Ubuntu’s default desktop is about to look more like upstream GNOME than it has in years — but before you panic unduly, I should stress that it will still look (mostly) the same as it does now.
The Yaru theme team — try saying that several times in a row — is undertaking a refactor of their GNOME Shell stylesheet (“theme”) ahead of the next long-term support release, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, which is due out in April and will include GNOME 50.
Rather than continuing to maintain a customised stylesheet for GNOME Shell, it will instead use the default theme and apply the changes it wants over the top (without modifying it directly).
Thought that is what they already did?
Not quite.
Currently, Ubuntu’s ‘Shell’ theme is structurally custom, i.e., the Yaru team maintain and ship a separate stylesheet. While based on the vanilla stylesheet and kept in ‘sync’ every release, it’s distinct – the Yaru team must manually patch, fix and adapt to changes.
Visual inconsistencies can creep in from this approach. As some bits of the new ‘sync’ are updated are adapted for, others bits get missed — e.g., Yaru was using different radii for calendar/notification applet and desktop notifications for a few releases.
This new approach, outlined in a pull request on the Yaru GitHub, is simpler: use symlinks to point directly at the default style files, and apply overrides. This way, Yaru’s Shell styling goes from “custom theme based on upstream” to “upstream, with Ubuntu overrides”.
Ubuntu’s overrides to vanilla GNOME Shell will continue to specify typography (the Ubuntu font, sizing, weight); maintain the current panel and dock size/padding (upstream is more generous); and retain the iconic interface accent colour (orange).
But other Shell elements, like rounded corners on panel applets or the shape, contrast and spacing of buttons in modal dialogs etc will now follow the upstream settings, unless the Yaru team choose to override them.
Will they? They say their plan is to opt for a ‘minimal’ set of overrides, and given the struggle to keep on top of inconsistency creep as upstream changes get merged with their downstream changes, minimal also means more manageable.
Why the change?
Although it may sound like a game of musical chairs (the same thing, done a different way) it’s not without reason: to reduce the maintenance burden and veer closer to upstream design intentions.
Ubuntu’s Yaru theme is developed by a community team, albeit with technical guidance from Canonical’s Marco Trevisan and input from the Canonical design team). This effort is to reduce their effort in maintaining the Shell-side component of the theme.
But more importantly, it does mean that Ubuntu is presenting GNOME Shell better: the way the people who design, build and undertake user-testing of GNOME Shell intend it to be. Adjusting radii, button spacing and fonts may sound inconsequential, but it adds up.
If you’re testing Ubuntu 26.04 in the coming months, be sure to keep an eye out for the shape, spacing, and roundness of GNOME Shell UI elements, modal dialogs, pop-overs, buttons, and notifications to change, in keeping with upstream.
Ubuntu’s distinctive branding isn’t going anywhere, and GNOME Shell in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will look largely the same as it does in 25.10 because… Yaru has increasingly gotten closer and closer to its upstream basis.