The issue has been published AppGrid 1.8.0 - third-party app launcher for KDE Plasma 6, designed in the form of a grid of applications and positioned as an alternative to the standard menus Kickoff и KickerThe release is hosted on GitHub. May 25, 2026; the project description states that AppGrid is distributed under a license GPL-2.0-or-later.
AppGrid The Plasmoid comes in two versions: as a separate centered popup window and as a native Plasma panel popup menu. Both versions use the same app grid, search, categories, and settings. The developer provides official installation channels: AUR for Arch Linux and derivatives, PPA for Ubuntu 25.10 + copy for Fedora, a universal tarball for installation in ~/.local/ on immutable systems, and Nix/NixOS Flake.
The developer calls AppGrid 1.8.0 the biggest update since the project's inception. The release features a redesigned favorites system, enhanced drag-and-drop functionality, improved search rankings, tighter integration with KDE Plasma engines, and performance optimizations.
Key Changes in AppGrid 1.8.0
A rewritten favorites system based on KActivities.
Favorite apps now use the KAStatsFavoritesModel—the same mechanism used in Kickoff. Upon first launch, existing favorites are automatically migrated to the new system. However, AppGrid still maintains its own namespace for favorites, meaning it doesn't completely replace Kickoff's favorites.Drag and drop favorites and manage order.
Featured apps can now be dragged and dropped to rearrange them. Auto-scrolling is enabled at the edge of the list when dragging, and the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Arrow has been added. You can also drag an external .desktop file into the AppGrid to pin the app to the launcher.Dragging apps out of the AppGrid.
Apps can now be dragged from the AppGrid to the taskbar, Plasma panel, desktop, or Dolphin. Multi-selection via Ctrl+click has been added, allowing you to drag and drop multiple apps at once. Group operations can be performed in the context menu by pinning, unpinning, hiding, launching, and copying.Smarter search.
Search results have been reordered: frequently used apps and default apps for MIME types are now prioritized. The idea is to prioritize apps that the user is more likely to actually open, rather than just those that formally match.Updated search results interface.
Search results now feature section headings, a placeholder for empty states, and a display icon for the selected result directly in the search bar. This makes search more like a full-fledged navigation interface, rather than just a filter for a list of apps.Discover integration for Flatpak apps.
For Flatpak applications, an item has been added to the context menu Manage in DiscoverIt allows you to navigate to application management via KDE Discover. System package support for this feature, according to the developer, is expected to arrive later.Passing launch information to KActivities.
AppGrid now reports app launches in KActivities. This allows other Plasma components, including Kickoff and related views like "frequently used" apps and recent documents, to account for activity performed through AppGrid.Customizable power and session buttons.
Buttons for shutting down, logging out, and other system actions can now be customized individually: show or hide each button and reorder them by dragging. This is useful for users who want to limit the launcher to only the actions they really need.Navigate categories using the keyboard.
Alt+Left and Alt+Right shortcuts have been added for switching between categories. This is a small but important improvement for those who primarily use the launcher with the keyboard.New visual settings.
An optional light shadow has been added to app icons. The centered launcher now has a vertical offset option, allowing for more precise window positioning on the screen. The new launcher icon is now the default for fresh installations, but the old icon is retained when upgrading from 1.7.x.Official distribution channels.
The release specifically noted the appearance of official packaging for Ubuntu via Launchpad PPA, Fedora via Copr, Arch Linux via the AUR, as well as a universal package designed for installation in a user directory. The universal package has an optional built-in update checker; the channel itself is currently marked as beta.
Performance and fixes
AppGrid 1.8.0 has undergone several rounds of profiling. The launcher window is now prepared in advance of opening, frequently used search and filter operations are cached, and the favorites pipeline initializes only the necessary parts. As a result, the developer claims faster opening, smoother category switching, and lower CPU load when scrolling, especially on low-end hardware and systems with a large number of installed apps.
Fixes include: immediate icon refresh when changing the system icon theme, fix for a bug where favorites would rearrange, adding alphabetical sorting, fix for the panel option freezing when resizing, reworking the scrollbar as an auto-hiding overlay, restoring the mouse wheel scroll increment, improving page-by-page scrolling in the category panel, and fixing unwanted auto-scrolling in some scenarios with truncated search results.
Overall, AppGrid 1.8.0 is an attempt to bring the third-party Plasma launcher to the level of a full-fledged Kickoff replacement: with normal favorites migration, drag-and-drop, integration with KActivities, a more predictable search, and official packages for popular distributions.
Source: linux.org.ru
