The GNOME Project has announced the release of GNOME 49.2, marking the second point release in the GNOME 49 “Brescia” desktop environment series. This update, which follows GNOME 49.1 released a month and a half earlier, comes with a plethora of bug fixes and feature improvements across various components.
In this update, significant enhancements were made for handling sticky keys and tiled monitors. It also includes support for managing ignored modifiers when grabbing keys and buttons on X11, along with the introduction of additional layouts for the on-screen keyboard specifically for German and Austrian users.
Other notable changes include the ability to sort the session list on the login screen by display name, a reduction in memory usage from thumbnails, and adjustments in the Nautilus file manager for correctly sorting loopback devices. Additionally, keyboard shortcuts have been updated, specifically changing the zoom function in the Loupe image viewer to achieve a 300% zoom with the correct shortcut.
GNOME 49.2 addresses multiple issues, such as a bug related to MPRIS client notifications on the lock screen, incorrect network icon display upon connectivity loss, and various glitches impacting gestures in right-to-left locales. Other fixes include improvements in GNOME Software, which resolves issues like version history not displaying for Flatpak apps, as well as enhancing the GNOME Settings application for better handling of Wi-Fi network QR codes.
The release also updates the Epiphany (GNOME Web) browser to show the action bar consistently during narrow mode and fixes several bugs within the GDM login manager and the Orca screen reader, ensuring a smoother user experience across the desktop environment.
For a detailed overview of all the changes introduced in GNOME 49.2, one can check the release announcement page. Along with this release, the project has also provided GNOME 48.7, a maintenance update that primarily focuses on bug fixes for components like GNOME Control Center and GNOME Shell.