The GNOME Project has officially released GNOME 48, codenamed “Bengaluru,” introducing a suite of new features and improvements aimed at refining user experience and promoting digital wellbeing. This latest iteration underscores GNOME’s commitment to evolving its desktop environment to meet contemporary user needs.
One of the standout additions in GNOME 48 is the ‘Wellbeing’ feature integrated into the Settings application. This tool enables users to monitor and manage their screen time, allowing the setting of daily usage limits. Upon reaching these limits, the system can trigger notifications or switch the display to grayscale, encouraging users to take necessary breaks. Additional functionalities include reminders to look away from the screen to prevent eye strain and prompts for movement to counteract prolonged periods of inactivity. These features collectively aim to foster healthier digital habits among users.
Performance enhancements are also a significant focus in this release. The introduction of dynamic triple buffering in Mutter, GNOME’s display manager, is designed to reduce frame skipping and deliver smoother animations. This improvement is particularly beneficial for systems with integrated graphics, such as Intel GPUs and devices like the Raspberry Pi, ensuring a more responsive and fluid user experience.
The Files application, known as Nautilus, has undergone notable optimizations. Users can expect up to a fivefold increase in directory loading speeds and a tenfold improvement in thumbnail generation. These enhancements make navigating large directories more efficient and enhance overall system responsiveness.
In a move towards modernizing its visual identity, GNOME 48 introduces new default interface fonts: Adwaita Sans and Adwaita Mono. These fonts offer improved rendering, extensive character coverage, and support for a range of modern font features, providing both aesthetic appeal and practical benefits over previous defaults.
Another significant advancement is the initial support for High Dynamic Range content. Users with HDR-capable displays can now enable this feature through the Display Settings, allowing for richer and more vibrant visuals. While application support for HDR is currently limited, this inclusion lays the groundwork for broader adoption in future updates.
GNOME 48 also sees the debut of ‘Decibels,’ a minimalist audio player that has become the default in this release. Designed for simplicity and ease of use, Decibels supports a wide array of audio formats, offering users a straightforward solution for their audio playback needs.
The notification system has been refined with the introduction of notification stacking. This feature groups alerts from the same application into expandable stacks, decluttering the message tray and making it easier for users to manage and prioritize notifications.
For users concerned about battery longevity, GNOME 48 offers a new option to limit battery charging to 80% when plugged in. Accessible through the Power Settings, this feature aims to extend battery lifespan by preventing constant full charges, a practice known to degrade battery health over time.
The Calendar application has received updates, including design improvements to the event editor dialog and the ability to set time zones for event start and end times. These enhancements aim to provide a more intuitive and flexible scheduling experience for users.
