Wayland compositor niri 25.11 launches with alt-tab switcher, new window animations & more

niri 25.11 brings several workflow and usability improvements to this scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor. The standout enhancement is a new Alt-Tab recent windows' switcher featuring live previews, as well as window titles that fade. For privacy, windows blocked from screencasts will appear as black rectangles with their titles hidden during selection. Alongside these improvements, window transitions to and from full-screen are now fully animated, removing the previous jarring effect and enhancing visual smoothness.

Another focal point of this release is support for Wayland-native maximize. This familiar feature, accessed via the maximize button or double-clicking the title bar, brings niri in line with user expectations from other environments. To further streamline interaction, dragging tiled windows by the title bar horizontally now scrolls the view rather than moving the window, while vertical drags continue to move the window: an approach based on PaperWM.

Building on these interface changes, the release introduces configuration flexibility by allowing layout sections to be overridden for specific outputs and named workspaces. Users can also include additional files in their configuration for better management. niri 25.11 expands hardware compatibility by supporting monitors using DisplayLink docks, benefiting Asahi Mac users. The update also includes reduced screen blanking, custom output modes, screen reader enhancements, and various other fixes.