Endless OS Changelog

What's new in Endless OS 5.1.2 Development

Feb 9, 2024

This release fixes a major issue experienced with the Asus B1400CEAE laptop (the main product currently used in projects under the Endless Laptop initiative). Until now, this system would occasionally fail to resume from suspend (sleep) mode: it would not wake up upon keypress or power button press, and the power LED would continue blinking indefinitely.
This release solves the issue by migrating the platform to the industry-standard "Modern Standby" sleep mode, which we had previously disabled due to stability and power consumption issues. Those issues have now been resolved within this release.

New in Endless OS 5.1.1 (Jan 5, 2024)

New in Endless OS 5.1.0 (Dec 2, 2023)

Endless OS 5.1 is a minor release focused on bringing the following to Endless OS 5:
Endless Key
Updated hardware support
Incremental improvements
Endless Key:
Endless Key is now included with new installations of Endless OS 5.1. If you are already using Endless OS, you can search for Endless Key in App Center, or download it from Flathub.
Currently, no resources are pre-installed along with the app in the downloadable version of Endless OS; in future releases, English or Spanish resources will be preinstalled in those versions of Endless OS.
Endless Key integration has been improved in Endless OS 5.1, regardless of whether it was preinstalled or installed later:
Endless Key can now be used by multiple users on the same computer without needing to download resources more than once
The app grid no longer contains multiple launchers for different channels within Endless Key if it is installed; instead, open the Endless Key app to explore all available resources
Updated hardware support:
The Linux kernel has been updated to version 6.5 for improved support of newer hardware
The NVIDIA graphics driver has been updated to 530.41.03 for improved support of devices with NVIDIA GPUs
Firmware packages have been updated for improved support of newer hardware
Raspberry Pi:
Endless OS can be used on Raspberry Pi, with some limitations. Endless OS 5.1 brings several improvements to Raspberry Pi support, but it should still be considered a preview. We welcome community feedback around using Endless OS on this hardware!
Improvements for Raspberry Pi:
Hardware-accelerated graphics are now supported on Raspberry Pi 4 and 400, making the desktop and apps run more smoothly
Endless OS 5.1 can now be booted from a USB drive attached to a Raspberry Pi
Known issues & workarounds for Raspberry Pi:
Video playback does not work correctly in Chromium on Raspberry Pi; you can work around this problem by disabling hardware acceleration in the browser's settings
Video playback does not work correctly in the Totem video player on Raspberry Pi; for now, try installing a different video player from App Center.
Other changes and improvements:
Improved scrollbars: More apps show a scrollbar by default any time you can scroll instead of only showing an overlayed scrollbar while scrolling or when the mouse moves near the edge of the window. This behaviour will be configurable in Accessibility Settings in a future release of Endless OS.
Files now defaults to a grid view rather than a list view. This can be adjusted in the Files app depending on your preference.
A number of other components have received security updates & bug fixes
Changed & removed functionality:
Endless OS 5.1 removes some outdated apps and extensions to provide a better, more sustainable experience.
Hack:
New Endless OS systems no longer include Hack or its associated apps Sidetrack and System.
In its place, Endless OS now includes a curated selection of the best tools for creating your own games, such as GDevelop, Pixelorama, Godot and (in Spanish versions) Pilas Engine.
Brasero:
The Brasero CD & DVD burning application has been removed. Our metrics indicate that this app is used on very few systems, and Brasero is no longer maintained by its developers.
If you need to burn CDs or DVDs, we suggest you try PowerISO, available in App Center. More advanced users may install Brasero in a Toolbox container. It is also our hope that Brasero will be available to install in App Center soon, courtesy of the Flathub community.
Adblock Plus:
Adblock Plus is no longer automatically installed in the web browser in Endless OS 5.1.
In previous versions of Endless OS, the browser extension was automatically installed to improve privacy and page load speeds; however, we received feedback that this automatic behavior was unexpected. Further, the extension's solicitation for payment when first opening the browser was confused with Endless OS Foundation asking for payment.
If you already have Adblock Plus installed in your browser, updating to Endless OS 5.1 will not remove it. If you don't have Adblock Plus installed but would like it, you can always install it (or another ad blocker) via the Chrome

New in Endless OS 5.0.5 (Nov 23, 2023)

New in Endless OS 5.0.6 Development (Sep 29, 2023)

New in Endless OS 5.0.5 Development (Jul 7, 2023)

New in Endless OS 5.0.4 Development (May 10, 2023)

New in Endless OS 5.0.3 Development (Apr 29, 2023)

New in Endless OS 5.0.2 Development (Apr 6, 2023)

New in Endless OS 5.0.0 (Feb 13, 2023)

Endless OS 5 was released January 27, 2023 with updates for existing users rolling out since February 8, 2023. Download it from endlessos.org. Most existing Endless OS 4 systems can be upgraded as with any other OS update.
Refreshed Desktop Experience:
Endless OS 5 continues to be the app-centric operating system you’ve come to know and love, but the experience has been refreshed based on user testing and feedback.
At a glance, you’ll notice the grid of apps and search are largely the same, while the taskbar at the bottom of the screen in Endless OS 4 has been split into two more purposeful elements in Endless OS 5: the bottom dash for your favorite and running apps at the bottom of the screen, and the top panel with more information and system status at the top of the screen.
Multitasking:
Endless OS 5 introduces multiple workspaces in the new Activities view to better organize your work.
All-New App Center:
App Center, the place to browse, install, and update apps, has been completely revamped in Endless OS 5. A fresh new design and improved performance make it easier than ever to browse and learn about the nearly 2,000 apps available to install on Endless OS.
Everything You Love About Endless OS:
All your installed apps and the essential features of Endless OS remain unchanged from Endless OS 4 to Endless OS 5.
Endless OS 5 continues to feature the straightforward app-based desktop experience; automatic updates on unlimited network connections; parental controls; and tons of included learning, creative, and productivity apps that work offline.
Multi-touch gestures:
Endless OS 5 supports multi-touch gestures on touchpads and trackpads for multitasking.
Two fingers to scroll
Two-finger pinch-to-zoom in some third-party apps, like GNOME Web
Three-finger swipe left/right to switch between workspaces
Three finger swipe up to show workspaces while using apps
Three-finger swipe up again to show the app grid
Improved multi-graphics support:
On systems with multiple graphics cards, Endless OS 5 defaults to using the more power-efficient integrated graphics. Apps that are known to have more demanding graphical needs like 3D games are automatically started on the more powerful discrete graphics.
This improves battery life and lowers power consumption when using less-demanding apps.
You can also choose to launch any app with discrete graphics by right-clicking the app icon and selecting "Launch using Discrete Graphics Card".
App Center filters → Parental Controls:
App Center previously included hard-coded lists of apps (such as violent games) to hide on particular variants of Endless OS. This has been removed in favor of using the built-in Parental Controls in Settings.
Wayland:
Endless OS 5 adopts the Wayland display server protocol over the older Xorg/X11 protocol. Generally, this brings improved privacy, security, and performance without affecting your use of the computer.
However, there are some differences when using Wayland, including:
Screen sharing in Google Chrome, Chromium, and related web browsers takes a few extra steps. In essence, you currently need to select the window or screen to share three times: once in a pop-up window, then in the browser, then again in the pop-up window.
If you are using Endless OS in a virtual machine, dragging-and-dropping files between the host system and the Endless OS virtual machine is not supported when Endless OS is using Wayland.
If you require using Xorg/X11 as in previous versions of Endless OS:
Make sure your user account is protected with a password
Log out
Select your user
Use the ⚙️ icon to select "Endless on Xorg"
Continue to log in as usual
To switch back to Wayland, follow the same steps, selecting "Endless on Wayland".
Flatpak apps
More apps in Endless OS 5 are now provided as Flatpaks instead of being built into the OS. This allows these apps to be updated independently from the OS itself, and removed if unused:
Archive Manager (File Roller)
Calculator
Contacts
Fonts
Logs
Shotwell (thanks to community member Bryan Quigley)
Text Editor (gedit)
Wallpaper:
As seen in screenshots above, Endless OS 5 includes a new default wallpaper based on a photo by Shant Dem. This photo was chosen due to its clean, wide open spaces that evoke a sense of discovery and exploration, while its vibrant orange hues reflect the Endless identity.
New users and existing users who have not changed their wallpaper will see this new wallpaper; it is also available to be selected in Settings → Background.
GNOME 41:
Endless OS is built on the open source GNOME desktop, and the Endless OS Foundation collaborates closely within the GNOME community to help design and develop GNOME itself.
Endless OS 5 is built on GNOME 41. See the GNOME 41 release notes and GNOME 40 release notes for additional changes since Endless OS 4.
Versions:
GNOME 41.3
Linux 5.15
OSTree 2022.1
Flatpak 1.12.4
Flatpak-Builder 1.2.2
End of hardware support
Some computer models are no longer supported in Endless OS 5 or newer. They will not upgrade, automatically or manually, from Endless OS 4, our current long-term support version. It may be technically possible to install Endless OS 5 on affected systems, but this is not recommended, since you would encounter known issues which have led to the end of support for these models.
The following devices are affected:
Endless Enterprise EE-200 (Weibu F3C)
ECS EF20EA

New in Endless OS 5.0.0 Beta (Jan 30, 2023)

Endless OS 5 was released on 27th January 2023. Download it from endlessos.org. Most existing Endless OS 4 systems can be upgraded as with any other OS update; upgrades will be enabled shortly.
Refreshed Desktop Experience:
Endless OS 5 continues to be the app-centric operating system you’ve come to know and love, but the experience has been refreshed based on user testing and feedback.
At a glance, you’ll notice the grid of apps and search are largely the same, while the taskbar a the bottom of the screen in Endless OS 4 has been split into two more purposeful elements in Endless OS 5: the bottom dash for your favorite and running apps at the bottom of the screen, and the top panel with more information and system status at the top of the screen.
Multitasking:
Endless OS 5 introduces multiple workspaces in the new Activities view to better organize your work.
All-New App Center:
App Center, the place to browse, install, and update apps, has been completely revamped in Endless OS 5. A fresh new design and improved performance make it easier than ever to browse and learn about the nearly 2,000 apps available to install on Endless OS.
Everything You Love About Endless OS:
All your installed apps and the essential features of Endless OS remain unchanged from Endless OS 4 to Endless OS 5.
Endless OS 5 continues to feature the straightforward app-based desktop experience; automatic updates on unlimited network connections; parental controls; and tons of included learning, creative, and productivity apps that work offline.
Multi-touch gestures:
Endless OS 5 supports multi-touch gestures on touchpads and trackpads for multitasking.
Two fingers to scroll
Two-finger pinch-to-zoom in some third-party apps, like GNOME Web
Three-finger swipe left/right to switch between workspaces
Three finger swipe up to show workspaces while using apps
Three-finger swipe up again to show the app grid
Improved multi-graphics support:
On systems with multiple graphics cards, Endless OS 5 defaults to using the more power-effecient integrated grahics. Apps that are known to have more demanding graphical needs like 3D games are automatically started on the more powerful discrete graphics.
This improves battery life and lowers power consumption when using less-demanding apps.
You can also choose to lauch any app with discrete graphics by right-clicking the app icon and selecting "Launch using Discrete Graphics Card".
App Center filters → Parental Controls:
App Center previously included hard-coded lists of apps (such as violent games) to hide on particular variants of Endless OS. This has been removed in favor of using the built-in Parental Controls in Settings.
Wayland:
Endless OS 5 adopts the Wayland display server protocol over the older Xorg/X11 protocol. Generally, this brings improved privacy, security, and performance without affecting your use of the computer.
However, there are some differences when using Wayland:
Screen sharing in Google Chrome, Chromium, and related web browsers is a bit more clunky.
If you are using Endless OS in virtual machine, dragging-and-dropping files between the host system and the Endless OS virtual machine is not supported when Endless OS is using Wayland.
If you require using Xorg/X11 as in previous version of Endless OS:
Log out
Select your user
Use the ⚙️ icon to select "Endless on Xorg"
Continue to log in as usual
To switch back to Wayland, follow the same steps, selecting "Endless on Wayland".
Flatpak apps:
More apps in Endless OS 5 are now provided as Flatpaks instead of being built into the OS. This allows these apps to be updated independently from the OS itself, and removed if unused:
Archive Manager (File Roller)
Calculator
Contacts
Fonts
Logs
Shotwell (thanks to community member Bryan Quigley)
Text Editor (gedit)
Wallpaper:
As seen in screenshots above, Endless OS 5 includes a new default wallpaper based on a photo by Shant Dem. This photo was chosen due to its clean, wide open spaces that evoke a sense of discovery and exploration, while its vibrant orange hues reflect the Endless identity.
Endless OS 5 wallpaper.jpg
New users and existing users who have not changed their wallpaper will see this new wallpaper; it is also available to be selected in Settings → Background.
GNOME 41
Endless OS is built on the open source GNOME desktop, and the Endless OS Foundation collaborates closely within the GNOME community to help design and develop GNOME itself.
Endless OS 5 is built on GNOME 41. See the GNOME 41 release notes and GNOME 40 release notes for additional changes since Endless OS 4.
Versions
GNOME 41.3
Linux 5.15
OSTree 2022.1
Flatpak 1.12.4
Flatpak-Builder 1.2.2
End of hardware support
Some computer models are no longer supported in Endless OS 5 or newer. They will not upgrade, automatically or manually, from Endless OS 4, our current long-term support version. It may be technically possible to install Endless OS 5 on affected systems, but this is not recommended, since you would encounter known issues which have led to the end of support for these models.
The following devices are affected:
Endless Enterprise EE-200 (Weibu F3C)
ECS EF20EA

New in Endless OS 4.0.13 Beta (Nov 23, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.12 Beta (Nov 23, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.11 Beta (Nov 1, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.10 (Oct 22, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.9 Beta (Aug 20, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.7 Beta (Jun 27, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.6 Beta (May 2, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.4 Beta (Apr 7, 2022)

New in Endless OS 4.0.3 (Mar 7, 2022)

WEB SAFETY FIXES:
Endless OS 4.0.1 introduced changes to improve compatibility between the web safety feature and networks which block access to alternative DNS servers. These changes were subsequently found to cause problems accessing the web on networks where IPv6 is available. This problem is resolved in Endless OS 4.0.3.
In previous versions of Endless OS, web safety would incorrectly only apply the Google Safe Search browser policy to Google Chrome, not Chromium. In Endless OS 4.0.3, this policy also applies to the Chromium browser, as intended.
Security fix for “pwnkit” pkexec issue
CVE-2021-4034 describes a security vulnerability in the pkexec tool, included in Endless OS, which allows a non-administrator user to gain administrator privileges on the system. A fix for this issue is included in Endless OS 4.0.3.
However, after an OS update is applied, Endless OS keeps one previous version of the OS on the computer. This makes it possible to roll back to the old version if there is a problem with the new version; but it also means that this security vulnerability can still be exploited as long as the previous OS version containing the vulnerability is kept on the system. If your computer has multiple user accounts, and not all of those users are administrators, you may wish to open a Terminal window and run the following command after upgrading to Endless OS 4.0.3 or newer:
This will remove the previous version of the OS.
OTHER FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS:
Security fixes to xorg-server: CVE-2021-4008, CVE-2021-4009, CVE-2021-4010 and CVE-2021-4011.
Security fixes to WebKitGTK: WSA-2021-0007
Desktop shortcuts for Kolibri channels are now reliably displayed even if two versions of the Kolibri app are installed.
The expected format of codes used by our affordable access program has been clarified.
For deployment partners and administrators
SYSTEM-WIDE CHROMIUM CONFIGURATION:
Since 3.9.2, Chromium has been distributed as a Flatpak app rather than built into the OS. Endless OS contains some hooks which are intended to allow /etc/chromium-browser to be used as before to provide system-wide browser configuration. Unfortunately an error meant that directory was instead emptied on every system startup.
This is corrected in Endless OS 4.0.3, and /etc/chromium-browser may be used for system-wide Chromium configuration.
Automatic sign in for Kolibri:
Endless OS 4.0 supports the Kolibri app's new automatic sign in system. As a result, the Kolibri app no longer requires that users create separate Kolibri user accounts. Instead, it signs in automatically based on the current desktop user account. This is explained in more detail in the Endless OS Kolibri help page.
Improved app grid customization in custom image builds:
When making a custom build of previous versions of Endless OS which include a custom app grid layout, changing the position of the Hack icon was not fully supported: it could be placed in a folder, or omitted from the image entirely, but space would still be left for it at the top-left of the first page of the grid.
By popular request, this special exception has been removed in Endless OS 4.0.3: its position can now be controlled like any other app.

New in Endless OS 4.0.1 (Dec 14, 2021)

New in Endless OS 4.0.0 (Dec 10, 2021)

Endless OS 4.0.0 was released on November 22nd, 2021. Download it from our website. Most existing Endless OS 3 systems can be upgraded as with any other OS release.
If your computer takes a long time to start after upgrading to Endless OS 4, please click this link for help.
Improved app grid navigation:
Since Endless OS 3.9, all apps installed on your system have been shown on the desktop across two or more pages of icons. We have heard feedback that it is hard to discover and switch between pages: many users were not aware there is more than one page.
To address this, Endless OS 4 adds clickable arrows to navigate between pages, and makes the row of dots indicating the number of pages more visible, even against complicated wallpapers.
New default wallpaper:
As seen above, Endless OS 4 includes a new default wallpaper: scenery of mountain canyon by Ashim D’Silva. New users and existing users who have not changed their wallpaper will see this new wallpaper; it is also available in Settings → Background for existing users.
Fast User Switching:
It’s now possible to switch to a different user while another user is still logged in, by choosing a button on the lock screen or in the user menu.
release-notes-4.0-switch-user-menu.png release-notes-4.0-switch-user-lock-screen.png
Driverless printing:
All configured printers are removed as part of the upgrade to Endless OS 4. Instead, printers which are connected to your computer or are on the same local network should now be automatically discovered, provided they support Internet Printing Protocol. You can manually readd your printer using Settings → Printers if you have issues.
Some applications may show the same printer more than once in the print dialog. This is a known issue. Both of the entries should work.
Further documentation on printing in Endless OS is available here.
Long-term support:
With Endless OS 4, we are introducing a long-term support version of the OS, which will be supported for a number of years even after Endless OS 5 is released.
By default, Endless OS 4 systems will automatically update to Endless OS 5 when it is released, as with all past versions of the OS. However, it is now possible to remain on Endless OS 4 and continue to receive critical bug fixes and security updates even after Endless OS 5 is released, keeping the same OS functionality and appearance for several years.
Please see the Long-Term Support documentation for more details, including how to configure a system to use the LTS version of Endless OS.
OS Platform updated:
We have updated our low-level software platform, for improved hardware support, performance, and stability
Linux kernel 5.11 and updated linux-firmware, bringing support for the latest PC hardware and several fixes to existing drivers and core kernel code.
Raspberry Pi 4B 8GB RAM is now supported. We previously supported only the 2GB and 4GB RAM models. Graphics and WiFi performance is improved across all Raspberry Pi 4B models.
ARM64 support is still considered to be in a preview state.
NVIDIA driver 460.91.03, adding support for new NVIDIA graphics cards.
Added support for L2TP and OpenConnect/AnyConnect VPNs.
OSTree 2020.8 and flatpak 1.10.2, with some performance improvements for OS and apps updates.
Switching from fake-hwclock and ntpd to systemd-timesyncd for monotonic clock and time synchronization.
Updated bootloader components (shim, GRUB) to add support for the new SBAT secure boot revocation mechanism.
Many other OS platform updates inherited from Debian Bullseye.
Built directly against Debian Bullseye:
Before Endless OS 4, we at Endless OS Foundation used to copy the source packages for all the packages we used to construct Endless OS to our infrastructure (OBS), and build them ourselves. This would happen when we started working on a new Endless OS series (e.g. Endless OS 3.9), and then updated several times along the lifecycle of each series. While this approach gave ultimate control of what goes into each version of Endless OS we built, with 4091 packages for Endless OS 3.9 -- plus another 69 we maintain as git repositories -- it was very time-consuming, even with mom's help. 😃
For Endless OS 4 we revised this approach and decided to pull packages we do not modify directly from Debian, instead of building every single package ourselves. While we still have to keep the same infrastructure, only building the packages we need to customize for Endless OS, together with a team-wide effort to minimize our upstream divergency, reduced the number of packages we need to maintain for Endless OS 4 to around 120.
This move reduces the level of control we will have over every bit that is included on each release of Endless OS. However, it frees up valuable engineering time from deciding whether we should update to the latest version from aalib or gzip, then potentially spending time looking into why some of these builds failed (spoiler, most of the time is some silly dependency issue). Additionally, rebuilding code that has already been built hoping to get the exact same output that is already publicly available is just wasteful and does not feel right.
Luckly, Debian offers a very sturdy and stable base, so we don't expect the loss of control mentioned in the previous paragraph to become a problem. Also, since Debian Bullseye has just been released as stable, we can expect fixes for security vulnerabilities and critical bugs to be backported to the Bullseye packages, which we can then bring to Endless OS simply by building a new release.
Removed functionality:
Shared account:
The Shared Account is not longer created by default on new systems. This account was not widely used and it interacted badly with Parental Controls being configured in initial setup.
On existing systems which upgrade to Endless OS 4, the Shared Account will be preserved, but it will no longer have its Chromium profile and trash cleared between sessions, and Chromium will no longer be configured not to save passwords. (In fact, removing the Chromium profile had already stopped working in 3.9.2 when Chromium was moved to a Flatpak.)
Built-in remote desktop viewer:
Previous versions of Endless OS had a Remote Desktop Viewer app (codenamed 'vinagre') built into the OS. This app is no longer maintained by its authors and has been removed from Endless OS 4. There are several alternatives available in the app center, including:
release-notes-4.0-connections.svg Connections, a simple app which supports accessing remote systems using RDP and VNC
release-notes-4.0-remmina.svg Remmina, a more advanced app, which supports accessing remote systems using RDP, VNC, NX, Spice and SSH
release-notes-4.0-thincast.svg Thincast, which supports RDP connections
Support for sharing your desktop over VNC on the local network continues to be built-in. It can be configured from Settings → Sharing → Screen Sharing.
Built-in desktop shortcuts for websites:
Endless OS 3.9.x had desktop shortcuts for Duolingo, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube built-in. While convenient if you use these services, these shortcuts could not be removed from the desktop icon grid if you wanted. These have been removed in Endless OS 4 and will only be added to the desktop if you choose to.
In some cases there may be apps in the App Center that you can install for these services; otherwise, you can add a shortcut to the desktop using the Chrome or Chromium browsers. To add new shortcuts using Chrome or Chromium, first launch the browser and navigate to the website you want to add a shortcut for, then click on ⋮ Menu > More Tools > Create Shortcut.
Chinese Zhuyin input method:
The IBus-Chewing input method for Chinese Zhuyin was removed as it is no longer actively developed. Users should reconfigure their input methods to use ibus-libzhuyin instead, which continues to be included in Endless OS.
Automatic Chrome downloader:
Previous versions of Endless OS had their default browser set to Google Chrome. For licensing reasons, we cannot pre-install Google Chrome in Endless OS, so it was automatically installed when the computer was connected to the internet for the first time. Because of this feature, the Chrome app icon was already present in the desktop, even if the computer was not connected to the internet yet.
In all new Endless OS 4 installations, Chromium (the open-source version of Chrome) is the default browser, and it comes pre-installed. Chromium provides essentially the same feature-set as Chrome, except for Chrome Sync which Google does not support in third-party builds.
On Endless OS 4, Chrome will never be automatically downloaded. The Chrome icon will be present on the desktop only when it is installed by the user, just like any other app in the App Center.
In systems where Chrome is already the default browser, this setting will not be changed to Chromium when you upgrade to Endless OS 4.
End of hardware support:
A small number of Endless-branded computers use a "split disk" configuration, with the operating system stored on an eMMC device and the apps stored on a built-in SD card. This configuration is not supported by Endless OS 4, and computers with this configuration will not receive the upgrade.
ARM64 devices, such as Raspberry Pi 4B and PineBook Pro, are supported by Endless OS 4, but cannot be upgraded from previous versions to Endless OS 4: you must reinstall with a fresh copy of Endless OS 4.
A few laptop models with hardware that are not well supported by the newer OS platform in Endless OS 4, and that work better with Endless 3.9, will not automatically update.
Other improvements and changes:
Rhythmbox is now installed as a Flatpak. Previously, this music player app was distributed as part of the OS, and could not be uninstalled or disabled through Parental Controls. Once the upgrade to Endless OS 4 is done, any playlist you had will be lost. We recommend that, if you want to keep them, make a copy of your playlists from the following hidden directory: .local/share/rhythmbox/. Once the update to Endless OS 4 is performed, you can copy them to the following directory: .var/app/org.gnome.Rhythmbox3/data/rhythmbox/.
Cheese is now installed as a Flatpak. This fun webcam app was previously labeled “Selfie”. This change means it can be uninstalled, disabled through Parental Controls, and updated separately to the rest of the OS.
Icons reverted to GNOME's defaults. This brings higher-resolution icons and better visual consistency among apps from the GNOME family.
End-user documentation refresh:
Separating the OS and Flatpak apps into repositories. Previously, the operating system and Flatpak applications were stored using the same "repository" on disk. As part of the upgrade to Endless OS 4, these are moved to two separate repositories, which is a more standard configuration and may improve the reliability and performance of app installations slightly. The migration process to this new configuration causes the first reboot into Endless OS 4 to take longer than normal.
If the first boot into Endless OS 4 takes more than 10 minutes, please follow these instructions to help us diagnose the problem.
Removal of The Word of the Day and Quote of the Day apps. These apps were previously installed by default in English-language versions of Endless OS, and are now removed as part of the update to Endless OS 4. These apps could not be launched and had no desktop icons; they were used to power an Endless OS feature removed in Endless OS 3.9 (the Discovery Feed) and have been vestigial since then.
New approach to usage statistics. Endless OS includes an optional metrics system which automatically saves and sends anonymous usage statistics and problem reports to Endless, to allow us to improve Endless OS and assess its impact. This can be enabled and disabled during initial setup of your computer, and later in Settings → Privacy → Metrics. In Endless OS 4, submitted data points are no longer associated with the particular computer which submitted it; instead, they are associated with the distribution channel for that computer, identified by the build ID of the installation image, which are typically shared between thousands of systems. Endless OS 4 also no longer submits many data points that were submitted by previous Endless OS versions. For technical information about the metrics system, see its online documentation.
Updates for developers and power users:
Custom OS images:
Endless OS 4 gives you the capability of customizing your own Endless OS installation image. These customizations include but not limited to:
Adding or removing preinstalled apps and Kolibri channels
Customizing the default layout of the desktop icon grid
Customizing the default desktop wallpaper
Adjusting default settings for the desktop
Generating ISO images
This feature is available for anyone with specific deployment requirements like:
Specific image size due to storage constraints
Preloading specific Kolibri channels
Adding apps that are important to the project
Deleteting apps that do not comply with your deployment mission
Building your own OSTree is not yet supported, so your custom OS images can only use the official Endless OS OSTree for now. We intend to make this tool available in due course, but do not have a timeline at present.
Updated container tools:
Endless OS now includes podman 3.0.1, compared to podman 1.5 in previous versions of Endless OS.
This upgrade comes with some backward-incompatible changes:
Previous versions of Endless OS provided a docker command which was simply an alias for the podman container tool included in Endless OS. This alias is no longer provided; all the same functionality continues to be provided by the podman command. You can create your own alias with:
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/podman /usr/local/bin/docker
Container images downloaded with the previous version of podman cannot be used with the new version. You must delete any existing containers and images, and recreate them with the new version. To delete existing containers and images, run the following commands in a Terminal window:
podman container stop --all
podman container rm --all -f
podman image rm --all -f
podman system prune # select y[es] when asked
Credits:
Endless OS Foundation would like to thank Endless OS community members Bryan Quigley and Egon Rath, as well as current and past Endless OS Foundation team members, for their contributions to Endless OS 4.

New in Endless OS 3.6.0 (Jun 12, 2019)

Desktop and base OS updates:
Endless OS is based on the GNOME desktop environment 2, the Debian GNU/Linux distribution 3 and the Linux kernel. In this release, we have updated the base OS packages to the latest versions from Debian “buster” (the forthcoming stable release), most desktop components to the versions from GNOME 3.32, and Linux kernel 5.0. This brings new features, performance improvements, hardware support and bug fixes.
Support for Docker-compatible containers:
Endless OS 3.6 includes Podman 15, a command-line tool which is broadly compatible with the Docker 3 command-line interface. For example, you can use this to run existing containers from docker.io 2 and other container registries (try running podman run -p 8080:80 nginx in a Terminal window, then visiting http://localhost:8080/ 1 in a web browser) and to build container images from a Dockerfile with podman build.
App installation disk space improvements:
Previously, when you installed a new app, it was downloaded from the internet to your disk, then copied to a different location on the disk. As a result, you temporarily needed twice as much free disk space as the size of the app in order to install it, and the app was saved to disk twice. Endless OS 3.6 includes a new version of the Flatpak app distribution system with a new performance improvement, developed by Endless and Red Hat, which allows apps to be installed and upgraded without this additional copying step.
Other Improvements and Changes:
Endless companion app support removed. The Endless companion app for Android was removed from the Google Play Store some time ago; while it was available, several users reported problems connecting the app to their Endless OS computer. We are currently focusing our efforts on other parts of Endless, so we have removed support for the app from Endless OS to save users’ disk space. We hope to bring this back in a future release, as time permits.
Reduced boot flicker on Intel graphics. If your PC uses Intel graphics, the boot process will appear a little smoother than before, with fewer momentary flashes to black screens.
Updated Wacom graphics tablet support. Advanced features and configuration of the latest Wacom graphics tablets should now be possible. (Graphics tablets are input devices that allow the user to draw graphics with a pen-like stylus.)
Desktop accessible after closing and opening laptop. In past releases, with no applications open, closing the laptop lid, opening the lid again, and unlocking the screen would leave the desktop icons faded out and unusable until you click “Show Desktop” or interact with some other part of the UI. This has been fixed.