Now that GNOME 3.18 has been released, the developers behind the GNOME Project and GNOME Foundation non-profit organization have already started planning the next major release of the widely used desktop environment.
Renowned GNOME developer Bastien Nocera, known for being involved in projects like Totem, GNOME Bluetooth, Rhythmbox, GNOME Control Center, GNOME Settings, and many others, has published an interesting article about the work that he has done for GNOME 3.18 and on what’s coming in GNOME 3.20.
First of all, he talks about hardware support, as GNOME 3.18 now uses the iio-sensor-proxy daemon, which means that there’s now support for ambient light sensors via an Automatic Brightness switch implemented in the Power section of the GNOME Control Center app.
The use of the iio-sensor-proxy daemon in GNOME means that the desktop environment also supports compasses, which are being employed in the GNOME Maps app and the GeoClue function. Then, the developer brags about support for Bosch accelerometers and support for the Kyonix accelerometer used in some tablets.
GNOME 3.18 now makes use of the goodix driver to add out-of-the-box touchscreen support for various tablets and adds support for the $9 C.H.I.P. Linux computer, the Endless computer, and the majority of Windows-compatible tablets by improving the Realtek 8723BS driver.
“With Larry Finger, of Realtek kernel drivers fame, we’ve carried on cleaning up the Realtek 8723BS driver used in the majority of Windows-compatible tablets, in the Endless computer, and even in the $9 C.H.I.P. Linux computer,” says Bastien Nocera.
There’s a much improved Bluetooth UI in GNOME 3.18
In addition to the hardware support, Bastien Nocera talks about the revamped UI (User Interface) of the Bluetooth panel of GNOME Control Center, which now features better support for receiving files through the OBEX Push protocol, as well as enhnced “empty states” for informing users about how to enable Bluetooth when the hardware switch is used.
Last but not least, there’s some work done for GNOME Videos, a.k.a. Totem Media Player, full support for the next-generation Wayland display server, GeoClue GPS support through smartphones for more accurate geolocation support, and better touchpad and touchscreen support. In related news, earlier today we talked about Google Drive support in the Nautilus (Files) file manager.
Via Softpedia