Remember that new app for installing GNOME extensions I wrote about earlier this month? Well, it just got its first major update.
And it adds a ton of much-requested features.
For those unfamiliar with it, Extension Manager is a desktop app that lets you search, browse, manage, and install GNOME extensions without having to use a web browser. The app is built in GTK4 and libadwaita and is available to install from Flathub.
For its first major feature update the tool adds pretty much everything people suggested it add, including a global on/off toggle (just like the official Extensions Prefs tool), and clear separation of user-installed extensions and system-installed extensions (ordered alphabetically, no less):
Additionally, there are new filters to sort search results based on popularity, recency, downloads, or name – the same options available on the main GNOME Extensions website:
Unsupported extensions are now marked in search results, rather than hidden:
And the big one: you can now see extension screenshots within the app:
There’s also a pinch more detail on show in the listing pages too:
Additionally, Extension Manager 0.2 adds support for dark mode (manual or automatic, the latter being based on the new free desktop standard), and the dev has sought to improve the overall performance and stability of the tool.
Extension Manager 0.2.1 at a glance:
- Dark theme and support for overriding the system colour scheme
- Shows screenshots in extension listings
- Shell version compatibility check
- Sort search results
- Global extension on/off toggle
- Displays user and system extensions separately
- Performance and stability
Extension Manager is free, open source software with source code on GitHub. The developer of the app recommends users install Extension Manager from Flathub, though the tool is available through other avenues, such as the AUR.