Darkbar 1.0.1 Released
Darkbar 1.0.1 improves Flatpak support and is available to download on elementary AppCenter and Flathub.
Darkbar is a tool for pixel perfectionists and dark mode users. It allows you to control whether an application uses dark or light styles for the window controls. It supports X11 and XWayland windows using traditional titlebars (e.g. no client side decorations) like you might find with The GIMP or Electron-based applications.
What's New?
Darkbar 1.0.0 and 1.0.1 improve support for Flatpak installations and extend support to GNOME and other desktop environments supporting the FreeDesktop.org dark style preference. And for the first time, Darkbar is available on Flathub!
New Features
- Support for the FreeDesktop.org dark style preference
- Support for user-defined window controls (minimize, maximize, close) layout (#6)
- Support for running under Wayland (only for Xwayland windows) (#12)
- Added default style preference for new identified windows (#3)
Bug Fixes
- Ignore windows that cannot be identified or lack and XID
- Reload the window list if invalid windows are encountered
Ignored Applications
Windows that cannot be controlled by Darkbar.
- Chrome/Edge PWA and web app windows (always drawn by the app)
- elementary OS apps (always uses CSD)
- Zoom join windows (
join?, always unique)
Flatpak Support
- Improved app identification and icon support (#8)
- Switch to using sandboxed
xprop, no more spawning apps outside of the sandbox - X11 is now enforced, guaranteeing Xwayland windows can be correctly detected
- Reduced requested permissions
Updated Translations
Chinese, Chinese (China), Dutch, French, Italian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Malay, Malay (Arabic), Polish, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Desktop Environment Support
To be able to use Darkbar, your desktop environment’s window manager needs to support dark style variants. Darkbar has been tested and proven to work with Gala (as found in the Pantheon desktop environment on elementary OS) and Mutter (GNOME’s window manager). It does not work with Xfwm, the Xfce window manager, at this time.
How to Get Darkbar
Darkbar is packaged as a Flatpak on the elementary OS AppCenter and on Flathub. If you are averse to Flatpaks (I’m sure you have your reasons), you can also find the building and installation instructions on GitHub.
I hope you enjoy using Darkbar and that it helps make your desktop experience more consistent. If you do, consider sending me a tip on AppCenter or on GitHub Sponsors!