GNOME 49 Brescia launches with Wayland improvements, new default apps, and more

GNOME Project has released GNOME 49 “Brescia” as the new stable version for GNU/Linux desktops, making Wayland the default display protocol and disabling X11. The latest release also replaces several default apps, introducing Showtime Player for video playback (replacing GNOME Videos or Totem), Papers as the document viewer (replacing Evince), and Manuals for developer documentation (replacing Devhelp).

Performance upgrades include HDR brightness support, asynchronous keyboard map settings, per-monitor brightness sliders, and smoother cursor movements at maximum refresh rate on VRR displays. Usability changes add a Do Not Disturb toggle, a dedicated Accessibility menu on the login screen, improved Quick Settings for power profiles, and support for passive screen casting. GNOME Files (Nautilus) improves file management with faster batch renaming, a finished-operation icon, transparency for hidden files, local device-name sorting, and a “Ctrl + dot” shortcut to open directories in the terminal. GNOME Web (Epiphany) also introduces a redesigned address bar, kiosk mode, new privacy options, and usability refinements.

Other apps also received upgrades, with Calculator adding new currencies, units, operators, and advanced math functions, while Snapshot gained hardware encoding, H264/MP4 recording, and improved gesture support. Boxes increased the default VM disk size to 30 GB, GNOME Calendar highlights month names more clearly, and GNOME Console now offers full-screen mode. Orca Screen Reader can be configured directly from Settings and brings systemd integration, structural navigation, and better web content handling, while Quadrapassel was ported to GTK4, and GNOME Software now starts with systemd. Further details on these changes can be found in the full release notes.