After over seven months of development, Sway, a popular tiling Wayland compositor, has reached version 1.11, as all of the wlroots 0.19 improvements are now available directly within Sway.
In particular, explicit synchronization via the linux-drm-syncobj-v1 protocol is supported, which allows for more precise control over rendering pipelines. Furthermore, adding the alpha-modifier-v1 extension provides a straightforward way to adjust surface transparency—handy for those who appreciate subtle visual effects.
Moreover, screen-capture workflows have been refined through the ext-image-copy-capture-v1 and ext-image-capture-source-v1 protocols, yielding smoother and more reliable grabs. Clipboard management also enjoys a fresh option: ext-data-control-v1 is an alternative to existing protocols, potentially simplifying interoperability with various clipboard tools.
Additionally, output configuration logic has been revisited: fallbacks are now faster and more intelligent, meaning your external monitors will behave more predictably when hot-plugged or disconnected.
Keyboard and pointer input also received improvements. Pointer keys—once a missing piece in many compositors—can now be bound directly in Sway’s keymaps, triggering pointer events without resorting to external utilities. Regarding metadata, security-context-v1 information is exposed via IPC, enabling advanced criteria matching and more informative title formatting.
On the usability front, the default configuration file has been updated to ship with handy key bindings for commonly used utilities such as pactl, brightnessctl, and grim. Moreover, the built-in application launcher now leans on wmenu-run instead of dmenu_path, streamlining out-of-the-box setup.
Lastly, following upstream recommendations, the tap-and-drag lock mode switches to “sticky” by default, offering a more intuitive touchpad experience. Plus, the “sway.desktop” file has been enhanced to set DesktopNames appropriately, ensuring that “XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP” is correctly reported by modern login managers.
For more information, see the changelog.
