Release schedule
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Thu Oct 5 2017 | Feature freeze |
| Thu Nov 2 2017 | Hard code freeze |
| Mon Nov 20 2017 | SDK2.0 release |
| Thu Nov 30 2017 | SDK2.1 hard code freeze |
| Mon Dec 11 2017 | SDK2.1 bugfix release |
| Thu Dec 28 2017 | SDK2.2 hard code freeze |
| Mon Jan 8 2018 | SDK2.2 bugfix release |
| Sat Jan 14 2018 | SDK2.2.1 release (irregular hotfix) |
| Thu Jan 18 2018 | SDK2.3 release (irregular hotfix) |
| Tue Mar 13 2018 | SDK2.4 release (irregular hotfix) |
| Tue Mar 13 2018 | EOL |
Major features
Platform
SDK2 is based on the GNOME 3.26 platform, so all of the improvements for developers since GNOME 3.24 are now available.
Social sharing
When viewing content in the View.Document module, a user will see sharing buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp.
Clicking on one of these buttons will allow a user to log in to that service and share a link to the item.
There’s no need to make any changes to your app for this to work.
The item must have an originalURI defined in its metadata; this will be the link that is shared.
If the user has logged into Facebook system-wide using GNOME Online Accounts, then that login will be automatically used here as well.
Content updates
Apps using the modular framework generally include content, which can be updated in the case of content that is published or refreshed often (for example, blogs.) Previously, apps would include an initial pack of content in their Flatpak bundle. On launch they would check a hardcoded server if there were any updates, and if so download them and apply them the next time the app was launched. This was confusing for users since it wasn’t clear when there was an update or when it was applied. Additionally, it was only possible to issue content updates through Endless’s infrastructure.
Now, the app developer can include content updates in the Flatpak repository where the app is published.
All content is inside a Flatpak extension named Content; for example, the app com.example.MyApp would use an extension with the ID com.example.MyApp.Content.
The hardcoded downloader has been removed.
In order to avoid cluttering users’ storage with hard-to-find files, when an SDK2 app is launched, it will remove any remaining downloaded content from a previous SDK1 version of itself.
Search
Previously, it was required to have the xapian-bridge service running in the background in order for search to work.
This is no longer required.
This makes it much easier to develop and run modular framework applications on other operating systems.
For GNOME Shell search to work, it’s required to have the com.endlessm.EknServices2 Flatpak app installed.
This services app also enables apps to work with features of the Endless desktop, such as the Discovery Feed.
(For apps based on SDK1, com.endlessm.EknServices was required for the same purpose.)
Data collection
If the app is running on Endless OS, then data will be collected and sent to Endless on the following additional topics:
- Social sharing: When a user shares content on a social network, the app will send its ID, a reference to the content shared including the online URL that was posted, and which social network the content was shared on (Facebook, Twitter, or WhatsApp). No information is collected about the user’s identity, either on the local computer or on the social network.
- Viewing content: When a user views content, the app will now send a reference to the content being viewed, how long the content was viewed for, and whether the user accessed the content by clicking on a GNOME Shell search result, a link elsewhere in the app, or by navigating with the back/forward buttons.
Migration guide from SDK1
Module renames
The Card.KnowledgeDocument module has been renamed to View.Document.
As well, Card.Video, Card.Audio, and Card.Media have been reorganized under View.
These changes apply to your app.yaml file.
CSS changes
Related to the module renames, you’ll need to update any CSS selectors in your overrides.scss file that use the .CardKnowledgeDocument, .CardVideo, .CardAudio, or .CardMedia classes (and any BEM variants) to refer to .ViewDocument, .ViewVideo, .ViewAudio, and .ViewMedia.
Release notes
SDK 2.4 (March 13, 2018)
This is another irregular hotfix release, to further improve slow app startup times.
SDK 2.3 (January 18, 2018)
This is an irregular hotfix release to include the fix from the underlying GNOME runtime for slow app startup times. Read more on Alex Larsson’s blog.
SDK 2.2.1 (January 14, 2018)
This is a security update, with no other changes except the underlying GNOME runtime. It includes a mitigation for the MELTDOWN and SPECTRE vulnerabilities in WebKit.
SDK 2.2 (January 8, 2018)
- Modular framework: fixed a bug whereby the sidebar on some apps would blank out after clicking on a search result.
- Modular framework: increased the margins on the search results page for some apps.
- Modular framework: corrected the alignment of the popup menu showing extra categories that don’t fit in the top bar of news apps.
- Modular framework: adjusted the text size on the front page cards in news apps so that text on very large cards doesn’t look out of proportion.
- Modular framework: adjusted the opacity of the popup that appears when you hover the mouse over a link.
- Modular framework: adjusted the size of the “Copy” popup that appears when you select text.
SDK 2.1 (December 11, 2017)
- Modular framework: the CSS class for the title of the default Card was erroneously removed during the module renaming, and has now been restored, alongside with its styling.
- Modular framework: fixed a bug that resulted in showing an empty tooltip on web views.
- Modular framework: fixed the style of the search results in the A and Library presets.
SDK 2.0 (November 20, 2017)
This is the first release in the SDK2 series.