A redesigned version of the KDE Connect Android app is rolling out now on the Google Play Store.
KDE Connect 1.17, which will likely come to F-Droid shortly, gives the app a bright, clean makeover by removing most (but not all) of the applications orange accent colours.
The visual tweaks are most noticeable in the device drawer, the plugin settings page, and in the list of KDE Connect devices:
While the changes don’t drastically alter the KDE Connect Android app’s capabilities — earlier incarnations were perfectly functional — the redo does help bring the app a bit closer to modern design sensibilities used on the Android platform.
The KDE Connect v1.17 change-log posted to the Play Store includes:
- Redesign of the app
- Report the phone signal strength
- Allow switching audio outputs
- Extract MMS attachments
- Add basic mouse receiver
I don’t have a KDE set-up with the latest version of the KDE Connect desktop app so I can’t demo some of the newer features (like the mouse receiver or seeing phone signal strength) touted in this version.
But the new version of the Android app is fully compatible with older versions of the KDE Connect app, as well as the GSConnect GNOME extension (which I tested it on both Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and the recent 21.04 release. and it works great).
If you’re an avid user of KDE Connect, be it on the Plasma desktop or though the GSConnect GNOME Shell extension, head over to the Play Store now to get the update.
If you’re not currently using KDE Connect you may want to look in to it. The app acts as a bridge between the Linux desktop and your Android phone, letting you share a clipboard, see Android notifications on your desktop, send/receive files to and from your phone, and even use your phone as a touchpad for your desktop!