Maui Release Briefing # 2 – MauiKit

MauiKit: A Toolkit for Multi Adaptable User Interfaces.

Today, we bring you a new report on the Maui Project’s progress.

We are excited to announce the latest release of MauiKit version 3.0.0, our comprehensive user interface toolkit specifically designed for convergent interfaces.

Built on the foundations of Qt Quick Controls and QML, MauiKit empowers developers to create adaptable and seamless user interfaces across a range of devices.

Community

To follow the Maui Project’s development or say hi, you can join us on Telegram: https://t.me/mauiproject.

We are present on Twitter and Mastodon:

Thanks to the KDE contributors who have helped translate the Maui Apps!

Downloads

You can get the stable release packages [APKs, AppImage, TARs] directly from the KDE downloads server at https://download.kde.org/stable/maui/

And if you are feeling a bit curious about the Maui DE, you can download a new Manjaro-based image for **testing** the project’s current state.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/nulogicos/files/maui-shell/ISO/manjaro-maui-shell-23.0.0-minimal-230606-linux515.iso/download

Note: Please be aware that this is an ISO image from a third party.

What’s new?

In this update, we have focused on enhancing MauiKit’s capabilities to support convergent interfaces. With improved components, added features, and bug fixes, MauiKit enables developers to build interfaces that seamlessly adapt and respond to different screen sizes, resolutions, and device form factors.

In addition to the enhancements made to MauiKit, this release also includes updates to the Maui App stack. The Maui App stack consists of a suite of applications developed using MauiKit, designed to provide a consistent and cohesive user experience across different devices. These updates further strengthen the stack, ensuring a smooth and integrated workflow for developers and a delightful user experience for end-users.

With the convergence capabilities of MauiKit, applications built using the stack can seamlessly transition between desktop and mobile interfaces, providing a unified experience across different environments.

Check out the previous progress report blog for more details on what has been cooking for this new release:

Maui Report 22

Now, let’s delve into the details of the new release of MauiKit, exploring its enhanced features for building convergent interfaces. We will also showcase the updates to the Maui App stack, demonstrating how developers can leverage its capabilities to create compelling cross-platform applications.

Join us on this journey as we unveil the potential of MauiKit for building convergent interfaces and discover the possibilities offered by the enhanced Maui App stack.

A few custom CSD button styles added. I’ll probably move them to a new package maui-csd-styles.
If you have a favorite window control button style- from back in the days of emerald and metacity – leave a comment with a link and I’ll add it. #mauikit @maui_project pic.twitter.com/713rE9B1iI
— Camilo Higuita (@cmhiguita) April 2, 2023

MauiKit Frameworks

At the core of the Maui Project lies its foundational framework, MauiKit Controls, which provides a comprehensive set of template controls for creating user interfaces. In this latest release, we have made significant improvements to MauiKit Controls, focusing on enhancing its configurability and overall consistent user experience.

One of the notable advancements is the increased configurability of MauiKit Controls, allowing developers to adapt the interface to user preferences more effectively. For example, new color styles have been introduced specifically tailored for E-Ink and AMOLED displays, ensuring optimal readability and energy efficiency on these screen types. This level of customization empowers developers to create interfaces that cater to the unique needs of users and their device preferences.

Furthermore, we have worked to establish a more consistent look and feel across all graphical elements within MauiKit Controls. This coherence ensures a seamless user experience, where controls harmoniously blend together, providing a polished and professional interface. Users will appreciate the enhanced visual consistency and intuitiveness of the controls, resulting in a more satisfying and engaging interaction.

Controls & Style – [3.0.0]

Make the ToolActions have a uniform height for all the children.
Style fixes to the ComboBox and SpinBox.
In the Handy object check the clipboard for an image.
Allow opening ContextualMenu and the cursor position.
New control TextFieldPopup: a text field that expands to a popover for listing elements; a use case is for presenting inline searches and filtering.
Fixes to the minimum ApplicationWindow size constraints on mobile.
Tweaks to the TabView tabs, supporting now color and icon. Fixes the interactive property for touch-swiping gestures.
Fix padding of elements such as custom CSD buttons, FloatingButton, SelectionBar, and others.
Refactor the ToolActions control, no longer based on indexes, but rather relies on the Action children for setting the states.
Fixed the crashing issue on Wayland when performing a DND action.
The ListBrowserDelegate and GridBrowserDelegate now expose the autoExclusive property for such usage.
Start using the new MauiMan Accessibility module properties for the scrollBarPolicy and playSounds preferences.
Style the CheckBoxItem control for better contrast and consistency with the rest of the elements.
Fix binding loops on some controls, such as ToolBar.
Added a constrained width for the SideBarView sidebar to never exceed the width of the available screen width.

True Black and Inverted for e ink displays? @maui_project pic.twitter.com/1EWDJ4aEoh
— Camilo Higuita (@cmhiguita) April 13, 2023

FileBrowser, TextEditor, ImageTools, and Accounts – [3.0.0]

MauiKit FileBrowsing, has also received refinements in this release. The dialogs within MauiKit FileBrowsing have been redesigned to be more compact and visually pleasing, providing a cleaner and more user-friendly interface for managing files. Drag and drop operations have been fine-tuned to ensure smoother file manipulation, simplifying the organization and transfer of files.

MauiKit FileBrowser now has support for pasting raw images and text buffers into a new file. This is Index File Manager in action:#mauikit @maui_project pic.twitter.com/nn4wwjrQVz
— Camilo Higuita (@cmhiguita) April 18, 2023

Additionally, the API of MauiKit FileBrowsing has been cleaned up, resulting in a more consistent and developer-friendly experience. These improvements streamline the integration of MauiKit FileBrowsing into applications, allowing developers to leverage its power more efficiently.

The frameworks received the necessary fixes for supporting translations via KI18n and the KDE’s infrastructure.

Check if the clipboard has any content that can be pasted into the FileBrowser.
Allow pasting images and text streams into a new file in the FileBrowser.
Added a readOnly property to the FileBrowser to avoid performing modifying actions, such as deleting, creating, or moving.
Allow selecting large amounts of files – still not good [TODO]
Do not count “.” and “..” entries in the directory count info.

Documents & Calendar – [1.1.0]

Updated to the latest MauiKit Controls changes. MauiKit Calendar has been updated to the latest changes in the Akonadi Frameworks.

Terminal – [1.1.0]

MauiKit Terminal serves as a terminal emulator control, powering the MauiKit Station app. In this new release, MauiKit Terminal has gained several exciting features to improve its functionality and usability. Users can now easily search through their command history, making it more convenient to reference past commands and outputs. Additionally, notifications for finished processes ensure users stay informed about completed tasks, enhancing multitasking capabilities.

To prevent accidental closures, MauiKit Terminal now includes alarms that warn users before closing any running processes. This helps avoid unintended disruptions and gives users the opportunity to save their work or take necessary actions. Furthermore, the adaptive color scheme of MauiKit Terminal has been refined for better readability and visual comfort, catering to various devices and screen types. The improved touchscreen support makes it even more intuitive for users to interact with the terminal using touch-based gestures.

Do not trigger a signal for the process name if it has not changed.
Refine Adaptive color scheme references.

MauiMan

Configuring Maui

For those who prefer smaller sizes for common elements: #mauikit @maui_project pic.twitter.com/FTdnzM7QWc
— Camilo Higuita (@cmhiguita) April 15, 2023

Maui Apps

The Maui Apps cover a wide range of essential functionalities, including a file browser, music player, text editor, image viewer, notes taker, video player, web browser, and calendar. In this latest release, our focus has been on expanding and refining the app stack, ensuring consistency, and bringing newer apps up to par with the established ones.

Among the recent additions, we have introduced an archive manager, providing efficient handling of compressed files. A GIT version control manager has also been included, streamlining collaborative software development. The new colors utility app helps users manage and explore color palettes effectively, while the camera app offers a convenient solution for capturing and managing photos.

It’s worth noting that some of these Maui Apps are also available on Android, making them accessible across multiple platforms. Furthermore, these apps are designed to work flawlessly on Linux phones, tablets, and desktop computers, ensuring a consistent and seamless user experience regardless of the device being used.

Index & Nota

Index PathBar delegates now mask the content item to the arrow shape for more precise clicks.
Index now allows pasting raw image and text buffers into a new file.
The main context menu now pops up on the cursor position if triggered with a right-click on the desktop.
Check if there are items in the clipboard that can be pasted.

Fiery & Vvave

Fiery now can download files and notify about them.
Fiery has a more compact look with merged tabs and toolbars.
Fiery has a more adaptive interface on mobile mode.
Vvave now has preference properties for toggling album titles.

Fiery web browser with a more compact & responsive layout + detaching tabs. now can also download files etc…#mauikit pic.twitter.com/MUZLvnwzK4
— Camilo Higuita (@cmhiguita) May 13, 2023

Buho & Pix

Bonsai & Clip

Bonsai refactored with a new backend for performing GIT actions.

Arca & Station

Arca can now create new compressed archives.
Correctly prevent closing active processes and correctly accept to stop them.
Station now has a new shortcut bar for signals.
Station now checks the current program being executed and sets the best-fitted shortcuts bar, for example for Nano the nano bar.

Station with fixes for text rendering with Zsh themes. added more configuration options in settings. and support for alerts on finished processes and prevent closing running processes too… also configurable.#mauikit @maui_project pic.twitter.com/7ZoF8SlTUQ
— Camilo Higuita (@cmhiguita) April 4, 2023

Agenda & Strike

Updated to the latest MauiKit changes,
Updated to the latest Akonadi library changes.

Booth & Shelf – Communicator & Paleta

All are updated to the latest MauiKit changes.

Maui Shell & Maui Settings

Cask

Fix bugs on dragging around CSD surfaces.
Now uses the new MauiMan InputDevices keymap properties.
Now uses the new QPA Theme and set the right env var to make use of it.
Other Qt applications now look better with the new Maui QPA Theme.
Tweaked the padding of the Chrome title bars.

Maui Settings

The Theme module view has been refactored and split into subpages for better readability.
Added a new sub-page to support picking custom color schemes.
New QPA Theme plugin.
Added a new Fonts subpage in Theme.
Added entry to pick a custom wallpaper source directory in the Background module view.
Organize the sidebar modules by categories.
Can now filter the sidebar categories with keywords.
Display an error message when a module could not be loaded correctly.
Added the new InputDevices modules view with initial support for keyboard keymap options.
Tweaked the About module view.
Added a filter field for the Icons subpage.

Maui Core & Maui Wallpapers

More settings preferences…@maui_project pic.twitter.com/iXoKkgLR7J
— Camilo Higuita (@cmhiguita) April 13, 2023

That’s it for now.