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Work on the next major release of the popular GNOME desktop environment, GNOME 43, is underway and we’re getting closer to the first alpha development release with lots of new features like support for web apps in Software, a new device security info panel in Settings, and support for WebExtensions in Web.
As with all new releases, GNOME 43 will bring more new features to fans of the GTK-written desktop environment. The development team is working hard these days to release the alpha version for public testing ahead of the GUADEC 2022 conference, which will take place between July 20-25th in Guadalajara, Mexico, as the first in-person GNOME event in the past two years.
We’re still two and a half months away from the final GNOME 43 release, but I wanted to share some exciting new features you’ll be enjoying this fall, as well as some of the improvements implemented so far.
First of all, GNOME Software 43 is getting support for Web Apps, with a focus on PWAs (Progressive Web Apps). With this, the GNOME devs want you to enjoy even more apps on your Linux distro.
In addition to supporting Web Apps, GNOME Software 43 also brings improved support for Flatpak apps as the graphical package manager and app store is now capable of displaying file system permissions requested by Flatpak apps.
Moreover, GNOME Software 43 features new touch gestures for swiping back in the shell, a new “Other Apps by Author” section on the app details page, a new “Available for Distro” section on the overview page, improved caching of downloaded metadata and notifications, and mouse navigation of app screenshots.
Second of all, GNOME Settings (a.k.a. GNOME Control Center) 43 is getting a new Device Security section in the Privacy settings that will display the security status of your hardware generated by the Fwupd project and hardware configuration changes, such as HSI security level and Secure Boot status. Users will be able to choose between three pre-configured security levels for their hardware like minimum, basic or extended protection.
Lastly, it looks like GNOME 43 will bring initial support for WebExtensions to the GNOME Web (Epiphany) web browser, finally allowing you to extend the capabilities of GNOME’s default web browser with third-party add-ons from other popular web browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. More details are available here.
Of course, there will be even more cool new features to enjoy this fall in the GNOME 43 desktop environment, so keep an eye on this place because I’ll keep you updated as soon as more information is revealed up until the final release on September 21st, 2022.
Last updated 2 years ago
