This week we’re taking in updates from a diverse range of apps: from a nifty media converter to a nimble music player, by way of a largely unknown web browser called “Google Chrome”.
Yes, that was an attempt at sarcasm.
Ready to dive in? Let’s go!
Curlew 0.25 (Stable release)
Last year we introduced you to the Curlew media converter, praising the GTK3 app for its simple design and straightforward conversion choices.
It’s not as advanced or Handbrake or as configurable as command-line FFMPEG, but that’s the point; Curlew is the iMovie to Handbrake’s Premier Pro.
Recently Curlew 0.2.5 exported itself on to the release scene with some nifty new features and improvements:
- Option to include all audio tracks of a file
- Support for merging files
- Fade In/Out filter
- Paste from clipboard feature
The app now uses the Home directory as the default conversion destination (I’m amazed it didn’t already), adds xplayer to its list of supported players, and, er, now has colored buttons for Convert & Close.
If you’re curious to learn more Curlew is available to download from SourceForge.
GifCurry 4.0 (Prerelease)
GifCurry is a cool app that lets you make a Gif from video on Linux. A big update is available as a pre-release that lets you add text to gifs you create:
- Supports multiple dynamic text overlays
- Choose a text fill and outline color
- Configure text start/duration
- Text position
- Preview text overlays in the GUI
GifCurry 4.0 is currently in pre-release (i.e. you should expect bugs) but because the app is available as an AppImage you can try it out relatively safely.
Google Chrome 67 (Stable release)
A new stable release of the hitherto unknown Google Chrome web browser is now available (and if you use Google Chrome chances are you’re already running it).
Chrome 67 features a couple of interesting changes and new APIs, as well as the usual bug fixes and security patches.
- Progressive Web Apps support on desktop
- Password-free logins via new Web Authentication API
- Generic sensor API that lets web apps access device sensors
- More Web VR support
Should you need it we recently wrote a guide on how to install Chrome on Ubuntu.
Cantata 2.3.1 (Stable release)
An update to the Qt5-based music app Cantata was released this week.
The popular cross-platform MPD client adds, among 52 specific fixes and enhancements:
- Uses font awesome for icons
- Lyrics improvements.
- Fix playback of downloaded podcasts.
- Fix saving of podcast images to JPG
- Limit SoundCloud results to 200 matches
- Better control of play queue status bar buttons
For more details, and to grab a download, head over to the Cantata page on Github.