Weekly GNU-like #MobileLinux Update (11/2025): #Libadwaita 1.7 and news from #Sxmo

https://linmob.net/weekly-update-11-2025/

So… after probably running into every problem that currently exists in #KDE I can say that I start liking it, conceptionally.

In terms of app design it looks awfully cramped and "not good" compared to #libadwaita to put it mildly, but the desktop itself is kinda nice.~
Definitely gonna stick with Gnome apps, down to the calculator.

Now if we'd have KDE's features & stability but with #Gnome's GUI design (yet better theme-able) and written mainly in Rust… yeah… that would be nice.
#Linux

Hey! Does anyone from #GNOME or that works with GNOME technologies know how I can make my #python #GTK4 / #Libadwaita app run in the background when closing ? And how to make it appear correctly in GNOME background app menu, or even in the AppIndicator extension ?

Any link to relevant documentation will be useful ! :)

Thank you in advance!

Getting Aurea ready for #GNOME 48, and as #Sonic would say, 'I gotta go fast!'

#Libadwaita now (actually 2 months ago) features a new stylesheet for light/dark mode.
It becomes more "cold", and now have a sort of "blue gray" rather than a sort of "yellow" (according to my eyes) in dark mode.

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libadwaita/-/merge_requests/1317

But, a week ago, it was merged on the #GNOME Shell, and now on GNOME 48.alpha it features the new stylesheet. (also applies to GDM)

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/merge_requests/3552

What do you think? Personally, "cold" looks good, much more pleasing to the eye.

@dansup @vidzy hmm I've been learning #Rust & want to start a project I can list on my resume before applying to Rust jobs.
Was thinking a #Fediverse #GTK / #Libadwaita client would be perfect. Was leaning toward #Lemmy since the backend is also Rust, but the UI for that would be more complex & is daunting for my zero exp w/ UI (outside of React)

#Loops would probably need a lot less UI complexity, so maybe I'll make that instead.

Introducing Refine, an app to tweak advanced and experimental settings in GNOME. It is an alternative to GNOME Tweaks, and is a pet project I'm currently working to experiment with PyGObject and dconf, while following the data-driven, object-oriented, and composition paradigms.

The entire codebase is made up of widgets that provide all the functionality needed to add an option. For example, instead of adding each option programmatically in Refine, the ultimate goal is to have it all done in the UI file.

For example, if we want to add an option to enable or disable middle click paste, all we need is the following code in the UI file:

$RefineSwitchRow {
  title: _('Middle Click Paste');
  schema-id: 'org.gnome.desktop.interface';
  key: 'gtk-enable-primary-paste';
}

That's it. The RefineSwitchRow widget will do whatever it needs to do to ensure the option is available, grab the setting if it's available, and display it to the user. Many of these widgets provide extra functionality, such as a Reset button.

You can get Refine on Flathub: https://flathub.org/apps/page.tesk.Refine

Everything else (source code, screenshot, etc.) is in the project website: https://tesk.page/refine/, as well as the Flathub link.

The Format Chooser dialog in GNOME Settings has been entirely revamped with merge request !2778, which implements @allanday's mockup. The dialog was ported from AdwWindow to AdwDialog, as well as from the deprecated AdwLeaflet to AdwOverlaySplitView, making it adapt better on mobile form factors. The style should look less heavy thanks to the flat design in the format previewer pane.

Screen recording link: https://fedora.ems.host/_matrix/media/v3/download/fedora.im/02348294b629111613edaae2ab29e9ef401a89441857103268140810240?allow_redirect=true

Visual transcription:

The Format Chooser dialog is opened on demand from GNOME Settings, under the System panel → Region & Language page → Formats button. The dialog contains a headerbar with the title "Formats", the main view on the left with the search entry at the top and the format list below, and the preview pane on the right as a sidebar. The parent window is briefly resized to a mobile-adjacent form factor, where the preview pane is collapsed and the preview button with an eye icon appears on each format in the list; and resized back to a desktop form factor, which restores the previous layout.

In the format list, the scrollbar is dragged to the middle of the list, which displays an undershoot indicator at the top. Some formats are selected, and the preview pane updates as the format changes. The parent window is resized to a mobile-adjacent form factor. The preview button is pressed on a format that displays the preview pane as an overlay. The style is changed to dark and the process is repeated.

After creating Hex Colordle, I focused on enhancing #PedantiK, and it's looking way better than before, I added a lot of bugfix and new features, and I'm proud of myself again.

The app is still french-only atm but other languages will be easy to add via #Flathub add-ons, like I've done for #SemantiK

Can't wait for it to be available in english!

I've released 1.1.0 and 1.2.0 today, changelogs and code are here: https://gitlab.com/Krafting/pedantik/-/blob/main/NEWS

I needed to keep my mind busy today, so I created an Hexcodle (https://hexcodle.com) clone using GTK and libadwaita : Hex Colordle

It will be soon available on #Flathub. I'm kinda proud of myself on this one.

Code is here: https://gitlab.com/Krafting/hexcolordle-gtk

Since some Gnome apps have some sort of (multi part) welcome screen on first run (like many Android apps have), I'm thinking maybe libadwaita about box should have a way to have a "run that welcome screen again" option?

tbh the tab overview is still one of my favorite things about GNOME Web

(and other GNOME apps that have it but I use it most often in Web)

Have spent some time the last couple of weeks brushing off a merge request from some year ago redesigning the edit POI dialog in GNOME Maps using the newer libadwaita widget styles.

Hmm… two lines of CSS in libadwaita 1.6. Should I do it??

I released #GNOME #Calls 47.0 yesterday \o/

This is the first release running #gtk4 and #libadwaita

Thanks a lot to everyone who contributed code, translations and bug reports!

Find the release notes at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/calls/-/releases/v47.0

And of course, it has already been uploaded to

Heya! I am working on a project called Deploy NT (pun intended). It's a Windows installer built using Rust and GNOME libraries and I am looking for people interested in joining the project. Currently working on it alone and it is fun, but I do not want to burn out on it.

If you are not into GUI dev, there is lots of other stuff to work on too! Testing, CI infrastructure,the BCD editor, which is mostly reverse engineering. Maybe some CLI tool for that too in the future. Already made contribution guide and few issues you can help with.

https://gitlab.gnome.org/erin/deploynt

Thanks y'all <3!

I think I somehow messed up #libadwaita / #GTK on my #Gnome system… #Linux