Shortwave is a popular internet radio player for GNOME. In total, more than 25,000 stations are available by default, all of which can be organized, searched, and cast to other devices (such as Chromecast).
Shortwave 3.0 brings these features to a whole new level, with some considerable changes. Let’s take a look at what’s new!
Shortwave 3.0: What’s New?
Alongside the major inclusion of libadwaita, Shortwave 3.0 includes:
- Support for GNOME 42 Dark Mode
- Ability to add private stations to the library
- The ability to save station data to the disk
- Improved sorting of search results
User Interface Changes
Over the past few months, many apps have been transitioning to Libadwaita. Thanks to its smooth visuals, integrated development workflow, and integration with GNOME, it has quickly become a must-have for all new apps.
The latest app to receive an upgrade to Libadwaita is Shortwave. As a result of this, it now features an adaptive user interface, potentially useful for Linux phones like the PinePhone.
Additionally, it now uses the more modern Adwaita design, which I really like.
With the UI improvements, it also supports the new GNOME 42 dark mode. Here’s what it looks like:
Saving Station Data
A useful feature addition includes the ability to save station data to the disk, instead of having to receive it from the server every time.
As a result, even if a station is removed from the server (radio-browser.info), it will remain in the app, with a message notifying the user of the change.
Add Private Stations
Previously, you had to rely on the available stations in the library available with radio-browser.info.
Now, you can add your private stations from your internal network or maybe an exclusive/paid stream available through an API key.
Other Changes
In addition to the ones listed above, Shortwave 3.0 features a few other improvements:
- Display station bitrate information, which can also be used as a sorting option.
- New button on the search page that allows to sort the search results.
- Overhauled station dialog, with more clearly displayed information.
- Update desktop notification on song change instead of generating a new separate notification for each song.
- Shortwave can now be used normally, even if radio-browser.info is offline / unavailable.
Wrapping Up
Overall, Shortwave 3.0 is a fantastic release that combines improves the user experience and adds new functionalities.
If you want to install it, you can head to its Flathub page for instructions or simply type the below command into your terminal:
flatpak install flathub de.haeckerfelix.ShortwaveIn case you haven’t set up Flatpak, you can refer to our Flatpak guide as well.
Have you tried Shortwave 3.0 yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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