--- title: 'Ubuntu Desktop Weekly Update: July 28, 2017' description: 'Here’s the latest in the world of Desktop: GNOME We’ve been looking at ways to port the feature of allowing the sound to go above 100%. This is needed because some computers (e.g. Thinkpad X220) have a fairly low volume at 100% and so adding some software amplification is a useful addition. While this does […]' url: https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/ubuntu-desktop-weekly-update-july-28-2017?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog) 2. Article --- [Will Cooke](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/author/willcooke "More about Will Cooke") 28 July 2017 # Ubuntu Desktop Weekly Update: July 28, 2017 --- Share the article Here’s the latest in the world of Desktop: ## GNOME We’ve been looking at ways to port the feature of allowing the sound to go above 100%. This is needed because some computers (e.g. Thinkpad X220) have a fairly low volume at 100% and so adding some software amplification is a useful addition. While this does already work in GNOME Shell, using the keyboard volume buttons is still limited to 100% – if you have the volume set to more than 100% and press the volume up key – the volume would max out at 100%, and so effectively turn the volume down. ## Snaps Promoted gnome-dictionary, gnome-calculator, quadrapassel, gnome-clocks, and gnome-sudoku to the stable channel. You can get these fresh GNOME apps on Xenial with a simple snap install. We explored adding more themes to the default desktop launcher for Snaps. However, this substantially increases both the size of the snaps and the build time. There is work going on to make theme support “just work” for Snaps, so we will focus our efforts on getting that implemented soon. ## Video, Audio & Network It seems that our work on getting video acceleration working across the whole graphics stack is starting to inspire others to work on this complex problem as well, or perhaps it’s a happy accident. An engineer at Intel has proposed some patches to Chromium to get video acceleration working on Linux: Work continues on captive portal work in Network Manager. This week we’ve added support for enabling/disabling captive portal support via a d-bus API. These patches are pending a review upstream: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show\_bug.cgi?id=785117 Once that’s done we can add a toggle switch to the Control Center. BlueZ 5.46 is being tested in a PPA before we decide if we’ll upload it to Artful. ## Updates Gtk+3.0 is updated to 3.22.17 in Artful ## LivePatch We’ve added code to the root daemon to send events and a user daemon to listen to those events and display notifications for when Live Patch events occur. The architecture and design of this is under review however, and this is likely to change again in the coming weeks, specifically with a view to not require another daemon running in the user session. ## In The News [Linux Action News](http://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/116841/linux-action-news-11/) covers the [July bug shakedown](https://popey.com/blog/posts/ubuntu-artful-desktop-july-shakedown.html) and the [application survey.](https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/07/21/dustin-kirkland-ubuntu-18-04-lts-desktop-default-application-survey/) And so does the [Ubuntu Podcast.](http://ubuntupodcast.org/2017/07/27/s10e21-godly-heady-airport/) [OMG Ubuntu](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/07/ubuntu-wants-know-apps-think-default-survey) also covers the application survey. That’s it for this week. We’re at [GUADEC](https://2017.guadec.org/), and if you are too please come and say hi. [Get in touch Interested in running Ubuntu in your organization?](https://ubuntu.com/about/contact-us/form) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/legal/dataprivacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### From raw data to intelligent actions: inside our next-gen AI analytics data lake stack](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/inside-our-next-gen-ai-analytics-data-lake-stack) At Canonical, we believe organisations should be able to unlock the full value of their data without giving up control. That principle is at the heart of our next-generation... [Rob Gibbon](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/author/robgibbon) 18 September 2026 [### Beyond the 10-year mark: Extending Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS security coverage](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/extending-ubuntu-pro-16-04-coverage) A decade ago, Canonical launched Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (codenamed “Xenial Xerus”). As a Long-Term Support (LTS) release, it comes with 5 years of standard security coverage, which... [Carlos Bravo](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/author/carlos-bravo) 17 September 2026 [### Network disaggregation in telecommunication transport networks](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/network-disaggregation) Telecommunications networks have traditionally been built from tightly integrated systems. A router vendor supplies the forwarding hardware, network operating system (NOS),... [Benjamin Ryzman](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/author/benjaminryzman) 16 September 2026 [### Bring Zenoh to ROS 2 with snaps](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/bring-zenoh-to-ros-2-with-snaps) ROS 2 gives robotics developers the freedom to choose the middleware that fits their system. As a communication protocol for ROS, Zenoh has gained strong traction. It delivers... [gbeuzeboc](https://canonical-com-2950.demos.haus/blog/author/gbeuzeboc) 15 September 2026