;Folks running elementary OS 7 should expect fewer updates from this point forward. We do our best to continue to provide bug fix updates for as long as is reasonable—which sometimes extends into the lifecycle of the next major series—but the OS 7 series should largely be considered complete. There are a number of large architectural changes and transitions expected for the OS 8 series which means that some components will not be able to be backported to OS 7. All apps provided as Flatpak packages however will continue to receive updates indefinitely. That means all AppCenter apps, sideloaded Flatpak apps, and a decent portion of pre-installed apps—Calculator, Camera, the Captive Network Assistant, Videos, Music, Screenshot, GNOME Web, Document Viewer, and Archive Manager—will all continue to receive both bug fix and feature updates effectively forever. And since we build elementary OS from the Ubuntu Long Term Support repositories, you’ll continue to receive security and bug fix updates from Canonical until 2027. So while OS 7 is no longer our development focus, you can still expect regular maintenance for quite some time!&lt;/p&gt;
  331.  
  332. &lt;h2 id=&quot;os-8s-roadmap--predicted-release-date&quot;&gt;OS 8’s Roadmap &amp;amp; Predicted Release Date&lt;/h2&gt;
  333.  
  334. &lt;p&gt;If you’re familiar with the development cycle of elementary OS, you will know that &lt;strong&gt;we don’t predict release dates&lt;/strong&gt; ahead of time and instead opt to release a new version of elementary OS when we feel it is ready. This next major version of elementary OS is being built from the Ubuntu 24.04 repositories which means that at the earliest OS 8 won’t be released until at least April of 2024, but historically it takes several months of additional work before a major new series is ready to debut. We have a number of very ambitious goals for OS 8, so while my hope is that we can complete this work in the next 6 months, the focus will always be on releasing when it’s ready.&lt;/p&gt;
  335.  
  336. &lt;p&gt;We have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/128/views/1&quot;&gt;release planning project on GitHub&lt;/a&gt; which you can use to follow along with the status of development. This project contains the list of goals targeted for OS 8 as well as our progress on completing those goals. At the moment, we’re deep in the planning phase which means this project board is very messy and has some very broad draft items on it. Over time we’ll refine this down to very granular action items and some of the proposals on this list may not make it into the initial release. But the most important thing to know is that OS 8 won’t be released until this project board is cleared. So you can use this board to get a picture of how close or far we are away from releasing.&lt;/p&gt;
  337.  
  338. &lt;h2 id=&quot;the-idea-phase&quot;&gt;The Idea Phase&lt;/h2&gt;
  339.  
  340. &lt;p&gt;Since we’re at the very start of the development cycle, this is the perfect time for you to get involved and share your vision for the next major version of elementary OS! We have a GitHub Discussions section where &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/discussions/categories/ideas&quot;&gt;you can submit your proposals at any time&lt;/a&gt;, as well as see and vote on the ideas that others have proposed. This is a great way to communicate to the team what you feel is most important. We have our own ideas of the things we’d like to accomplish, but we love hearing directly from you!&lt;/p&gt;
  341.  
  342. &lt;h2 id=&quot;wayland&quot;&gt;Wayland&lt;/h2&gt;
  343.  
  344. &lt;p&gt;One the largest and most ambitious goals we have for OS 8 is to use the Wayland display server protocol by default. This is a transition that we have been planning and working towards for several years and we’re finally in the home stretch. Folks in our &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/downloads&quot;&gt;Early Access&lt;/a&gt; program know that we have an experimental Wayland session of Pantheon available to test right now. We’re currently tracking issues related to completing the Wayland transition in &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/118&quot;&gt;this GitHub project&lt;/a&gt;. Wayland will bring us improved performance, better app security, and opens the doors to support more complex display setups like mixed DPI multi-monitor setups.&lt;/p&gt;
  345.  
  346. &lt;p&gt;As part of the Wayland transition, Pantheon needs a new Dock. Plank was written in a time long before many modern APIs and depends on a window matching library that is both incompatible with Wayland’s security model and has proved to be increasingly inaccurate with some sandboxed apps. In both design and implementation we need a new solution. You may remember that we &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.elementary.io/2021-ui-study-results-dock-multitasking/&quot;&gt;conducted a survey in 2021&lt;/a&gt; which resulted in &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/99/views/1&quot;&gt;this project board&lt;/a&gt; and I’m happy to report that some initial work on the new Dock has begun &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/dock&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, including a new wayland-compatible window matching API that talks directly to Gala. There’s also a Discussion post about the new Dock &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/discussions/337&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; if you’d like to share your ideas.&lt;/p&gt;
  347.  
  348. &lt;h2 id=&quot;gtk-4&quot;&gt;GTK 4&lt;/h2&gt;
  349.  
  350. &lt;p&gt;You may be aware that we started our GTK 4 transition as part of the OS 7 development cycle and are currently shipping several GTK 4 components and apps. This transition continues into the OS 8 cycle where we’re already planning to land or have landed several more ports. The Captive Network Assistant, Initial Setup, and Videos have all landed GTK 4 ports in their development main branch. The port for AppCenter is near completion, and ports for several other apps and components are in progress. Notably, System Settings has just over half of its panes ported to GTK 4 in its development main branch. We’re &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/95&quot;&gt;tracking GTK 4 porting in GitHub here&lt;/a&gt; so you can follow along with our progress.&lt;/p&gt;
  351.  
  352. &lt;p&gt;The transition to GTK 4 has required some pretty major rewrites in some components and ties in heavily with making things Wayland-ready. Along the way we’ve been modernizing code that has existed in Pantheon for the past decade, adopting the latest code style, development patterns, and libraries, fixing old bugs, improving performance, and resolving accessibility issues. We’ve also implemented more responsive design patterns that work on large and small displays, as well as addressing UX concerns, and improving multitouch gesture support. So you can expect a vastly improved Pantheon in every area as part of our transition to GTK 4.&lt;/p&gt;
  353.  
  354. &lt;h2 id=&quot;settings&quot;&gt;Settings&lt;/h2&gt;
  355.  
  356. &lt;p&gt;As part of our work on &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/109&quot;&gt;Responsive Design&lt;/a&gt;, System Settings will need some major design changes. There are some prototypes for modernizing its design and navigation but the number of views here makes this a very challenging project. We’ve made a lot of progress but there’s still quite some ways to go for System Settings to be usable on something like a phone.&lt;/p&gt;
  357.  
  358. &lt;p&gt;Likewise, the design of the indicator area has remained largely the same since OS 0.4 which was released in 2016. In recent years every mainstream operating system has adopted a Quick Settings menu design which lends itself much better to responsive contexts as well. There’s quite a bit more background and prior art in &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/wingpanel/discussions/446&quot;&gt;this discussion post&lt;/a&gt;, and we have some very early development work towards a Quick Settings menu design for Pantheon &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/quick-settings&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. This is a project that I will caveat may be too ambitious to complete before the release of OS 8, but thanks to the modular nature of our Panel, it might be possible to have something of a transition period. We’ll have to see how development evolves!&lt;/p&gt;
  359.  
  360. &lt;h2 id=&quot;and-more&quot;&gt;And More&lt;/h2&gt;
  361.  
  362. &lt;p&gt;These are just some of the big picture ideas and most visible and ambitious projects that we’re pursuing and the ones which we’ve taken concrete steps towards. There are other things that we’re experimenting with, like the possibility of an immutable OS, and there are more mundane things that will certainly happen like shipping Pipewire. You’ll also see on the project board that we’re looking to replace the onscreen keyboard and it’s time to re-evaluate some things like SystemD Boot. You can expect lots more little features to be detailed over the coming months. What I hope is clear is that we’re looking at some of the largest changes to the design of Pantheon and its underlying architecture in quite some years for OS 8.&lt;/p&gt;
  363.  
  364. &lt;h2 id=&quot;funding&quot;&gt;Funding&lt;/h2&gt;
  365.  
  366. &lt;p&gt;Of course to make this and more happen we need to talk about funding! elementary is a super tiny software company that currently only has one full-time employee. Like many tech companies right now, sales have been a bit of a struggle and we’ve been working on tightening up our budget. One of the biggest ways you can help is by purchasing a copy of elementary OS or &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/sponsors/elementary&quot;&gt;sponsoring us on GitHub&lt;/a&gt;. We use these funds to hire contractors and sponsor our community members as well as for purchasing hardware for testing and enablement. So if you’re particularly interested in running elementary OS on ARM or tablet devices or with things like pen input, having a hardware budget is a great help. We also need funds to be able to attend major developer summits like GUADEC so that we can continue to collaborate effectively with the larger FreeDesktop ecosystem. And with enough funding it would be great to expand our full-time development team.&lt;/p&gt;
  367.  
  368. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-experimental-builds-now&quot;&gt;Get Experimental Builds Now&lt;/h2&gt;
  369.  
  370. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/sponsors/elementary&quot;&gt;Sponsors on GitHub&lt;/a&gt; can download the latest daily builds of elementary OS and experimental builds for platforms like Raspberry Pi and Pinebook Pro. This is the best way to support our development and follow along yourself. And very early builds of OS 8 built from Ubuntu 24.04 repositories are available to download in Early Access right now! They aren’t currently usable, but they will be soonish. Hang tight for more updates there. I think we’re moving quite quickly as Launchpad builds for Ubuntu Noble only became available last week!&lt;/p&gt;
  371.  
  372. &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center&quot;&gt;
  373.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io&quot; class=&quot;button suggested&quot;&gt;Get Early Access&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  374. &lt;/div&gt;
  375.  
  376. </description>
  377.          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  378.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/lets-talk-os-8/</link>
  379.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/lets-talk-os-8/</guid>
  380.          
  381.              
  382.              
  383.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  384.          
  385.          
  386.          <category>early-access</category>
  387.          
  388.          
  389.        </item>
  390.      
  391.    
  392.      
  393.        <item>
  394.          <title>elementary OS 7.1 Available Now</title>
  395.          <description>&lt;p&gt;Today, we’re proud to announce that OS 7.1 is available to download now and shipping on several high-quality computers. This release represents the sum of our work over the last several months as a single major update to the OS 7 series and includes &lt;a href=&quot;/tags/#updates&quot;&gt;all of the monthly OS updates&lt;/a&gt; we’ve detailed since the OS 7 release.&lt;/p&gt;
  396.  
  397. &lt;figure class=&quot;card&quot;&gt;
  398.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/desktop-onboarding.png&quot; alt=&quot;elementary OS 7.1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  399. &lt;/figure&gt;
  400.  
  401. &lt;p&gt;With OS 7.1, we’ve focused in on:&lt;/p&gt;
  402.  
  403. &lt;ul&gt;
  404.  &lt;li&gt;Providing &lt;strong&gt;personalization&lt;/strong&gt; options and features that make our operating system more &lt;strong&gt;inclusive&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;accessible&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  405.  &lt;li&gt;Protecting your &lt;strong&gt;privacy&lt;/strong&gt; and ensuring apps always operate with your explicit &lt;strong&gt;consent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  406.  &lt;li&gt;Addressing your &lt;strong&gt;feedback&lt;/strong&gt; with over 200 bug fixes, design changes, and new features&lt;/li&gt;
  407. &lt;/ul&gt;
  408.  
  409. &lt;p&gt;To get elementary OS 7.1 now, head to &lt;a href=&quot;https://elementary.io&quot;&gt;elementary.io&lt;/a&gt; for the download—or read on for an overview of what’s new.&lt;/p&gt;
  410.  
  411. &lt;hr /&gt;
  412.  
  413. &lt;h1 id=&quot;privacy--consent&quot;&gt;Privacy &amp;amp; Consent&lt;/h1&gt;
  414.  
  415. &lt;p&gt;One of the most prevalent problems we face in our current digital lives is the violation of our privacy and the lack of consent when interacting with our devices each day. Portals seek to provide a safe and consensual way for apps to interact with the operating system and ensure that they only get access to the data and features that you want them to.&lt;/p&gt;
  416.  
  417. &lt;p&gt;One of the ways that apps may become intrusive is by automatically starting themselves or running in the background without your permission. In OS 7.1, we now provide the Background &amp;amp; Autostart Portal which alerts you when apps are running in the background and makes sure that apps ask your permission before they can automatically start up when you turn on your device.&lt;/p&gt;
  418.  
  419. &lt;figure&gt;
  420.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/settings-autostart.png&quot; alt=&quot;System Settings → Applications → Startup&quot; width=&quot;990&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  421.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  422.    &lt;p&gt;Autostarting apps can now be controlled in System Settings → Applications → Startup&lt;/p&gt;
  423.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  424. &lt;/figure&gt;
  425.  
  426. &lt;p&gt;Calendar, Mail, and Tasks now all use the Background &amp;amp; Autostart portal, and their autostart behavior can be controlled along with other apps in System Settings → Applications → Startup. Calendar and Mail have also been updated to use the File Chooser Portal—the Portal responsible for making sure apps can’t access data without your permission—for things like selecting attachments or importing and exporting calendar files.&lt;/p&gt;
  427.  
  428. &lt;figure&gt;
  429.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/portal-location.png&quot; alt=&quot;The Location Portal&quot; width=&quot;502&quot; height=&quot;177&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  430.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  431.    &lt;p&gt;The Location Portal ensures apps ask before they can get your location&lt;/p&gt;
  432.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  433. &lt;/figure&gt;
  434.  
  435. &lt;p&gt;We’ve now also migrated Location Services from the old Agents system to Portals. This is a more secure method for apps to request access to your location, is the latest FreeDesktop.org standard for doing so, and improves our cross-platform app compatibility. You can adjust location settings in System Settings → Security &amp;amp; Privacy → Location Services. If the main switch here is turned off, apps and system services will not even be allowed to ask for permission to see your location.&lt;/p&gt;
  436.  
  437. &lt;h2 id=&quot;appcenter--sideload&quot;&gt;AppCenter &amp;amp; Sideload&lt;/h2&gt;
  438.  
  439. &lt;p&gt;As we work towards our continual goal of better supporting alternative app stores, one of the challenges is ensuring that you remain safe while using apps from stores with differing security and privacy policies. In elementary OS, the supported app packaging format is Flatpak which gives us several tools to that end, including the ability to report back to you when apps have advanced access that could leave you vulnerable.&lt;/p&gt;
  440.  
  441. &lt;figure class=&quot;half&quot;&gt;
  442.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/appcenter-autostart.png&quot; alt=&quot;Autostart warning in AppCenter&quot; width=&quot;974&quot; height=&quot;704&quot; /&gt;
  443. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/appcenter-files.png&quot; alt=&quot;File access warning in AppCenter&quot; width=&quot;974&quot; height=&quot;704&quot; /&gt;
  444. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/appcenter-sandbox.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sandbox break warning in AppCenter&quot; width=&quot;974&quot; height=&quot;704&quot; /&gt;
  445. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/appcenter-settings.png&quot; alt=&quot;Settings access warning in AppCenter&quot; width=&quot;974&quot; height=&quot;704&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  446.  &lt;figcaption&gt;AppCenter shows more information about app permissions&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  447. &lt;/figure&gt;
  448.  
  449. &lt;p&gt;In OS 7.1, AppCenter will now inform you if an app can can:&lt;/p&gt;
  450.  
  451. &lt;ul&gt;
  452.  &lt;li&gt;Read your location, send notifications, or automatically start and run in the background without asking first&lt;/li&gt;
  453.  &lt;li&gt;Access system folders or your home folder&lt;/li&gt;
  454.  &lt;li&gt;Read and write system settings&lt;/li&gt;
  455.  &lt;li&gt;Possibly escape the sandbox altogether and gain arbitrary advanced permissions&lt;/li&gt;
  456. &lt;/ul&gt;
  457.  
  458. &lt;p&gt;For certain types of administrative apps, having advanced system permissions makes sense, but our goal is to keep you informed and ensure that apps are always operating with your consent.&lt;/p&gt;
  459.  
  460. &lt;figure&gt;
  461.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/sideload-firefox.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sideload&quot; width=&quot;502&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  462.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  463.    &lt;p&gt;Sideload now quickly checks if apps request advanced system permissions&lt;/p&gt;
  464.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  465. &lt;/figure&gt;
  466.  
  467. &lt;p&gt;Our goal with Sideload is to keep you informed and in control when installing apps provided outside of AppCenter. We also want to make sure to balance that with the existing trust relationship you may have with the apps you love. So we’ve made some changes to how apps are presented in Sideload and instead of assuming that a sideloaded app is untrusted, we simply ask for you to validate your trust. Additionally, we now show some basic information about the kinds of broad system permissions that a sideloaded app may request. This isn’t as fine-grained as what is presented in AppCenter, but it offers quick validation for apps that are more likely to be safe and puts the emphasis on Sideload as a utility to verify your consent, not to gatekeep your choices.&lt;/p&gt;
  468.  
  469. &lt;h2 id=&quot;housekeeping--temporary-accounts&quot;&gt;Housekeeping &amp;amp; Temporary Accounts&lt;/h2&gt;
  470.  
  471. &lt;p&gt;Housekeeping is a feature designed to free up storage and protect your privacy by automatically deleting old files. In OS 7, you could choose to automatically clean up the Trash, Downloads, and temporary operating system files on a schedule of your choosing. In OS 7.1, we’ve added Screenshots to that list. You’ll first be introduced to Housekeeping in the Onboarding app, but you can adjust your Housekeeping settings at any time in System Settings → Security &amp;amp; Privacy → Housekeeping.&lt;/p&gt;
  472.  
  473. &lt;figure&gt;
  474.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/onboarding-housekeeping.png&quot; alt=&quot;Housekeeping in Onboarding&quot; width=&quot;485&quot; height=&quot;443&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  475.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  476.    &lt;p&gt;Housekeeping can clean up old Downloads, Screenshots, Trash, and other temporary files&lt;/p&gt;
  477.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  478. &lt;/figure&gt;
  479.  
  480. &lt;p&gt;The Guest account is a special account that provides a temporary space for folks who don’t normally use your device to access your computer without using your personal account. And, all settings and data in this account are reset as soon as they log out. In OS 7.1, Onboarding now handles providing information about how this account works, making its function and limitations much more clear.&lt;/p&gt;
  481.  
  482. &lt;h1 id=&quot;inclusivity--personalization&quot;&gt;Inclusivity &amp;amp; Personalization&lt;/h1&gt;
  483.  
  484. &lt;p&gt;When we think about settings and personalization in elementary OS, we tend to avoid settings that would pass off design or engineering decisions and instead focus on providing settings that make the operating system more accessible and inclusive for a wider range of people. We use this guiding philosophy to decide which new settings to add without creating an overwhelming or confusing number of customization options. This release, like every release, comes with a number of new features and settings that we hope make it possible for more people to enjoy using an Open Source operating system.&lt;/p&gt;
  485.  
  486. &lt;p&gt;We’ve received feedback from folks with vision-related disabilities that a huge barrier for them when considering an Open Source operating system is that they often need help to get it installed. Now, when you boot into the install media for elementary OS, we automatically play an audio prompt letting you know the keyboard shortcut for turning on the screen reader. And the same audio prompt is available during Initial Setup, so whether you’re buying a computer pre-installed with elementary OS or installing it on your existing computer, you can choose an Open Source operating system and remain independent.&lt;/p&gt;
  487.  
  488. &lt;figure&gt;
  489.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/settings-filters.png&quot; alt=&quot;System Settings → Displays → Filters&quot; width=&quot;990&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  490.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  491.    &lt;p&gt;We’ve introduced 5 new display filters to assist folks with color perception deficiency&lt;/p&gt;
  492.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  493. &lt;/figure&gt;
  494.  
  495. &lt;p&gt;From birth, 1 in 12 men experience color perception deficiency (aka color blindness) and some folks will develop color deficiency through illness or aging—but those we spoke to about accommodations reported that color deficiency assistance tools are often ineffective or unavailable and the lack of awareness and education around color deficiency means that many don’t seek assistance at all. This can affect daily tasks when trying to understand parts of their computer’s interface, but it also comes up when playing games and can make it difficult to work and play collaboratively. We introduced a set of 5 display filters, designed to assist folks with Protanopia, Deuteranopia, and Tritanopia with some additional high contrast options and plenty of assistive text to help folks without a formal color deficiency diagnosis. These filters alter the colors of the entire display to assist you in differentiating between colors where you may be experiencing color deficiency. The feedback we’ve received from testers has been very positive, so if you’ve used these kinds of filters in the past on other operating systems with lackluster results we encourage you to give these a try.&lt;/p&gt;
  496.  
  497. &lt;figure class=&quot;card third&quot;&gt;
  498.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/color-default.png&quot; alt=&quot;Default colors&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  499. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/color-protanopia.png&quot; alt=&quot;Protanopia Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  500. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/color-protanopia-hc.png&quot; alt=&quot;Protanopia High Contrast Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  501. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/color-deuteranopia.png&quot; alt=&quot;Deuteranopia Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  502. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/color-deuteranopia-hc.png&quot; alt=&quot;Deuteranopia Hight Contrast Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  503. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/color-tritanopia.png&quot; alt=&quot;Tritanopia Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  504.  &lt;figcaption&gt;A number of new display filters are available to assist with color deficiency&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  505. &lt;/figure&gt;
  506.  
  507. &lt;p&gt;Additionally, we’re now shipping a grayscale filter which can help avoid distractions or alleviate screen addiction. You can now make the display much warmer when using Night Light and we’ve added a new option in Desktop → Wallpaper to dim the wallpaper when the Dark Style is selected—a couple things that can help alleviate headache and eye strain. For folks who suffer from motion sickness or simply prefer fewer animations, the “Reduce Motion” setting in Desktop → Appearance now covers several more window manager and shell animations.&lt;/p&gt;
  508.  
  509. &lt;p&gt;Finally, checkboxes for optional indicators like the Accessibility indicator and the Capslock and Numlock indicators are now centrally located in Desktop → Dock &amp;amp; Panel. And we’ve improved screen reader names for several settings.&lt;/p&gt;
  510.  
  511. &lt;h2 id=&quot;gesture-and-keyboard-navigation&quot;&gt;Gesture and Keyboard Navigation&lt;/h2&gt;
  512.  
  513. &lt;p&gt;We know that Multitouch gestures and navigation are really important to folks running elementary OS on devices with touch screens and multitouch trackpads so we’ve continued to improve support for navigating via gestures in places like the Installer and in multi-step dialogs. And, there are now more options for switching workspaces using hot corners in System Settings →Desktop → Multitasking.&lt;/p&gt;
  514.  
  515. &lt;p&gt;Navigating via keyboard is important for a wide range of folks whether that’s due to disability or personal preference and this release comes with a number of improvements in this area. For managing app windows, you can now use the keyboard shortcut &lt;kbd&gt;Alt&lt;/kbd&gt; + &lt;kbd&gt;~&lt;/kbd&gt; for switching between windows of the same app, and you can now navigate with the arrow keys while holding down &lt;kbd&gt;Alt&lt;/kbd&gt; + &lt;kbd&gt;Tab&lt;/kbd&gt;. In the Multitasking View, a number of previously unavailable shortcuts are now available including Pointer location, Screenshots, and Zoom, in addition to regular workspace switching shortcuts. When customizing keyboard shortcuts, we now do a better job handling special keys and single-key shortcuts like the &lt;kbd&gt;PrintScreen&lt;/kbd&gt; key. And, you can now close panel indicators with &lt;kbd&gt;Esc&lt;/kbd&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  516.  
  517. &lt;figure&gt;
  518.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/settings-keyboard.png&quot; alt=&quot;System Settings → Keyboard → Behavior&quot; width=&quot;990&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  519.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  520.    &lt;p&gt;System Settings → Keyboard → Behavior now includes several new settings&lt;/p&gt;
  521.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  522. &lt;/figure&gt;
  523.  
  524. &lt;p&gt;We also completely revamped the Behavior page of System Settings → Keyboard. It now includes several new settings for things like Bounce, Slow, and Sticky keys with descriptions of their effects, and slider values are now shown on drag instead of in a separate widget. This work was the final piece of &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.elementary.io/accessibility-features-are-just-features/&quot;&gt;our project to integrate previously tucked-away accessibility settings&lt;/a&gt; throughout System Settings, improving their discoverability and normalizing the use of accommodations for everyone.&lt;/p&gt;
  525.  
  526. &lt;h2 id=&quot;login--lock-screen&quot;&gt;Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen&lt;/h2&gt;
  527.  
  528. &lt;p&gt;In OS 7, many of the personalization settings and accommodations you may have set up in your account were inaccessible on the Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen. In OS 7.1, we now match your mouse, keyboard, and touchpad settings—including improved keyboard layout handling—your chosen accent color is now used everywhere—not just on your login card—and it now handles solid color wallpapers. Your text size and font settings, pointer size settings, cursor blink settings, Night Light settings and more are all now respected as well. Plus, the ability to reveal the pointer is now available, the Screen Reader can be enabled with a keyboard shortcut, and it does a better job remembering your Screen Reader settings. As a subtle bonus, you’ll also notice that the Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen now has rounded corners that match the logged in session&lt;/p&gt;
  529.  
  530. &lt;h1 id=&quot;addressing-your-feedback&quot;&gt;Addressing Your Feedback&lt;/h1&gt;
  531.  
  532. &lt;p&gt;One of the greatest advantages we have developing elementary OS in the open as compared to proprietary operating systems is the ability to gather your feedback and for developers to directly engage with you to solve issues and create new features. Combined with our monthly release cadence, the Feedback app creates a tight loop where you can start a report, see development happen transparently, and receive updates quickly. With the release of OS 7, we made sure that the Feedback app was accessible directly from the applications menu, launched instantly, and covered more system components. In OS 7.1, we’ve added search and we’ve now ported the app to GTK 4—the latest version of our app toolkit—for improved performance and smoothness. This should make it even speedier to send feedback when something unexpected happens.&lt;/p&gt;
  533.  
  534. &lt;figure&gt;
  535.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/feedback.png&quot; alt=&quot;Feedback&quot; width=&quot;568&quot; height=&quot;620&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  536.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  537.    &lt;p&gt;The Feedback app is the fastest way to send your feedback directly to our developers&lt;/p&gt;
  538.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  539. &lt;/figure&gt;
  540.  
  541. &lt;p&gt;Since the release of OS 7 at the end of January, we’ve sent out free updates that address over 200 reports—that’s one report addressed every day in addition to our regular planned work. Needless to say OS 7.1 is much smoother, faster, and more stable than its predecessor thanks to your feedback. We’ve also made several design changes and added new features to address concerns that you’ve expressed and to better fit how you’ve told us that you use our operating system.&lt;/p&gt;
  542.  
  543. &lt;h2 id=&quot;appcenter--alt-stores&quot;&gt;AppCenter &amp;amp; Alt Stores&lt;/h2&gt;
  544.  
  545. &lt;p&gt;With Flatpak, you have access to an incredibly wide selection of apps and a growing number of alternative app stores. Unlike on mainstream proprietary operating systems, installing apps via Sideload and accessing alternative app stores are important features of elementary OS. We’ve consistently heard from folks that sideloading and alt stores are core parts of their experience when using our operating system. So, in the Onboarding app, when we’re introducing people to AppCenter—the pay-what-you-can app store with apps made specifically for elementary OS—we also now much more prominently introduce them to Sideload and even feature a link to the most popular Flatpak-powered app store: Flathub. And in AppCenter, we no longer split out apps from alt stores into a separate header in category views.&lt;/p&gt;
  546.  
  547. &lt;figure&gt;
  548.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/onboarding-apps.png&quot; alt=&quot;Apps in Onboarding&quot; width=&quot;485&quot; height=&quot;443&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  549.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  550.    &lt;p&gt;Onboarding introduces people to both AppCenter and Sideload equally&lt;/p&gt;
  551.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  552. &lt;/figure&gt;
  553.  
  554. &lt;p&gt;One of the challenges we face is gracefully recovering and providing useful options when things go wrong. In OS 7, a failure when installing certain kinds of Flatpak updates could only be resolved by jumping into a Terminal; In OS 7.1, we have a handy Flatpak Repair feature that can fix most issues with these kinds of failures.&lt;/p&gt;
  555.  
  556. &lt;h2 id=&quot;hardware-support&quot;&gt;Hardware Support&lt;/h2&gt;
  557.  
  558. &lt;p&gt;Some computers contain hardware devices that require additional, proprietary drivers to function properly. This previously made installing elementary OS difficult when wireless network drivers or video card drivers were unavailable. We now provide an option during installation to include these proprietary drivers so that your devices function properly.&lt;/p&gt;
  559.  
  560. &lt;p&gt;OS 7.1 also includes the latest long-term support Hardware Enablement stack from Ubuntu, including Linux 6.2. Notably, this brings improved support for Intel 13th gen processors and Intel Arc graphics, as well as performance enhancements for AMD Zen 4 CPUs.&lt;/p&gt;
  561.  
  562. &lt;p&gt;We also now automatically check for and notify of updates to device Firmware when they’re available. Plus, there should be more accurate display resolution options available in System Settings → Displays.&lt;/p&gt;
  563.  
  564. &lt;h2 id=&quot;web&quot;&gt;Web&lt;/h2&gt;
  565.  
  566. &lt;p&gt;OS 7 shipped with GNOME Web 43, the latest version available at the time. Thanks to Flatpak, we’ve been able to stay up to date with the latest releases of Web and OS 7.1 is shipping with version 44.6 which brings substantial improvements to performance and web standards compatibility, plus a new saved passwords popover.&lt;/p&gt;
  567.  
  568. &lt;figure&gt;
  569.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/web-welcome.png&quot; alt=&quot;GNOME Web&quot; width=&quot;1058&quot; height=&quot;802&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  570.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  571.    &lt;p&gt;Web is faster and more capable with features like Firefox sync and intelligent tracking prevention&lt;/p&gt;
  572.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  573. &lt;/figure&gt;
  574.  
  575. &lt;p&gt;With Firefox sync, web apps, intelligent tracking prevention that is actually intended to protect your privacy, built-in popup blocking, and performance that now matches major mainstream competitors, there’s never been a better time to use this community-made web browser.&lt;/p&gt;
  576.  
  577. &lt;h2 id=&quot;mail&quot;&gt;Mail&lt;/h2&gt;
  578.  
  579. &lt;p&gt;In OS 6, we began an ambitious rewrite of Mail on a more stable and battle-tested base and we’re happy to report that with OS 7.1, Mail has gained a number of new features and improvements that you’ve been asking for.&lt;/p&gt;
  580.  
  581. &lt;p&gt;In the sidebar, you’ll notice that special folders like “Archive” and “Spam” are better detected and appear at the top level, even for accounts like Gmail that used to hide them as subfolders. You can now also rename folders by secondary-clicking on them and selecting “Rename Folder”. Plus, performance has been improved when switching between folders.&lt;/p&gt;
  582.  
  583. &lt;p&gt;In the conversation list, you can now use a multi-touch swipe or click-and-drag left or right to quickly archive or trash a conversation. You might also appreciate some subtle design tweaks like placing the conversation list filter next to the search bar or how headers now appear to float over scrolled content.&lt;/p&gt;
  584.  
  585. &lt;figure&gt;
  586.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/mail-move.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mail&quot; width=&quot;990&quot; height=&quot;716&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  587.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  588.    &lt;p&gt;The new “Move Conversation” menu with search&lt;/p&gt;
  589.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  590. &lt;/figure&gt;
  591.  
  592. &lt;p&gt;In the messages list, there’s a new “Move conversation” menu that includes search, and you’ll notice that archiving and moving messages can now be undone. And a handy infobar is shown when a message includes a calendar invite.&lt;/p&gt;
  593.  
  594. &lt;figure&gt;
  595.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/mail-compose.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mail&quot; width=&quot;744&quot; height=&quot;564&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  596.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  597.    &lt;p&gt;The composer now supports inline attachments and signatures&lt;/p&gt;
  598.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  599. &lt;/figure&gt;
  600.  
  601. &lt;p&gt;When composing a message, you can now add images inline and you can include attachments in forwarded messages. Plus we’ve added support for multiple custom signatures. You can create as many signatures as you’d like and assign them as the defaults for accounts as needed. The new “Insert signature…” menu makes it easy to swap between any of your saved signatures when composing. And the composer now always opens in a separate, non-modal window making it much easier to reference a message you’re replying to or manage multiple drafts at the same time. It also features quite a few more keyboard shortcuts for text formatting, adding attachments, etc.&lt;/p&gt;
  602.  
  603. &lt;figure&gt;
  604.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/mail-signatures.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mail&quot; width=&quot;564&quot; height=&quot;364&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  605.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  606.    &lt;p&gt;You can set up as many signatures as you like and set per-account defaults&lt;/p&gt;
  607.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  608. &lt;/figure&gt;
  609.  
  610. &lt;p&gt;Mail also does a better job handling changes in your internet connection, and if you like to start Mail manually, it will wait until the first time you’ve started it to check for new messages in the background.&lt;/p&gt;
  611.  
  612. &lt;h2 id=&quot;files&quot;&gt;Files&lt;/h2&gt;
  613.  
  614. &lt;p&gt;In the Files app, we’re always striving to strike a balance between providing advanced file management features and avoiding clutter and confusion. Folder context menus had begun to reach a point where they were being stretched a bit too far, so we introduced a new app menu in the headerbar to provide app-wide controls and settings and improve the discoverability of some features that were previously only accessible by keyboard shortcut like Zoom and Undo/Redo. The new Zoom controls make it easier to set a comfortable icon size and expose keyboard shortcuts in their tooltips. The Undo and Redo buttons include tooltips showing what operation will be performed before you click them as well as their keyboard shortcuts. The description text for the Double-click setting has been made more clear based on your feedback, and we’ve consolidated settings for which things will be shown in the view such as Hidden Files and Thumbnails.&lt;/p&gt;
  615.  
  616. &lt;figure&gt;
  617.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/files-menu.png&quot; alt=&quot;Files&quot; width=&quot;1064&quot; height=&quot;744&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  618.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  619.    &lt;p&gt;The new app menu in Files exposes more functionality like zoom and undo/redo&lt;/p&gt;
  620.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  621. &lt;/figure&gt;
  622.  
  623. &lt;p&gt;We’ve also introduced Bulk Rename. With this feature, you can select multiple files, secondary-click, and select “Rename…” to get an advanced bulk renaming dialog. This is an especially useful feature if you’re working with a large collection of photos or spreadsheets or other kinds of files that you may want to rename by creation date or using another sequence or when you have to format a large number of files the same way. You can add automatically generated prefixes or suffixes to file names, as well as keeping, completely replacing, or partially replacing parts of the original file name. You’ll see a preview of how files will be renamed as well as an indication of when file names would conflict or not be changed.&lt;/p&gt;
  624.  
  625. &lt;figure&gt;
  626.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/files-rename.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bulk Rename&quot; width=&quot;492&quot; height=&quot;448&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  627.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  628.    &lt;p&gt;You can now quickly rename multiple files at once&lt;/p&gt;
  629.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  630. &lt;/figure&gt;
  631.  
  632. &lt;p&gt;Plus, you can now share files with other devices via Bluetooth. A new Bluetooth transfer dialog is available by secondary-clicking a file or selection of files and selecting “Send Files via Bluetooth” from the context menu. You can see ongoing transfers in the Bluetooth indicator.&lt;/p&gt;
  633.  
  634. &lt;figure&gt;
  635.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/files-bluetooth.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bluetooth Sharing&quot; width=&quot;408&quot; height=&quot;508&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  636.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  637.    &lt;p&gt;Share files to other devices over Bluetooth&lt;/p&gt;
  638.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  639. &lt;/figure&gt;
  640.  
  641. &lt;p&gt;Lastly, the tab bar features improved animations, smoother drag-and-drop, and reorganized tab context menus, bringing it more in line with Web. The storage level bar in Properties dialogs will now change color depending on how full a drive is. And we’ve rewritten the way color tags are stored so that they are better preserved when restoring from the Trash.&lt;/p&gt;
  642.  
  643. &lt;h2 id=&quot;code&quot;&gt;Code&lt;/h2&gt;
  644.  
  645. &lt;p&gt;Code now does a better job handling file saving and preventing data loss when files can’t be written to their original location. Some busy infobars are now dialogs, and we avoid showing too many aggressive warnings about file saving. And you can now optionally try to continue loading files that contain unknown characters or corrupted content.&lt;/p&gt;
  646.  
  647. &lt;p&gt;Search options are now all available from a new menu, there’s now a “match whole words” option, and your search settings are now saved between sessions. The search entry also provides visual feedback when no results are found. We do a better job deciding which string to search if you have both a selection and text in the search entry, and make sure that the “Replace” and “Replace All” buttons are enabled and disabled more accurately.&lt;/p&gt;
  648.  
  649. &lt;figure&gt;
  650.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/code-search.png&quot; alt=&quot;Search in Code&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  651.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  652.    &lt;p&gt;Search options have been reworked and expanded in Code&lt;/p&gt;
  653.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  654. &lt;/figure&gt;
  655.  
  656. &lt;p&gt;The tab width menu has been reworked quite a bit to more accurately prioritize between your global defaults, per document settings, and editorconfig file. Plus, you can now switch tabs with the keyboard shortcut &lt;kbd&gt;Ctrl&lt;/kbd&gt; + &lt;kbd&gt;PageUp&lt;/kbd&gt;/&lt;kbd&gt;PageDown&lt;/kbd&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  657.  
  658. &lt;h2 id=&quot;music--videos&quot;&gt;Music &amp;amp; Videos&lt;/h2&gt;
  659.  
  660. &lt;p&gt;Videos has undergone a large rewrite of its internals which has made it more reliable and performant. Expect a flatter app appearance in the welcome screen and library, improved playback position saving, smoother navigation, and in-app notifications when adding items to the playlist.&lt;/p&gt;
  661.  
  662. &lt;figure&gt;
  663.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/videos.png&quot; alt=&quot;Videos&quot; width=&quot;1069&quot; height=&quot;747&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  664.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  665.    &lt;p&gt;Videos is now a bit flatter&lt;/p&gt;
  666.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  667. &lt;/figure&gt;
  668.  
  669. &lt;p&gt;Music can now accept Drag and Drop of whole folders—in addition to individual files or selections of files—and you can secondary click on a folder in Files and open it with Music.&lt;/p&gt;
  670.  
  671. &lt;h2 id=&quot;notifications&quot;&gt;Notifications&lt;/h2&gt;
  672.  
  673. &lt;p&gt;The Notifications indicator is where you can catch up with missed notifications and it supports all the same ways you’re used to interacting with notifications like tapping a notification to launch the app that sent it and multi-touch swipe left or right to dismiss. Now, missed notifications can also have buttons and apps can replace old outdated notifications with newer up-to-date ones instead of adding more and more notifications to the stack.&lt;/p&gt;
  674.  
  675. &lt;figure class=&quot;card&quot;&gt;
  676.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/indicator-notifications.png&quot; alt=&quot;Notifications Indicator&quot; width=&quot;723&quot; height=&quot;610&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  677.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  678.    &lt;p&gt;Notifications in the indicator can be replaced with updated ones or have buttons and app sections can be collapsed&lt;/p&gt;
  679.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  680. &lt;/figure&gt;
  681.  
  682. &lt;p&gt;Sometimes we have apps that send a lot of notifications that are important but drown out other apps, so now you can select the spinning triangle icon to collapse all the notifications from a particular app.&lt;/p&gt;
  683.  
  684. &lt;p&gt;Critical notifications—like low battery warnings—will now still be sent even when Do Not Disturb is active and notifications are now shown even when in the Multitasking View. Plus, we’ve improved support for notifications that include markup—like bold and italics—and we removed the intrusive “Automatic Suspend” notifications that would sometimes prevent your device from sleeping.&lt;/p&gt;
  685.  
  686. &lt;h2 id=&quot;panel&quot;&gt;Panel&lt;/h2&gt;
  687.  
  688. &lt;p&gt;The Network indicator received some much-needed design attention and now offers a vastly-improved experience for using VPNs. You’ll notice that most options now appear as circular toggle buttons with icons instead of a list of switches. This new design both saves space on devices with complex network configurations and shows the status of your various connections much clearer, including intermediate and error states. In the case of VPNs, you can now also activate multiple connections at once. We’ve also added quick access to toggling Airplane Mode, including a middle-click action on the indicator icon. Plus, we’re now using a feature of Network Manager to automatically get better device names so you’ll rarely see long and cryptic device names any longer.&lt;/p&gt;
  689.  
  690. &lt;figure class=&quot;card&quot;&gt;
  691.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/indicator-network.png&quot; alt=&quot;Network Indicator&quot; width=&quot;580&quot; height=&quot;326&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  692.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  693.    &lt;p&gt;Complex network configurations are handled more gracefully and VPN support has been entirely reworked&lt;/p&gt;
  694.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  695. &lt;/figure&gt;
  696.  
  697. &lt;p&gt;We’ve also improved the way Bluetooth devices are listed in the panel: they will now use any custom device names you’ve set up before falling back to more generic device names.&lt;/p&gt;
  698.  
  699. &lt;p&gt;The Sound indicator was updated to use circle buttons and should no longer change size when skipping tracks. Muting should no longer affect monitor sources.&lt;/p&gt;
  700.  
  701. &lt;figure class=&quot;card&quot;&gt;
  702.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/indicator-sound.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sound Indicator&quot; width=&quot;440&quot; height=&quot;248&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  703.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  704.    &lt;p&gt;The Sound indicator now uses circular buttons&lt;/p&gt;
  705.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  706. &lt;/figure&gt;
  707.  
  708. &lt;p&gt;The Power indicator now always uses hours as its largest unit, for example it will say “26 hours remaining” instead of “1 day remaining” and we improved the accuracy of battery level icons.&lt;/p&gt;
  709.  
  710. &lt;p&gt;Plus, we’ve updated icons in the Bluetooth, Network, Night Light, Notifications, and Sound indicators to be more consistently sized and with clearer disabled states.&lt;/p&gt;
  711.  
  712. &lt;h2 id=&quot;other-design-improvements&quot;&gt;Other Design Improvements&lt;/h2&gt;
  713.  
  714. &lt;p&gt;In OS 7 we began the process of improving the design of our apps and operating system to be used on a wide range of displays from small laptops and tablets to large desktops, and when tiling apps side by side. We’ve continued that work into OS 7.1 in a couple of notable places.&lt;/p&gt;
  715.  
  716. &lt;p&gt;Several pages in System Settings have been redesigned for improved responsiveness on large and small displays, including Applications → Defaults and Applications → Startup, Desktop → Dock &amp;amp; Panel, Displays → Night Light, Keyboard → Behavior, and Sound. And in several of these views we improved description text for more complicated settings.&lt;/p&gt;
  717.  
  718. &lt;figure&gt;
  719.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/appcenter-updates.png&quot; alt=&quot;Installed apps in AppCenter&quot; width=&quot;974&quot; height=&quot;704&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  720.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  721.    &lt;p&gt;AppCenter’s Installed &amp;amp; Updates view makes better use of space on large displays&lt;/p&gt;
  722.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  723. &lt;/figure&gt;
  724.  
  725. &lt;p&gt;Our responsive work also continued in AppCenter, where App Info views were reworked to tighten up spacing and improve alignment. Special attention was put into making sure the most important information appears “above the fold”, especially on smaller displays like in some laptops. And the Installed &amp;amp; Updates view now uses a grid layout for installed apps, making better use of space on large displays.&lt;/p&gt;
  726.  
  727. &lt;figure class=&quot;third&quot;&gt;
  728.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/onboarding-welcome.png&quot; alt=&quot;Welcome in Onboarding&quot; width=&quot;485&quot; height=&quot;443&quot; /&gt;
  729. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/onboarding-style.png&quot; alt=&quot;Style in Onboarding&quot; width=&quot;485&quot; height=&quot;443&quot; /&gt;
  730. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/os-7-1-available-now/onboarding-nightlight.png&quot; alt=&quot;Nightlight in Onboarding&quot; width=&quot;485&quot; height=&quot;443&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  731.  &lt;figcaption&gt;Onboarding features bolder typography and some new icons&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  732. &lt;/figure&gt;
  733.  
  734. &lt;p&gt;Onboarding also features several redesigned pages with some new icons and bolder typography. We now use the release wallpaper in a dynamically generated icon on the Welcome page, and previews in the Style view use the currently set wallpaper.&lt;/p&gt;
  735.  
  736. &lt;p&gt;Plus, arrow shapes have been improved for many action icons across all apps and several icons now appear sharper when the dark style is selected.&lt;/p&gt;
  737.  
  738. &lt;hr /&gt;
  739.  
  740. &lt;h1 id=&quot;get-elementary-os-71&quot;&gt;Get elementary OS 7.1&lt;/h1&gt;
  741.  
  742. &lt;p&gt;elementary OS 7.1 is available as a pay-what-you-can purchase at &lt;a href=&quot;https://elementary.io&quot;&gt;elementary.io&lt;/a&gt; today. Localized direct downloads and a torrent magnet link are provided.&lt;/p&gt;
  743.  
  744. &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center&quot;&gt;
  745.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/os/wiki/OS-7.1-FAQ&quot; class=&quot;button flat&quot;&gt;OS 7.1 FAQ&lt;/a&gt;
  746. &lt;a href=&quot;https://elementary.io&quot; class=&quot;button suggested&quot;&gt;Download elementary OS 7.1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  747. &lt;/div&gt;
  748.  
  749. &lt;p&gt;If you’re already on elementary OS 7, you’ll get the update to OS 7.1 alongside regular operating system updates. If you haven’t already, open AppCenter and select &lt;em&gt;Update All&lt;/em&gt; to be upgraded.&lt;/p&gt;
  750.  
  751. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-a-new-computer&quot;&gt;Get A New Computer&lt;/h2&gt;
  752.  
  753. &lt;p&gt;Our hardware retailers &lt;a href=&quot;https://laptopwithlinux.com/?ref=36&amp;amp;utm_source=referral&amp;amp;utm_medium=elementary&amp;amp;utm_campaign=elementary&quot;&gt;Laptop with Linux&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://starlabs.systems/?rfsn=4227837.e8f025&quot;&gt;Star Labs&lt;/a&gt; are offering elementary OS 7.1 out of the box starting today! Visit retailers’ individual sites for more information.&lt;/p&gt;
  754.  
  755. &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center&quot;&gt;
  756.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://store.elementary.io/&quot; class=&quot;button&quot;&gt;Shop Devices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  757. &lt;/div&gt;
  758.  
  759. </description>
  760.          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  761.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/os-7-1-available-now/</link>
  762.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/os-7-1-available-now/</guid>
  763.          
  764.              
  765.              
  766.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  767.          
  768.          
  769.          <category>horus</category>
  770.          
  771.          <category>updates</category>
  772.          
  773.          <category>release</category>
  774.          
  775.          
  776.        </item>
  777.      
  778.    
  779.      
  780.        <item>
  781.          <title>One Last Bug Fix Update Before The Big One</title>
  782.          <description>&lt;p&gt;It turns out we have one more updates blog before OS 7.1 and it brings a number of fixes and a few small features. We’re hard at work resolving your reported issues to make this release as smooth and shiny as it possibly can be! So read ahead and find out what was new last month.&lt;/p&gt;
  783.  
  784. &lt;h2 id=&quot;feedback&quot;&gt;Feedback&lt;/h2&gt;
  785.  
  786. &lt;p&gt;The Feedback app has been ported to GTK 4 and it now features search! This should make it much speedier to send feedback when something unexpected happens.&lt;/p&gt;
  787.  
  788. &lt;figure&gt;
  789.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-august-2023/feedback.png&quot; alt=&quot;Feedback&quot; width=&quot;570&quot; height=&quot;621&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  790.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  791.    &lt;p&gt;The Feedback app now features search&lt;/p&gt;
  792.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  793. &lt;/figure&gt;
  794.  
  795. &lt;p&gt;The feedback app is our way to stay connected with you and address any issues you come across, so please make sure to make use of it. The issues that we send fixes for every month come directly from folks who make use of this app.&lt;/p&gt;
  796.  
  797. &lt;h2 id=&quot;videos&quot;&gt;Videos&lt;/h2&gt;
  798.  
  799. &lt;p&gt;We’ve been hard at work getting Videos ready for GTK 4 and one of the steps along the way was getting rid of Clutter—big “C”—which has lead to a massive rework of the app’s internals. The code base is much cleaner and clearer and should be more reliable and performant. This release still uses GTK 3, but look forward to GTK 4 in the next release.&lt;/p&gt;
  800.  
  801. &lt;figure&gt;
  802.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-august-2023/videos.png&quot; alt=&quot;Videos&quot; width=&quot;1069&quot; height=&quot;747&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  803.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  804.    &lt;p&gt;Videos is a wee bit flatter&lt;/p&gt;
  805.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  806. &lt;/figure&gt;
  807.  
  808. &lt;p&gt;For now you can expect improved playback position saving, a flatter app appearance in the welcome screen and library, smoother navigation, and in-app notifications when adding items to the playlist. Major shoutouts to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; here.&lt;/p&gt;
  809.  
  810. &lt;h2 id=&quot;files&quot;&gt;Files&lt;/h2&gt;
  811.  
  812. &lt;p&gt;This release of Files sports a new Tab Bar powered by LibHandy with improved animations, smoother drag-and-drop, and reorganized tab context menus, bringing it more in line with Web. &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt; has also rewritten the way color tags are stored using extended file attributes instead of a database; This means tags should be better preserved when restoring from the Trash for example and you’ve no need to fear because Files will automatically update your tags to use the new system in the background. He also solved several issues around refreshing and temporary files as well as making sure that tab history is properly preserved when opening Files from another app.&lt;/p&gt;
  813.  
  814. &lt;h2 id=&quot;system-settings&quot;&gt;System Settings&lt;/h2&gt;
  815.  
  816. &lt;p&gt;A couple of keyboard settings moved around, but were not removed! On-screen keyboard settings are now on the Behavior tab and panel indicator settings are now available in Desktop → Dock &amp;amp; Panel. &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/ryonakano&quot;&gt;Ryo&lt;/a&gt; fixed an issue that prevented the progress dialog from being shown when installing input method engines, as well as adding multitouch gesture support for navigating backwards through the installation steps, and made sure the &lt;kbd&gt;PrintScreen&lt;/kbd&gt; key can be used for keyboard shortcuts. &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; added the “Cycle Windows of application” and “Cycle Windows of application backwards” shortcuts, fixed an issue with input method switching, and guarded against a potential crasher.&lt;/p&gt;
  817.  
  818. &lt;p&gt;In applications settings, we fixed an issue that caused no default music player to be set on new accounts, and added search to the Permissions tab, thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  819.  
  820. &lt;h2 id=&quot;panel&quot;&gt;Panel&lt;/h2&gt;
  821.  
  822. &lt;p&gt;After receiving quite a bit of feedback about the panel appearing broken when folks modify the system visual assets, the panel now always uses the elementary stylesheet and icons to prevent style issues. You can also now close panel indicators with &lt;kbd&gt;Esc&lt;/kbd&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; fixed an issue that caused indicators to re-animate if an indicator was updated or removed.&lt;/p&gt;
  823.  
  824. &lt;p&gt;The Power indicator now always uses hours as its largest unit, for example it will say “26 hours remaining” instead of “1 day remaining” and we resolved an issue that caused battery level icons to sometimes be inaccurate. Thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/vjr&quot;&gt;Vishal&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  825.  
  826. &lt;h2 id=&quot;and-more&quot;&gt;And More&lt;/h2&gt;
  827.  
  828. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; fixed an issue where apps using the new Background &amp;amp; Autostart portal might repeatedly try to add themselves to autostart even when you’d previously disabled them. Another half dozen bug fixes landed in our Window Manager thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt;, including several related to workspaces. Also &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/marukesu&quot;&gt;Gustavo&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; fixed a couple issues related to Notification close behavior.&lt;/p&gt;
  829.  
  830. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-these-updates&quot;&gt;Get These Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  831.  
  832. &lt;p&gt;As always, pop open AppCenter on elementary OS 7 and hit “Update All” to get all these updates plus your regular security, bug fix, and translation updates.&lt;/p&gt;
  833.  
  834. &lt;hr /&gt;
  835.  
  836. &lt;h2 id=&quot;early-access-preview&quot;&gt;Early Access Preview&lt;/h2&gt;
  837.  
  838. &lt;p&gt;If you’re in Early Access we’d love your help testing the new additional drivers option in the installer! The latest daily builds include an installation step for Broadcom Wifi and Nvidia Graphics, so if you’ve previously had trouble installing elementary OS on devices with that hardware, please give it another try and report back if you experience any issues! Also be on the look out for stable Release Candidate quality builds very soon. We’ll send a message through GitHub Sponsors when they’re available and as part of Early Access, you’ll get to download the stable release of OS 7.1 before anyone else!&lt;/p&gt;
  839.  
  840. &lt;p&gt;Early Access is a great way to help us test new features and find bugs before they roll out to everyone. If you’re not already in early access, you can be among the first to try it and give your feedback by joining &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;Early Access for a $10/mo sponsorship&lt;/a&gt;. As you can see, there’s a lot of new stuff to test right now!&lt;/p&gt;
  841.  
  842. &lt;hr /&gt;
  843.  
  844. &lt;h2 id=&quot;developer-platform&quot;&gt;Developer Platform&lt;/h2&gt;
  845.  
  846. &lt;p&gt;A new release of elementary Icons is out and features a number of refinements thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/newhoa&quot;&gt;newhoa&lt;/a&gt;. Notably, arrow shapes have been improved for many action icons and several icons now appear sharper in dark mode. Plus, several non-freedesktop-named icons related to indicators have been removed since they are now shipped with those components instead of as part of our platform.&lt;/p&gt;
  847.  
  848. &lt;p&gt;Speaking of which, Platform 7.2.1 has been released. You can find the full release notes on &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/flatpak-platform/releases/tag/7.2.1&quot;&gt;GitHub&lt;/a&gt; but note that this is a fairly minor release just incorporating some recent bug fixes and you will not need to update your Flatpak manifest file for your app to take advantage of this update.&lt;/p&gt;
  849.  
  850. &lt;figure&gt;
  851.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-august-2023/iconbrowser.png&quot; alt=&quot;Icon Browser&quot; width=&quot;962&quot; height=&quot;651&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  852.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  853.    &lt;p&gt;Icon Browser’s code sample now updates based on your selection&lt;/p&gt;
  854.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  855. &lt;/figure&gt;
  856.  
  857. &lt;p&gt;Finally, a new version of Icon Browser has been released that updates the displayed code sample based on which version of an icon you’ve selected in the view, so be sure to check that out if you write apps for elementary OS.&lt;/p&gt;
  858. </description>
  859.          <pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  860.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-august-2023/</link>
  861.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-august-2023/</guid>
  862.          
  863.              
  864.              
  865.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  866.          
  867.          
  868.          <category>horus</category>
  869.          
  870.          <category>updates</category>
  871.          
  872.          
  873.        </item>
  874.      
  875.    
  876.      
  877.        <item>
  878.          <title>New Features For Mail, A More Personal Lock Screen, And System Settings Improvements</title>
  879.          <description>&lt;p&gt;This should be the last monthly update before &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/122/views/2&quot;&gt;OS 7.1&lt;/a&gt; and it’s a good one! We have new releases of our office productivity apps, including several new features in Mail, a much more personal Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen experience with improved accessibility, and a couple of large redesigns in System Settings. Plus, for our developers we have a big new release of Code with tons of bug fixes. And don’t forget to read the Early Access Preview to find out what last minute features might make it into the next big OS release.&lt;/p&gt;
  880.  
  881. &lt;h2 id=&quot;mail&quot;&gt;Mail&lt;/h2&gt;
  882.  
  883. &lt;p&gt;This release of Mail was really a labor of love from &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; and includes several new features and quality of life improvements. It now also uses the File Chooser Portal when selecting attachments and the Background &amp;amp; Autostart portal—&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-june-2023&quot;&gt;as previously teased&lt;/a&gt;—so you can control its autostart behavior in System Settings → Applications → Startup. Mail also does a better job handling changes in your internet connection, and can check messages in the background even when not autostarted.&lt;/p&gt;
  884.  
  885. &lt;figure&gt;
  886.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/mail.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mail&quot; width=&quot;1039&quot; height=&quot;765&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  887. &lt;/figure&gt;
  888.  
  889. &lt;p&gt;In the sidebar, you’ll notice that special folders like “Archive” and “Spam” are better detected and appear at the top level, even for accounts like Gmail that used to hide them as subfolders. You can now also rename folders by secondary-clicking on them and selecting “Rename Folder”. An issue was resolved where some accounts with no archive folder displayed their inbox in the Archive for all mailboxes. And you’ll notice that Mail’s primary menu is now in the bottom right corner of the sidebar. Plus, performance has been improved when switching between folders.&lt;/p&gt;
  890.  
  891. &lt;p&gt;In the conversation list, you can now use a multi-touch swipe or click-and-drag left or right to quickly archive or trash a conversation. In the messages list, there’s a new “Move conversation” menu that includes search, and you’ll notice that archiving and moving messages can now be undone. Mail now does a better job of calculating message height to avoid extra scroll bars, and a handy infobar is shown when a message includes a calendar invite.&lt;/p&gt;
  892.  
  893. &lt;figure class=&quot;half&quot;&gt;
  894.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/mail-compose.png&quot; alt=&quot;Composing a new message in Mail&quot; width=&quot;744&quot; height=&quot;564&quot; /&gt;
  895. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/mail-signatures.png&quot; alt=&quot;Creating signatures in Mail&quot; width=&quot;564&quot; height=&quot;364&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  896.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  897.    &lt;p&gt;Mail now supports inline images and multiple saved signatures&lt;/p&gt;
  898.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  899. &lt;/figure&gt;
  900.  
  901. &lt;p&gt;When composing a message, you can now add images inline and you can include attachments in forwarded messages. Plus this release brings support for signatures. You can create as many signatures as you’d like and assign them as the defaults for accounts as needed. The new “Insert signature…” menu makes it easy to swap between any of your saved signatures when composing.&lt;/p&gt;
  902.  
  903. &lt;h2 id=&quot;calendar--tasks&quot;&gt;Calendar &amp;amp; Tasks&lt;/h2&gt;
  904.  
  905. &lt;p&gt;Calendar now uses the File Chooser Portal when importing and exporting calendar files, animations when switching months have been updated to match button directions, and it now uses your system accent color instead of its own. An issue in tasks where some tasks could become duplicated was resolved, as well as a small visual issue in dark mode. Both Calendar &amp;amp; Tasks now use the Background &amp;amp; Autostart portal as well, and their autostart behavior can be controlled in System Settings → Applications → Startup. Shoutouts to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/marukesu&quot;&gt;Gustavo&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/Claudio-code&quot;&gt;Claudio&lt;/a&gt; for their work on office productivity apps this month.&lt;/p&gt;
  906.  
  907. &lt;h2 id=&quot;login--lock-screen&quot;&gt;Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen&lt;/h2&gt;
  908.  
  909. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; has recently made it his mission to respect all of your system settings and improve accessibility on the Login &amp;amp; Lock screen. It now does a better job matching your mouse, keyboard, and touchpad settings, including improved keyboard layout handling. Your chosen accent color is now used everywhere—not just on your login card—and it now handles solid color wallpapers. Your text size and font settings, pointer size settings, cursor blink settings, Night Light settings and more are all now respected as well. Plus, the ability to reveal the pointer is now available, the Screen Reader can be enabled with a keyboard shortcut, and it does a better job remembering your Screen Reader settings.&lt;/p&gt;
  910.  
  911. &lt;p&gt;In addition to all of that, an issue that prevented cards from being selected when clicked in certain areas has now been fixed, as well as potential issues with dialogs that use Portals, potential issues with multi-display setups, and an issue where settings would be reset when incorrect credentials were entered. Plus you’ll also notice that the Login &amp;amp; Lock Screen now has subtly rounded corners that match the logged in session.&lt;/p&gt;
  912.  
  913. &lt;h2 id=&quot;system-settings&quot;&gt;System Settings&lt;/h2&gt;
  914.  
  915. &lt;p&gt;Sound Settings got a bit of a redesign for improved responsiveness on small and large displays and you may notice some improved description labels. Plus, &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; fixed a reported crash.&lt;/p&gt;
  916.  
  917. &lt;figure class=&quot;half&quot;&gt;
  918.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/sound-output.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sound Output Settings&quot; width=&quot;1198&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;
  919. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/sound-input.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sound Input Settings&quot; width=&quot;1198&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  920.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  921.    &lt;p&gt;Sound settings slightly redesigned for small and large displays&lt;/p&gt;
  922.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  923. &lt;/figure&gt;
  924.  
  925. &lt;p&gt;The Dock &amp;amp; Panel tab of Desktop settings also received a responsive redesign with added description labels for some settings. Additionally, checkboxes for extra indicators like the Accessibility indicator and the Capslock and Numlock indicators are now centrally located here. Plus &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; fixed an issue where wallpapers might not get removed when quickly closing System Settings.&lt;/p&gt;
  926.  
  927. &lt;figure&gt;
  928.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/settings-dock-panel.png&quot; alt=&quot;System Settings → Desktop → Dock &amp;amp; Panel&quot; width=&quot;1198&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  929.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  930.    &lt;p&gt;Dock &amp;amp; Panel now includes optional panel indicator settings&lt;/p&gt;
  931.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  932. &lt;/figure&gt;
  933.  
  934. &lt;p&gt;The Behavior tab of Keyboard settings got a major update with the additional of several new settings for things like Bounce, Slow, and Sticky keys. Slider values are now shown on drag instead of in a separate widget. Plus, app developers can now link directly to custom shortcuts settings thanks again to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  935.  
  936. &lt;figure&gt;
  937.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/keyboard-behavior.png&quot; alt=&quot;System Settings → Keyboard → Behavior&quot; width=&quot;1198&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  938.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  939.    &lt;p&gt;Keyboard Behavior now includes Bounce, Slow, and Sticky keys&lt;/p&gt;
  940.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  941. &lt;/figure&gt;
  942.  
  943. &lt;p&gt;In Security &amp;amp; Privacy Settings, you now have the option to automatically clean up Screenshot files as part of Housekeeping thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/Antolius&quot;&gt;Josip&lt;/a&gt;. And we now make sure not to show Location settings for apps that have been uninstalled.&lt;/p&gt;
  944.  
  945. &lt;p&gt;Finally, the Settings Daemon will now check for and notify of Firmware updates when they’re available thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/meisenzahl&quot;&gt;Marius&lt;/a&gt; and we support Accent Colors on the Settings Portal thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/alice-mkh&quot;&gt;Alice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  946.  
  947. &lt;h2 id=&quot;code&quot;&gt;Code&lt;/h2&gt;
  948.  
  949. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt; has been working diligently on this release of Code which closes more than 20 reported issues and brings plenty of improvements to search. Code now does a better job handling file saving and preventing data loss when files can’t be written to their original location. Some busy infobars are now dialogs, and we avoid showing too many aggressive warnings about file saving. And you can now optionally try to continue loading files that contain unknown characters or corrupted content.&lt;/p&gt;
  950.  
  951. &lt;p&gt;Search options are now all available from a new menu, there’s now a “match whole words” option, and your search settings are now saved between sessions. The search entry also provides visual feedback when no results are found. We do a better job deciding which string to search if you have both a selection and text in the search entry, and make sure that the “Replace” and “Replace All” buttons are enabled and disabled more accurately. And an issue that prevented global search from working on startup was fixed.&lt;/p&gt;
  952.  
  953. &lt;figure&gt;
  954.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-july-2023/code.png&quot; alt=&quot;Code&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  955.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  956.    &lt;p&gt;Code has a new search options menu&lt;/p&gt;
  957.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  958. &lt;/figure&gt;
  959.  
  960. &lt;p&gt;In the sidebar, folders that don’t contain text files can now be expanded properly, and Code does a better job making sure sidebar focus updates correctly when tabs are closed. The tab width menu has been reworked quite a bit to more accurately prioritize between your global defaults, per document settings, and editorconfig file. An issue that caused an incorrect column number in the line number menu was fixed.&lt;/p&gt;
  961.  
  962. &lt;p&gt;The Vala symbols outline now correctly matches Code when the style changes after startup, and we fixed issues with styling when no documents are open. An issue that caused excessive reads and writes to settings has been fixed. Plus, you can now switch tabs with the keyboard shortcut &lt;kbd&gt;Ctrl&lt;/kbd&gt; + &lt;kbd&gt;PageUp&lt;/kbd&gt;/&lt;kbd&gt;PageDown&lt;/kbd&gt; thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/stan-janssen&quot;&gt;Stan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  963.  
  964. &lt;h2 id=&quot;other-updates&quot;&gt;Other Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  965.  
  966. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt; fixed an issue in Files where sometimes folder contents were incorrect until the folder was refreshed.&lt;/p&gt;
  967.  
  968. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; fixed an issue where Picture-in-Picture windows could become unintentionally hidden and made sure parent windows of dialogs are dimmed and undimmed more accurately.&lt;/p&gt;
  969.  
  970. &lt;p&gt;The Sound indicator was updated to use circle buttons and should no longer change size when skipping tracks. Muting should no longer affect monitor sources thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/GranPC&quot;&gt;Gran&lt;/a&gt;, and microphone icons have been subtly updated. Plus, &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; made sure the Accessibility indicator shows the correct text size on startup.&lt;/p&gt;
  971.  
  972. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-these-updates&quot;&gt;Get These Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  973.  
  974. &lt;p&gt;As always, pop open AppCenter on elementary OS 7 and hit “Update All” to get all these updates plus your regular security, bug fix, and translation updates.&lt;/p&gt;
  975.  
  976. &lt;hr /&gt;
  977.  
  978. &lt;h2 id=&quot;early-access-preview&quot;&gt;Early Access Preview&lt;/h2&gt;
  979.  
  980. &lt;p&gt;If you’re in Early Access there’s some new goodies for you to test! Firstly, the latest daily builds now contain Linux 6.2 thanks to the Ubuntu hardware enablement team. Thanks Ubuntu! Additionally, we’re testing an option in the Installer to include proprietary drivers when installing; this specifically affects folks with Nvidia graphics or Broadcom networking as well as in certain virtual machines, so we’d love to get your feedback if you’ve previously failed to install elementary OS due to missing hardware support.&lt;/p&gt;
  981.  
  982. &lt;p&gt;The Installer and Initial Setup now also come with audio directions for enabling the screen reader after a brief timeout. Our hope is that this makes it much easier to install elementary OS for folks with vision-related disabilities. Additionally the Installer now supports two-finger-swipe to go back. If you’ve previously been unable to or had a difficult time installing elementary OS due to disability, we’d love to hear how we can make your experience better!&lt;/p&gt;
  983.  
  984. &lt;p&gt;Early Access is a great way to help us test new features and find bugs before they roll out to everyone. If you’re not already in early access, you can be among the first to try it and give your feedback by joining &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;Early Access for a $10/mo sponsorship&lt;/a&gt;. As you can see, there’s a lot of new stuff to test right now!&lt;/p&gt;
  985. </description>
  986.          <pubDate>Sat, 05 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  987.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-july-2023/</link>
  988.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-july-2023/</guid>
  989.          
  990.              
  991.              
  992.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  993.          
  994.          
  995.          <category>horus</category>
  996.          
  997.          <category>updates</category>
  998.          
  999.          
  1000.        </item>
  1001.      
  1002.    
  1003.      
  1004.        <item>
  1005.          <title>Big Feature Updates for Accessibility, Privacy, Security, and More</title>
  1006.          <description>&lt;p&gt;As promised, this month brings a bunch of new features including a big new accessibility feature and a major platform improvement. Enjoy this month’s contributions to the upcoming &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/122/views/2&quot;&gt;OS 7.1&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;
  1007.  
  1008. &lt;h2 id=&quot;appcenter&quot;&gt;AppCenter&lt;/h2&gt;
  1009.  
  1010. &lt;p&gt;As we work towards our continual goal of better supporting alternative app stores, one of the challenges is ensuring that you remain safe while using apps from stores with differing security and privacy policies. This month we’ve rolled out a new set of app sandbox warnings to help you better assess risk when installing apps. AppCenter will now inform you if an app can can read your location without asking first, if it can access system folders or your home folder, if it can read and write system settings, or if it could possibly escape the sandbox altogether and gain advanced permissions. For certain types of administrative apps, having advanced system permissions makes sense, but our goal is to keep you informed and ensure that apps are always operating with your consent. Expect more of these types of warnings to roll out in the future!&lt;/p&gt;
  1011.  
  1012. &lt;figure&gt;
  1013.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/appcenter-permissions.png&quot; alt=&quot;AppCenter&quot; width=&quot;1198&quot; height=&quot;901&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1014.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  1015.    &lt;p&gt;AppCenter now warns about advanced Flatpak sandbox permissions&lt;/p&gt;
  1016.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  1017. &lt;/figure&gt;
  1018.  
  1019. &lt;p&gt;AppInfo views have also been reworked to tighten up spacing and improve alignment. Special attention was put into making sure the most important information appears “above the fold”, especially on smaller displays like in some laptops. Plus, we no longer split out apps from alt stores into a separate header in category views, and a potential crash when adding alt stores has been fixed thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/meisenzahl&quot;&gt;Marius&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1020.  
  1021. &lt;h2 id=&quot;portals&quot;&gt;Portals&lt;/h2&gt;
  1022.  
  1023. &lt;p&gt;Another big part of our consent story with apps are Portals. Portals keep apps isolated from your private data and ensure that apps ask before making changes to the system or using features that could become intrusive. This month &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/marukesu&quot;&gt;Gustavo&lt;/a&gt; implemented the Background &amp;amp; Autostart Portal which alerts you when apps are running in the background and makes sure that apps ask your permission before they can automatically start up when you turn on your device. There’s still a good amount of work to do on our background apps story, but this sets the foundation.&lt;/p&gt;
  1024.  
  1025. &lt;h2 id=&quot;system-settings&quot;&gt;System Settings&lt;/h2&gt;
  1026.  
  1027. &lt;p&gt;As part of their aforementioned work, &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/marukesu&quot;&gt;Gustavo&lt;/a&gt; updated Startup settings to show apps that use the Background &amp;amp; Autostart Portal and we made quite a few changes to this view to bring it in line with modern design patterns and ensure that it was more responsive for large and small displays. We also updated Default apps settings and did quite a bit of code cleanup here. And thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; the “Reset to Defaults” button on the Permissions page is now disabled when permissions are already at their defaults, plus he improved screen reader names for several settings while here.&lt;/p&gt;
  1028.  
  1029. &lt;figure class=&quot;half&quot;&gt;
  1030.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/settings-defaults.png&quot; alt=&quot;Defaults Settings&quot; width=&quot;1024&quot; height=&quot;720&quot; /&gt;
  1031. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/settings-startup.png&quot; alt=&quot;Startup Settings&quot; width=&quot;1024&quot; height=&quot;720&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1032.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  1033.    &lt;p&gt;Startup and Defaults settings were both redesigned to be more responsive for large and small displays&lt;/p&gt;
  1034.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  1035. &lt;/figure&gt;
  1036.  
  1037. &lt;p&gt;We’re also introducing a new set of display filters, designed to assist folks with color deficiency issues. This is a very common disability with 1 in 12 men experiencing color deficiency and some folks developing color deficiency as they age. Major shoutouts to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; for implementing this feature in our window manager and to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/G-dH&quot;&gt;@G-dH&lt;/a&gt; for developing &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/G-dH/gnome-colorblind-filters&quot;&gt;the GNOME Shell extension&lt;/a&gt; that we modeled our feature off of. If this is a feature that you’re looking forward to using, please consider &lt;a href=&quot;https://buymeacoffee.com/georgdh&quot;&gt;buying them a coffee&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1038.  
  1039. &lt;figure class=&quot;card quarter&quot;&gt;
  1040.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/color-default.png&quot; alt=&quot;Default colors&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  1041. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/color-protanopia.png&quot; alt=&quot;Protanopia Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  1042. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/color-protanopia-hc.png&quot; alt=&quot;Protanopia High Contrast Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  1043. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/color-deuteranopia.png&quot; alt=&quot;Deuteranopia Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  1044. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/color-deuteranopia-hc.png&quot; alt=&quot;Deuteranopia Hight Contrast Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  1045. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/color-tritanopia.png&quot; alt=&quot;Tritanopia Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;
  1046. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/color-grayscale.png&quot; alt=&quot;Grayscale Filter&quot; width=&quot;1920&quot; height=&quot;1080&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1047.  &lt;figcaption&gt;A number of new display filters are available to assist with color deficiency&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  1048. &lt;/figure&gt;
  1049.  
  1050. &lt;p&gt;Additionally, we’re now shipping a grayscale filter which can help avoid distractions or alleviate screen addiction and you can now make the display much warmer when using Night Light. You may also notice a small redesign of Night Light settings for responsiveness. Finally, there should be more accurate display resolution options available thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/vjr&quot;&gt;Vishal&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1051.  
  1052. &lt;figure class=&quot;half&quot;&gt;
  1053.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/settings-nightlight.png&quot; alt=&quot;Night Light Settings&quot; width=&quot;990&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;
  1054. &lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/settings-filters.png&quot; alt=&quot;Filters Settings&quot; width=&quot;990&quot; height=&quot;686&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1055.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  1056.    &lt;p&gt;Nightlight settings have been slightly redesigned and Filters are available as a new tab in Display Settings&lt;/p&gt;
  1057.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  1058. &lt;/figure&gt;
  1059.  
  1060. &lt;p&gt;There’s also a new version of Online Accounts settings thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; which fixes a freeze when the server doesn’t respond while adding an IMAP account, and improves support for special folders like Archive and Sent folders.&lt;/p&gt;
  1061.  
  1062. &lt;h2 id=&quot;files&quot;&gt;Files&lt;/h2&gt;
  1063.  
  1064. &lt;p&gt;A long requested feature, this month Bulk Rename lands in Files thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt;. With this feature, you can select a number of files, secondary-click, and select “Rename…” to get an advanced bulk renaming dialog. This is an especially useful feature if you’re working with a large collection of photos or spreadsheets or other kinds of files that you may want to rename by creation date or using another sequence or when you have to format a large number of files the same way. We’re looking forward to your feedback on this feature and improving it to fit your advanced file management needs!&lt;/p&gt;
  1065.  
  1066. &lt;figure&gt;
  1067.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/files-rename.png&quot; alt=&quot;Files bulk rename&quot; width=&quot;990&quot; height=&quot;516&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1068.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  1069.    &lt;p&gt;You can now rename a large selection of files at once&lt;/p&gt;
  1070.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  1071. &lt;/figure&gt;
  1072.  
  1073. &lt;p&gt;He also fixed several reported issues in this release related to folder sizes, file creation dates, temporary and duplicate files, and even snuck in some performance improvements. Also, the storage level bar in Properties dialogs will now change color depending on how full a drive is.&lt;/p&gt;
  1074.  
  1075. &lt;figure&gt;
  1076.  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/images/updates-for-june-2023/bluetooth-sharing.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bluetooth sharing&quot; width=&quot;472&quot; height=&quot;572&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1077.  &lt;figcaption&gt;
  1078.    &lt;p&gt;You can share files via Bluetooth from the secondary-click menu&lt;/p&gt;
  1079.  &lt;/figcaption&gt;
  1080. &lt;/figure&gt;
  1081.  
  1082. &lt;p&gt;Plus, thanks to a joint effort between &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/torikulhabib&quot;&gt;Torikul&lt;/a&gt;, you can now share files via Bluetooth. A new Bluetooth transfer dialog is available by secondary-clicking a file or selection of files and selecting “Send Files via Bluetooth” from the menu.&lt;/p&gt;
  1083.  
  1084. &lt;h2 id=&quot;panel&quot;&gt;Panel&lt;/h2&gt;
  1085.  
  1086. &lt;p&gt;As part of the aforementioned Bluetooth file transfer feature, you can see ongoing transfers in the Bluetooth indicator. And thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/stan-janssen&quot;&gt;Stan&lt;/a&gt;, Bluetooth devices will now use any custom device names you’ve set up before falling back to more generic device names.&lt;/p&gt;
  1087.  
  1088. &lt;p&gt;We now do a better job making sure notification bubbles you’ve dismissed with a swipe or the close button don’t end up in the Notifications indicator, and the number of missed notifications in the tooltip should be more accurate, thanks again to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; improved support for notifications that contain markup and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; fixed the change in indicator width when all notifications have been cleared.&lt;/p&gt;
  1089.  
  1090. &lt;p&gt;Plus, we updated some icons in the Bluetooth, Night Light, and Notifications indicators to be more consistent.&lt;/p&gt;
  1091.  
  1092. &lt;h2 id=&quot;other-updates&quot;&gt;Other Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  1093.  
  1094. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; fixed some visual glitches in Sideload and made sure the “Open” button can be activated when pressing &lt;kbd&gt;Enter&lt;/kbd&gt; after installing. He also removed the intrusive “Automatic Suspend” notifications, fixed an issue where sometimes parent windows wouldn’t un-dim after closing dialogs, and made sure Picture-in-Picture windows update their visibility properly when switching workspaces.&lt;/p&gt;
  1095.  
  1096. &lt;p&gt;Gustavo made sure critical notifications are still sent even when Do Not Disturb is active and contributed quite a bit of code cleanup in the notifications server. And new contributor &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/SuperRiderTH&quot;&gt;Sean&lt;/a&gt; made a fix for the option to disable sounds from notifications sent by apps that don’t properly identify themselves.&lt;/p&gt;
  1097.  
  1098. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-these-updates&quot;&gt;Get These Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  1099.  
  1100. &lt;p&gt;As always, pop open AppCenter on elementary OS 7 and hit “Update All” to get all these updates plus your regular security, bug fix, and translation updates.&lt;/p&gt;
  1101.  
  1102. &lt;hr /&gt;
  1103.  
  1104. &lt;h2 id=&quot;early-access-preview&quot;&gt;Early Access Preview&lt;/h2&gt;
  1105.  
  1106. &lt;p&gt;Building off our work on the Background &amp;amp; Autostart Portal, you’ll notice in Early Access that Calendar, Mail, and Tasks can now be managed from System Settings → Applications → Startup. Plus Mail is gearing up for a big feature release with an improved sidebar, the ability to move messages, the ability to add images inline, performance improvements and better offline support. Plus, be on the lookout for signatures and improved calendar invite handling soon. We’d appreciate your help testing all of these features before releasing them to the general public.&lt;/p&gt;
  1107.  
  1108. &lt;p&gt;But the big new Early Access feature is Wayland! That’s right, a usable Wayland session is finally available. You can choose to test Wayland from the login and lock screen by selecting the gear menu on your login card and choosing “Pantheon (Wayland)”. Keep in mind that the Wayland session is highly experimental and you’ll certainly run into issues immediately, the most noticeable of which are the lack of a Dock, broken panel positioning, and other issues with positioning certain windows. There is a whole lot of work to do until it’s ready for primetime, but we would love your help testing and reporting issues to make sure there’s a smooth transition. With your help, I’d love to see Wayland as a viable option for elementary OS 8. Special thanks here go to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/tintou&quot;&gt;Corentin&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/davidmhewitt&quot;&gt;David&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt; for all of their hard work on preparing our window manager for Wayland.&lt;/p&gt;
  1109.  
  1110. &lt;p&gt;Early Access is a great way to help us test new features and find bugs before they roll out to everyone. If you’re not already in early access, you can be among the first to try it and give your feedback by joining &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;Early Access for a $10/mo sponsorship&lt;/a&gt;. As you can see, there’s a lot of new stuff to test right now!&lt;/p&gt;
  1111. </description>
  1112.          <pubDate>Wed, 05 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  1113.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-june-2023/</link>
  1114.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-june-2023/</guid>
  1115.          
  1116.              
  1117.              
  1118.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  1119.          
  1120.          
  1121.          <category>horus</category>
  1122.          
  1123.          <category>updates</category>
  1124.          
  1125.          
  1126.        </item>
  1127.      
  1128.    
  1129.      
  1130.        <item>
  1131.          <title>Getting in shape for summer</title>
  1132.          <description>&lt;p&gt;This month we have mostly minor maintenance updates as we gear up for a feature-filled future release. Enjoy a mild May because this summer is going to get hot!&lt;/p&gt;
  1133.  
  1134. &lt;h1 id=&quot;calculator&quot;&gt;Calculator&lt;/h1&gt;
  1135.  
  1136. &lt;p&gt;Calculator now follows keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste, even when the main text entry isn’t focused, thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/lenemter&quot;&gt;Leo&lt;/a&gt;! It will no longer preserve extra white space on the right side of the window when used with alternative window button layouts. And Calculator will now always use the elementary stylesheet and icons, even when run on a different operating system, to prevent breakage related to missing assets.&lt;/p&gt;
  1137.  
  1138. &lt;h1 id=&quot;system-settings&quot;&gt;System Settings&lt;/h1&gt;
  1139.  
  1140. &lt;p&gt;A new version of Security &amp;amp; Privacy settings has been released that now supports the Location portal. This is a more secure method for apps to request access to location services and is the latest FreeDesktop.org standard for doing so. If you’ve had trouble with sideloaded apps accessing location services before, this change will most likely fix that issue. You can adjust location settings in System Settings → Security &amp;amp; Privacy → Location Services. If the main switch here is turned off, apps will not be allowed to even ask for permission, so make sure it’s turned on if you are using apps that make use of location data.&lt;/p&gt;
  1141.  
  1142. &lt;h1 id=&quot;music&quot;&gt;Music&lt;/h1&gt;
  1143.  
  1144. &lt;p&gt;Music can now accept Drag and Drop of whole folders, thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/jeremypw&quot;&gt;Jeremy&lt;/a&gt;, and you can secondary click on a folder in Files and open it with Music thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/aitor-gomila&quot;&gt;Aitor&lt;/a&gt;. Plus it’s been updated to the latest Flatpak platform which fixes issues with certain animations.&lt;/p&gt;
  1145.  
  1146. &lt;h1 id=&quot;other-updates&quot;&gt;Other Updates&lt;/h1&gt;
  1147.  
  1148. &lt;p&gt;The latest version of Web fixes a crash in the bookmarks popover, improves the reliability of creating web apps, and has a fix related to local storage access requests.&lt;/p&gt;
  1149.  
  1150. &lt;p&gt;Calculator, Camera, Captive Network Assistant, Music, Screenshot, and Videos were all updated to the latest elementary Flatpak platform, saving you a little bit of disk space and providing minor platform bug fixes.&lt;/p&gt;
  1151.  
  1152. &lt;h2 id=&quot;get-these-updates&quot;&gt;Get These Updates&lt;/h2&gt;
  1153.  
  1154. &lt;p&gt;As always, pop open AppCenter on elementary OS 7 and hit “Update All” to get all these updates plus your regular security, bug fix, and translation updates.&lt;/p&gt;
  1155.  
  1156. &lt;hr /&gt;
  1157.  
  1158. &lt;h2 id=&quot;developer-platform&quot;&gt;Developer Platform&lt;/h2&gt;
  1159.  
  1160. &lt;p&gt;Hand in hand with our updates for the location portal, we want to ask developers to switch their apps over if they’ve been using geoclue directly. Future versions of AppCenter will warn about direct location services access, now that the portal is available. So make sure you remove the GeoClue line from your finish arguments if it is present. This is also a good time to re-evaluate other sandbox holes as AppCenter will be providing much more comprehensive sandbox hole warnings very soon.&lt;/p&gt;
  1161.  
  1162. &lt;p&gt;Thanks go to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/Antolius&quot;&gt;Josip&lt;/a&gt; for updating our documentation around &lt;a href=&quot;https://docs.elementary.io/develop/appcenter/publishing-updates#release-notes&quot;&gt;writing release notes&lt;/a&gt;, including documenting the issues tag. As a little treat thanks to GitBook, our &lt;a href=&quot;https://docs.elementary.io/develop/&quot;&gt;docs&lt;/a&gt; now feature a dark mode toggle! Plus, you can now optionally use “Lens” to get LLM-generated answers trained on our docs in addition to regular search.&lt;/p&gt;
  1163.  
  1164. &lt;h2 id=&quot;early-access-preview&quot;&gt;Early Access Preview&lt;/h2&gt;
  1165.  
  1166. &lt;p&gt;This month we started putting together the &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/122/views/2&quot;&gt;roadmap for OS 7.1&lt;/a&gt;. It’s been just over 120 days since OS 7 was released, so we’re excited for a mid-cycle update with plenty of new features this summer.&lt;/p&gt;
  1167.  
  1168. &lt;p&gt;Housekeeping is getting the ability to clean up the Screenshots folder thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/Antolius&quot;&gt;Josip&lt;/a&gt;. If you’re anything like me, you have a ton of those! So look out for that to appear soon in Security &amp;amp; Privacy settings.&lt;/p&gt;
  1169.  
  1170. &lt;p&gt;Color blindness correction and monochrome filters are just about ready to merge, so expect options for that soon. 1 in 12 men are color blind and the most common is red/green color sensitivity issues, so we’re excited to roll out a new accessibility feature that could have such a wide impact.&lt;/p&gt;
  1171.  
  1172. &lt;p&gt;Mail recently received the ability to move conversations between folders along with a healthy dose of performance improvements related to moving, archiving, and trashing, along with better undo handling. Expect better network connectivity handling as well. It also does a much better job detecting special folders, for example with GMail. Expect better attachment handling soon and &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/leolost2605&quot;&gt;Leonhard&lt;/a&gt; is currently working on the ability to &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/mail/pull/900&quot;&gt;create and manage signatures&lt;/a&gt;, so hopefully that lands soon!&lt;/p&gt;
  1173.  
  1174. &lt;p&gt;AppCenter has been getting a lot of work on App Info pages. Expect them to not only be more responsive to small window sizes, with tighter spacing and better grid alignment, but also be on the lookout for more comprehensive permissions warnings. AppCenter now screens apps for holes in their “sandbox” and provides you with warnings when they have access to things like files and folders, system settings, location, or the ability to break out of the sandbox altogether. We’re taking &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/elementary/appcenter/discussions/2045&quot;&gt;a comprehensive look&lt;/a&gt; at the kinds of sandbox holes developers have been poking to make sure we’re providing useful and accurate warnings when apps are less secure.&lt;/p&gt;
  1175.  
  1176. &lt;p&gt;Speaking of &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/orgs/elementary/projects/120&quot;&gt;sandboxing &amp;amp; portals&lt;/a&gt;, we’ve also recently merged support for the background portal and are working on making sure default apps are all using it. This means you get more control over which apps are allowed to start up automatically when you turn your device on, as well as which apps are allowed to run in the background without a window.&lt;/p&gt;
  1177.  
  1178. &lt;p&gt;Early Access is a great way to help us test new features and find bugs before they roll out to everyone. If you’re not already in early access, you can be among the first to try it and give your feedback by joining &lt;a href=&quot;https://builds.elementary.io/&quot;&gt;Early Access for a $10/mo sponsorship&lt;/a&gt;. As you can see, there’s a lot of new stuff to test right now!&lt;/p&gt;
  1179. </description>
  1180.          <pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  1181.          <link>https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-may-2023/</link>
  1182.          <guid isPermaLink="true">https://blog.elementary.io/updates-for-may-2023/</guid>
  1183.          
  1184.              
  1185.              
  1186.          <enclosure url="https://blog.elementary.io" />
  1187.          
  1188.          
  1189.          <category>horus</category>
  1190.          
  1191.          <category>updates</category>
  1192.          
  1193.          
  1194.        </item>
  1195.      
  1196.    
  1197.  </channel>
  1198. </rss>
  1199.  
  1200.  

Home · About · News · Docs · Terms

 
Copyright © 2002-9 Sam Ruby, Mark Pilgrim, Joseph Walton, and Phil Ringnalda