KDE Frameworks 5.79 Released with More Dolphin Improvements, over 300 Changes

KDE Applications 20.12

The KDE Project released today KDE Frameworks 5.79, a monthly update of the open-source software suite that contains 83 add-on libraries to Qt to provide the functionality needed for the KDE Plasma desktop environment.

Highlights of the KDE Frameworks 5.79 release include a much-improved Dolphin file manager that now better handles files containing non-ASCII characters, supports displaying of thumbnail previews for .ANI animated Windows cursor files, and no longer crashes when skipping the copy or move operation of a large amount of files in quick succession.

In relation to the Dolphin file manager, it’s now possible to undo the deletion of a file or folder without unexpectedly overwrite an existing item that has the same name as the undeleted file or folder. Furthermore, when opening a file in a KDE app that was accessed from a web browser and then access the Open dialog again, you won’t see the file’s parent website anymore.

The Okular document viewer has been improved as well and it can now once again open files accessed from a web browser using the “Open” dialog and lets users close its search bar using the Escape key.

Also updated is the KDE Connect app that lets you manage notifications from your Android smartphone, which can now better handle many notifications without crashing.

The System Settings has been updated to no longer crash when navigating to the Screen Locking page’s “Appearance” sub-page and then navigate away. Moreover, System Settings pages with grid views now stick to the standard appearance style for hovered grid items.

This release also adds support for KDE apps to remember their minimized or maximized window state when they’re closed and re-opened, adds the ability to edit the .desktop file of a running program without Plasma desktop session freezing, improves support for Kirigami apps that have lots of icons to reduce memory usage, and lets you immediately apply newly downloaded wallpapers that contain spaces in their names.

KDE Frameworks 5.79 introduces a new system tray icon for the Telegram Desktop client that uses the correct colors and respects of your system’s default color scheme, a new icon for the NeoChat Matrix client, updated Kickoff application launcher icon in Plasma’s “Alternatives” panel to reflect its new appearance, and improved Breeze monochrome icon theme to keep its monochrome style when using scale factors over 200%.

Among other noteworthy changes, KDE Frameworks 5.79 adds better support for System Tray applets with expanding lists of actions when using non-default fonts or font sizes, removes the ability for KDE apps to display Docker volumes in their Places panels, and adds the ability to drag QML-based apps from empty areas of their headers and backgrounds.

There’s also better touchpad support for QML-based apps, an updated Baloo file indexing service that can now properly index files in hidden folders, and a much-improved KNewStuff (Get New [thing]) dialog that now properly displays recently installed content when enabling the “Installed” filter, shows numbers for star ratings, and offers a streamlined sorting and filtering UI.

There are over 300 changes included in this release, and you can study the full changelog for more details on what’s fixed, changed, or updated. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the stable software repositories of your favorite GNU/Linux distribution for the KDE Frameworks 5.79.0 packages, especially if you’re running the KDE Plasma desktop environment, and update as soon as possible.

Image credits: KDE Project

Last updated 3 years ago

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com