KDE Plasma 6.7 is bringing dark mode toggle, push to talk, and more

KDE developers are already gearing up for Plasma 6.7, and the upcoming update brings great quality-of-life features, like an instant dark mode toggle and system-wide push-to-talk. The team is quickly moving beyond the initial launch of Plasma 6 and focusing on other improvements.

The Plasma 6.6 feature freeze just happened, which means the core team is now heavily focused on fixing bugs and stabilizing this codebase. However, the door has opened for new features to arrive in 6.7, and we’re already seeing some notable additions that look great for anyone using the KDE desktop environment.

Users will finally be able to instantly switch between themes via the Brightness and Color widget, the most visible change in version 6.7. I think this is a fantastic addition because it eliminates the need to go through settings just to change the theme depending on the time of day. The developers have said they plan to add a smooth fade transition later, but the immediate functionality is already merged, and that’s what matters most at the moment.

This update is also a big deal for those who spend time in voice chats. Plasma 6.7 introduces a system-wide push-to-talk setting. Instead of relying on individual apps, you can now bind a global key that unmutes your mic only when you press it, ensuring you’re muted everywhere else by default. This is much more reliable than individual app settings and gives you predictable microphone behavior, which is essential for privacy and to avoid accidental hot mics.

The System Settings pages for the game controller, mouse, and touchpad will only appear if the corresponding physical device is actually plugged in or detected. If you only use a standard keyboard and don’t have a trackpad, these pages will simply disappear from the menu. This makes navigation much cleaner.

Discover’s Games section is also getting a cleanup with new dedicated folders that separate game launchers and tools from actual games. This makes it easier for you to distinguish full games from supporting software, which should make navigating the Games category easier.

While version 6.7 is in preparation, the next version Plasma 6.6 already sees some improvements finalized. System Monitor, for example, now lets you graphically set process priority. This restores functionality that was previously available in the old KSysGuard application.

Another change that will improve desktop speed is how removable disks are handled. Mounting a removable disk no longer scans the file system by default. If you need to check for errors, this is now a manual action that you initiate from the expanded action list. Kicker search results are also much more stable now. They no longer flicker or resize as you type, making searching for apps much smoother and faster.

The user interface also gets many small but important changes. The screen selection dialog now includes a search and filter field. This makes it easier to find a specific screen by name, especially when you have a large number of windows open. HDR Calibrator now has a summary page, including a new option to improve compatibility with Windows HDR games. This is a crucial feature for anyone switching between operating systems or running Windows games in a virtual environment.

While Plasma 6.6 is still stabilizing ahead of its planned release, version 6.7 is currently in active development, and the above is what you can expect when it releases. The team has yet to provide a specific release date for Plasma 6.7, but these early features show that there’s a lot to come.

Source: KDE Blog