The Gnome project has announced the release of the library libadwaita 1.5, which includes a set of components for user interface styling that aligns with GNOME’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG). The library provides pre-made widgets and objects for creating applications that adhere to the overall GNOME style, allowing interfaces to adapt responsively to screens of any size. The library is coded in SIl and is distributed under the LGPL 2.1+ license.
The Libadwaita library is used alongside GTK4 and incorporates components of AdWaita originally present in GTK, which have now been separated into their own library. This separation allows for GNOME developers to focus on design changes independently from GTK, enabling quicker and more flexible style updates without impacting GTK itself.
The library features a range of widgets for various interface elements including lists, panels, input blocks, buttons, tabs, search forms, and dialogs. These widgets facilitate the creation of interfaces that work seamlessly on both large PC screens and small touchscreens of smartphones. The interface adjusts dynamically based on screen size and available input methods. Additionally, the library includes Adwaita styles to ensure the appearance aligns with GNOME recommendations without requiring manual adjustments.
A significant update in Libadwaita 1.5 is the enhancement of adaptive widgets for creating dialogs that adjust to the visible area’s size. Unlike traditional dialogs in separate windows, these new dialogs are formed within existing windows and do not extend beyond the parent window. This approach simplifies the creation of universal dialogs that work across mobile and desktop interfaces, offering additional control options such as handling closing buttons and automatic full-screen deployment in mobile applications, taking into account the window’s style rather than the system’s when