Earlier this year, Ubuntu announced the planned replacement of the document viewer app Evince with a new application called Papers. This modern GTK4/libadwaita fork aims to enhance the user experience by utilizing newer technologies. Though Evince remains a core app in GNOME 48, the upcoming GNOME 49 is expected to switch to Papers. Ubuntu has decided not to wait for this transition.
If you’ve been using daily builds of Ubuntu 25.04, also known as Plucky Puffin, you might have noticed that Papers was not included in the ISO or initial installations. This absence was due to several prerequisites that had to be completed: officially packaging Papers for Debian, syncing it to the Plucky Puffin’s universe repository, filing a main inclusion request (MIR), and passing a security review.
Today, an important update in the Plucky Puffin ubuntu-meta file confirmed the swap by removing Evince and adding Papers. As a result, Papers will now propagate for wider testing among users.
However, the transition is not yet complete. There are still tasks ahead, such as patching GTK3 to allow for print previews using Papers—a feature that Evince currently supports. Additionally, the desktop file needs to be modified to ensure that Papers is displayed as Document Viewer in the app picker, consistent with GNOME’s naming conventions.
It’s important to note that app replacements like this can be challenging because users often prefer their familiar applications. Fortunately, there should not be any significant regression in user experience or functionality with this change. Those who prefer to continue using Evince in Ubuntu 25.04 will be able to install it from the repositories using the command sudo apt install evince.
Users can look forward to the shift when Plucky Puffin launches next month, while those on earlier versions of Ubuntu can already install Papers from Flathub.