GNOME 43 Arrives With Quick Fixes, GTK4-Related Improvements, and Updated Applications

was available in beta form for a little over a month, but just announced the release of its stable version. GNOME 43 it's here, although the truth is that we will have to wait some time until the distributions add the new packages to their repositories, or until the new versions of Fedora and Ubuntu, the two most popular projects using this desktop, are released.

GNOME 43, like the rest of its versions, is not only a new graphical environment, but also new versions of its applications and its libraries. As for the desk itself, the project highlights the new quick settings, and many improvements to “Files”, also known as Nautilus, are mentioned in the apps. Below is a list with the most outstanding news that have arrived with GNOME 43.

Highlights of GNOME 43

• • New quick settings (header capture) that will allow you to activate/deactivate settings such as WiFi or Bluetooth, or switch between light and dark theme. It also has a button for captures and VPNs can be managed.

• Improvements related to GTK4, released in 2020 but gradually being integrated. Many apps ported to GTK4 in GNOME 42, and the trend is continuing in GNOME 43.
• Files (Nautilus) has received many improvements:
  • The file and folder properties windows have received a modern new design, offering a better overview of each item. They also include new features, such as a button to open the parent folder.
  • The app is now responsive, which means it can be used with reduced widths and will automatically adjust its layout when its windows are resized.

• • The menus have been reorganized to be more logical and easier to use.
  • The search results, recent files, and starred files lists have a new layout, with a better indication of the location of each file.
  • The new Open With dialog box makes it easy to control which applications should be used to open different types of files.
  • In list view, opening the context menu for the current directory is now much easier, using the channels on each side of the list
• The Calendar app has had its interface updated, with a new sidebar that includes a navigable calendar and a list of upcoming events. The calendar view itself, the day boxes, has also been revamped with a new color palette.
• Contacts now allows you to import/export contacts from vCards files.
• The calling app has improvements such as faster startup, support for encrypted VoIP calls, and the ability to send SMS from call history.
• The privacy settings include a security page for GNOME 43. These settings can be used to detect a variety of hardware security issues, including manufacturing errors and misconfigured hardware settings.
• It is now possible to install applications from websites as desktop applications. This is a new and improved feature of what already existed in previous versions of GNOME.
• The on-screen keyboard now shows suggestions as you type. It will also display the Ctrl, Alt, and Tab keys when typing in a terminal.
• The Web screenshot feature is now easier to use: it can now be found in the context menu of the web page, or activated with the keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+S.
• Also on Web, the styling of interface elements on web pages has been updated, to match modern GNOME applications.
• The Characters app now includes a much larger selection of emoji, including people with different skin tones, genders, and hair styles, and more regional flags.
• Some of the activity overview animations have been optimized to be smoother.
• The GNOME application "about windows", which show details about each application, have been revamped.

• Under Software, Apps pages have an improved toggle to select font and format.

• The dark UI style used by GTK 4 applications has been polished, so the appearance of bars and lists is more harmonious.
• When connecting to GNOME with a remote desktop application (using RDP), it is now possible to receive audio from the host.
• GNOME's range of alert sounds has been updated, including a new default alert sound.

The project has made the GNOME 43 code available to anyone interested, and it can be obtained from this link. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is best to wait for our Linux distribution to add the new packages, and the first to do so should be the Rolling Release. In the next few days it will arrive in Fedora, which is expected before an Ubuntu that will include it in mid-October.