Over three months after its major 8.0 release, the team behind the Ubuntu-based elementary OS has rolled out the first update to the 8.x series, elementary OS 8.0.1.
One of the highlights of this release is the AppCenter, which now properly displays dark mode brand colors and screenshots, ensuring that visuals are consistent across different themes.
At the same time, according to the release notes, users will see faster search results, improved release note windows, and a more graceful recovery mechanism should the AppCenter cache be emptied.
Additionally, developers who test their apps locally can now rely on improved metadata loading through the “–load-local” terminal option.
The Files app has also received considerable attention. A half-dozen reported issues, such as problems with scrolling post-deletion and files vanishing when dropped onto unmounted drives, have been successfully tackled.
Moreover, the “New file” submenu respects folder hierarchy in Templates, and the “admin://” URI protocol now works seamlessly for elevated access.
Over in Terminal, users should notice smoother tab handling: tabs no longer demand multiple clicks to refocus, and shortcuts should remain fully responsive even after a tab is dragged into a separate window. Plus, dropping file paths into the app now produces proper quoting.
Next stop: System Settings. In the Notifications section, you can toggle off notifications for OS updates. Additionally, the system refrains from automatically downloading updates on metered connections.
Users will also appreciate that update size is displayed ahead of time, ensuring a better grasp of both data usage and download progress.
A bit unexpected, a sponsorship goal progress bar has been added, offering a visual cue of how close the project is to meeting its monthly funding objectives.
Another noteworthy change in elementary OS 8.0.1 is how Applications settings manage notification access, especially for apps that route their notifications through a portal. Users now have the option to revoke notification privileges for apps that do not register properly in the Notifications panel.
The installation process has also been refined to prevent crashes in custom partitioning scenarios, while the disk encryption step has been streamlined onto a single page. As a bonus, onboarding now remains centered on the screen—even when resized—making it more intuitive for newcomers to set up their systems.
In Panel & Quick Settings, the update fixes height discrepancies in the Classic session, smooths out menu behavior, and tweaks power menu details for more accurate device representations. Quick Settings also introduces a feature that displays other logged-in accounts, facilitating user-switching without a hassle.
Meanwhile, the Dock has become more polished, with refined spacing for running indicators and minimized bouncing for app icons. Apps that do not notify on startup will no longer get stuck bouncing indefinitely.
Lastly, on the hardware side, elementary OS 8.0.1 ships with the Linux kernel 6.11, borrowed from Ubuntu’s LTS Hardware Enablement stack. This addition enhances performance on AMD processors, brings in future-ready support for Intel “Lunar Lake” processors, and provides better filesystem handling.
For more information, see the announcement. The distro is now available for download as a pay-what-you-can purchase at elementary.io. If you don’t want to pay, manually enter “0” in the custom amount box for a download button to appear. Of course, we encourage you to donate if it is within your means.
