The GNOME team has announced the release of Libadwaita 1.8, a library that provides modern widgets, styles, and design patterns for apps, ensuring they look and behave consistently across the GNOME desktop, just in time to ship alongside GNOME 49 on September 17.
One of the biggest changes is the arrival of AdwShortcutsDialog, a replacement for the now-deprecated GtkShortcutsWindow. The new dialog comes with a simpler structure, dropping the rarely used sections and views found in the old design.
Instead, it organizes shortcuts into sections and items, making it easier to maintain without extra hierarchy. It’s worth noting that, unlike its predecessor, the new dialog no longer supports gestures or icons.
Alongside the dialog, Libadwaita 1.8 introduces AdwShortcutLabel, a drop-in replacement for GtkShortcutLabel. This widget keeps the same behavior but updates the style to make individual keycaps clearer. It also works outside of shortcuts dialogs, filling the gap left by the GTK deprecation.
Styling improvements are another focus of this release. CSS media queries are now fully supported, letting developers define styles for light, dark, and high-contrast themes in the same file. Combined with variables, this makes it possible to create more flexible and accessible designs.
Typography also sees an update: the new “.document” style class uses a distinct document font at 12pt with increased line height for readability. The existing “.body” style has also been updated to improve text spacing across dialogs and widgets.
Other smaller changes include updates to preferences APIs, new methods for handling list models, and performance improvements from reduced window and dialog shadows. On macOS, AdwHeaderBar now supports native window controls, keeping behavior consistent with GTK.
Looking ahead, the developers are planning to tackle one of the long-standing gaps in Libadwaita—sidebars. The next release cycle is expected to bring a generic sidebar widget and a replacement for GtkStackSidebar, aiming to provide apps with more consistent navigation patterns across desktop and mobile.
For more information, see the post on Alice Mikhaylenko’s blog, a GNOME software developer.
Image credits: Alice Mikhaylenko
