The first Thunderbird 130 beta release is out, and when running it on Linux there’s a very obvious new feature: a tray icon!
In the Thunderbird 130 beta release notes the ‘what’s new’ section highlights “added Linux system tray icon”, and the astonishing part about this update is that it fulfills a feature request initially filed on the Mozilla bug tracker a remarkable 25 years ago!
Tray icons might seem a bit dated, but they are still helpful on systems that do not manage background applications in a straightforward or familiar way.
Thunderbird on Windows includes a system tray icon/applet, but, as far as I know, this email client hasn’t previously included one on Linux or macOS systems.
Over the years Linux users have utilized various solutions, including Thunderbird add-ons and third-party applications, scripts, or extensions that leverage APIs to have an effective Thunderbird system tray menu. One example from the past is Birdtray.
However, the landscape is evolving.
There is an ongoing initiative by Thunderbird developers to enhance the email client’s integration with Linux desktops. This includes introducing a system tray icon per the StatusNotifierItem specification, and improving support for native notifications.
The initial Thunderbird 130 beta is now available for download. It features a new tray icon which is quite basic at this stage. This beta is the first in a series of approximately 5 or 6, and the tray icon has only recently been implemented, so it is still under development and not fully operational.
Minimise to tray, and some kind of ‘new message’ indicator (beyond notifications or a dock emblem in Ubuntu) are planned. I expect a GUI toggle to turn the icon off will be introduced to placate those who don’t want/need a tray icon for Thunderbird.
I’d also expect the literal tray icon to be finessed in time. In Beta 1 it’s a full-colour icon (and looks oversized in Linux Mint’s Cinnamon desktop), but most major Linux distributions and desktop environments prefer symbolic or desaturated tray icons.
So anyone planning on downloading the beta on the basis it has gained a tray icon MUST keep all of that in mind. The way this feature looks and behaves in Thunderbird 130 Beta 1 is not indicative of how it may work/look by time it arrives in a future stable ESR release.
Also, keep in mind that beta releases of anything in general are not recommended for mission-critical workloads, will contain bugs, show rough edges, offer incomplete features, performance quirks, and so on — use them with that understanding.
The tray ions feature in Thunderbird 130 beta is a work in progress. It is not (at the time of writing this) complete, finished, or finalised. You can track development and new functionality in future planned Thunderbird beta updates.
Thanks Sambot
- Which I hope will include action buttons in GNOME Shell notifications, e.g., ‘mark as read’