KDE Plasma 6.7 Is Getting Sharper Zoom Upscaling

KDE Plasma 6.7, scheduled for release in mid-June, is taking shape with another range of desktop improvements. A key new addition is support for the “Background apps” portal, which enables applications, especially newer GNOME apps, to run in the background and appear in Plasma’s System Tray. As a result, portal-based background apps now behave more like those using traditional System Tray icon support.

Another improvement is that KWin’s Zoom effect now offers an upscaling option for magnified content. The new filter sharpens the view during zooming, reducing blockiness at higher magnifications. This feature is optional and can be disabled.

Moreover, the Printers widget will now display a badge indicating the number of active and queued print jobs, making print activity visible directly from the System Tray.

Several interface elements have been refined as well. Qt’s generic MessageDialog component now uses KDE styling, resolving visual inconsistencies in Plasma components such as the Sticky Note widget. Discover behaves better when launched without an internet connection and provides clearer messaging when a firmware update is queued for installation after the next restart.

Additional UI improvements include removing the double back button effect in the Networks widget when displaying a network QR code, enhancing automatic screen brightness by using more data points, and making Widget Explorer sidebar buttons easier to access at the screen edge. Plus, the Color Picker widget now allows unlimited time for color selection.

Regarding fixes, Plasma 6.7 resolves a KWin crash that could occur when activating an item on a hidden panel with the Vulkan rendering backend. It also addresses accessibility issues on the Quick Settings page, ensuring two controls are properly read by the Orca screen reader. Disabling KRunner plugins globally will now also disable them in the Kicker Application Menu widget.

For more details, refer to the “This Week in Plasma” post series on the KDE Blogs. Plasma 6.7 is scheduled to be released in mid-June.