Dynamic transparency is now enabled by default in the Ubuntu Dock on Ubuntu 17.10.
It seems that Ubuntu devs listened to our criticism on the jarring contrast of GNOME 3.26’s transparent top bar sitting flush against the less-transparent Ubuntu Dock (as you can see in the ‘before’ image below).
An update pushed out to the Ubuntu dock extension overnight ‘corrects’ the flaw by having the Ubuntu Dock match the panel opacity of the top bar when no window is placed near or touching either element:
The result looks cleaner, don’t you think?
Naturally when an application window is placed beside either the dock or the top bar the ‘dynamic transparency’ will still kick in. The top bar turns solid brown and the Ubuntu dock reverts to its darker semi-transparent state:
Small changes, but ones that help give the Ubuntu 17.10 desktop a little more polish and consistency.
The ‘dynamic transparency’ effect can’t be turned off in the Dock settings:
Are you a fan of this small change? Or do you intend to uninstall the Ubuntu Dock after you upgrade? Let us know in the comments hole below.