9.0 Release Notes

Web Apps

Shock OS now has built-in support for web apps. Web apps can be created through the 'Web Apps' application (which is heavily inspired by the Linux Mint Web Apps application), and will use the browser to load websites in app windows. For this feature to work, one of the following Chromium-based browsers must be installed:

Chromium (APT or Flatpak) (APT installed by default)

Ungoogled Chromium (Flatpak)

Thorium (APT)

Vivaldi (APT)

Brave (APT or Flatpak)

To create a web app, open 'Web Apps' and press 'Add'. Then fill out the name, URL, select an image to use as the icon, select the browser you would like to use (only supported browsers that are installed are showed), add any browser parameters, and choose whether or not the web app should use an isolated profile or run in private/incognito mode.

If an apps is created, and the web browser it uses is then removed, Shock OS will use another compatible browser to launch the web app. If no compatible browsers are installed, an error message will be shown letting the user know.

New 'Windows' App

The 'Windows' app has been replaced with a new version of the same name, and now lets the user select the window manager. The default option is 'Marco', and there is also an option to use no compositor. Mutter, though not installed by default, can be selected if it is installed manually. It provides great performance and nice window animations. The only downside is that it does not support Metacity themes and does not integrate well with the MATE Desktop. To install Mutter, run the following command in a terminal window (CTRL+ALT+T):

$ sudo apt install mutter 

Compton, while also not installed by default, can be set as the window manager if it is installed manually. Run the following command in a terminal window (CTRL+ALT+T) to install Compton:

$ sudo apt install compton

GNOME Clocks is Now Pre-Installed

To change the time format used by GNOME Clocks, change the time format in the panel, and re-apply your panel settings

Mixed Colors

The default Shock OS theme now supports mixed colors (the GTK theme being one color and the icon theme being a different color). To used mixed colors, select the default theme from the Themes app, set the color to 'Mixed', and select the theme color and icon color.

Themes

Default accent color is now purple

Historically, Shock OS has used a blue accent color by default, but because it fits better with the brand and the default wallpaper, we have decided to change the default accent color to purple.

Flatpak App Themes

Flatpak applications can now use the system theme and custom user themes, and root apps can also now use custom user themes. Flatpaks and superuser apps are now much more coherent with the desktop theme. When the theme is changed, most Flatpaks will likely need a restart to use the new theme.

LibAdwaita App Themes

The Themes app now includes an option to apply the current theme to LibAdwaita apps, as long as the theme supports them. In order for a GTK theme to be LibAdwaita-compatible, it must include a folder named "gtk-4.0", which is much more likely to be present in newer themes rather than older ones. Additionally, the Themes app can now detect LibAdwaita-only themes, like the ones that come with Flat Remix, and those can be applied to LibAdwaita themes as well.

However, some themes that technically support LibAdwaita don't support it well, and may cause LibAdwaita apps to appear broken. Unfortunately, we are currently unaware of a way to filter through the poorly-supported themes and the well-supported themes, other than actually trying the theme and seeing if it works. Because of this, LibAdwaita theming is disabled by default, with the exception being that LibAdwaita apps will adjust to light mode or dark mode depending on the theme. To enable LibAdwaita theming, read on:

Layout Change

The Themes app looks mostly the same as it did in the previous release, except for two major changes. First, when using a custom theme, there will be an option under the "Default" option called "Custom theme settings". This option opens a tweak window allowing you to choose between light and dark mode (if the computer didn't detect it automatically) that will apply to certain apps, and to enable/disable LibAdwaita theming (mentioned above). The second change is that, following a GTK theme name are the columns "GTK+", "Metacity", and "LibAdwaita", and in those columns next to each theme will be an indicator, either a check mark for yes or an X for no, on whether or not that theme supports GTK+, Metacity, or LibAdwaita. Even if you don't know what those things are, just know that the more check marks your theme has, the more apps it will work with and the more coherent your desktop will look.

AppImage Support

Shock OS now comes with libfuse2 and the AppImage Launcher built-in, meaning it can run and install AppImages natively. To manage AppImage settings, run the following command in a terminal (CTRL+ALT+T):

$ AppImageLauncherSettings

To download AppImages, visit https://appimage.github.io/apps/.

Fonts

The Fonts app has recieved a few additional features, such as the ability to browse, install, and remove custom fonts. These fonts, like themes, should be coherent across all apps, including Flaptaks. The user interface has also been revamped, and the font to change is now selected from a list, instead of a dropdown menu.

Sample Videos

The default home directory now includes a sample video in the Videos folder. Check it out! This change won't affect existing users, but those who are on a fresh install of Shock OS 9.0 Holly or added a new user after upgrading will have a short film in their Videos folder. If you don't want this video, it can, of course, be easily deleted just like any other user file.

Parental Controls Screen Time Limit

The screen time limit feature now measures time in hours and minutes, instead of just minutes. This makes setting screen time limits and seeing how much screen time is left much simpler. Additionally, screen time (limits) for all users are now managed by one single systemd daemon, instead of a separate instance of a bash script for each user. This means that, instead of 10 scripts running for 10 users with a screen time limit, one very efficient script manages all of them at the same time. This decreases the CPU footprint that screen time limits create to an amount so small it's negligible - regardless of how many users with a screen time limit are logged in simutaneously.

New 'Screen Time' App

The new Screen Time app allows any user (even non-child users) to have their screen time usage logged for as many days back as they want. This feature is opt-in, of course, and screen time tracking for child users must be toggled by a non-child user through the Parental Controls app. Non-child users can toggle screen time tracking through the Screen time app. For child users, screen time tracking does NOT need to be enabled for screen time limits to work, as these things are managed separately.

To clarify, a screen time LIMIT is a daily time limit that a child user cannot exceed. Screen time limits can only be imposed on child users. Screen time TRACKING (a.k.a. screen time logging), on the other hand, is simply a record of how much screen time a user has used in the past x days (the number of days back to keep track of can be changed in the settings). All users can have their screen time tracked. Non-child users can change their screen time tracking settings in the Screen Time app, and they can change child users' settings in the Parental Controls app. Child users cannot change their screen time limit settings, a non-child user must do it for them in the Parental Controls app.

Shockware Center

The Shockware Center received a code revamp, and now loads much faster than it used to - taking only about 4 seconds instead of 14 seconds. It may also feel slightly faster when browsing apps.

The installation progress windows received a makeover. The icon of the app being installed is now displayed on the side of the window. Instead of a pulsate progress bar with no percentage, the percentage is now shown and the progress bar reflects that percentage. Additionally, if an APT application is going to be installed or removed, but is waiting for another APT process to finish (waiting for the lockfile), then the progress text will display "Waiting for APT lock".

Also, upon completing a software management process (installing/removing something), the Shockware Center will send an elegant notification, rather than an annoying pop-up window like before, that can, of course, be viewed with the new notifications manager (see below).

Update Manager

The Update Manger now also has a new progress window when installing updates - actually two windows. The first will display the progress of the APT updates as they are run, and the second the Flatpak updates.

Automatic Updates

All glitches with running automatic updates that were present in Shock OS 8.0 Holly have been fixed.

Screensavers

The old screensavers have been replaced with the XScreenSaver GL screensavers. These screensavers are much more visually pleasing. However, if you prefer the old screensavers, you can still install them with:

$ sudo apt install xscreensaver-data-extra

New Notifications Manager

While the MATE desktop environment does come with a notification system, it doesn't include a system tray applet for viewing past notifications and having easy access to toggle Do Not Disturb. To fix this problem, the Ayatana notifications indicator was originally planned to be included with this release, but, because it integrated poorly with the MATE panel and looked really buggy and out-of-place with some GTK themes, we decided to create our own notification manager. It uses YAD (Yet Another Dialog) to display past notifications. It integrates well with the system tray and looks good with any GTK theme - plus it also includes app icons. Overall, it's very clean, polished, and looks good with any theme.

Audio Output

The audio output device is now automatically detected and configured upon first boot and login. If you want to change the device, you can still right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar and go to Sound Preferences > Output and select your desired output device.

Shock OS Imager

The Shock OS Imager now supports writing to SD cards as well as USB drives.

Time and Date

The 'Time and Date' app now has an option to universally switch between 12 hour and 24 hour clock formats.