The move to remove dock opacity in 26.04 certainly helps icon/icon indicator visibility. However now the solid dark panel/dock combo feels visually harsh.
Blur my shell recently implemented dynamic blur for the dock by patching mutter. https://github.com/aunetx/blur-my-shell and https://github.com/aunetx/blur-my-shell/blob/master/scripts/GUIDE.md.
By using the following Blur My Shell settings the background picture subtly tints the panel and dock. Windows dragged behind the dock show a subtle indication of their presence. Text/icon visibility is still strongly preserved. The visually harsh contrast of solid black panels is gone.
Dash: Blur type Dynamic, Sigma 15, Brightness 0.3, Corner radius 15, Override Background Transparent
Panel: Same settings (corner radius 0)
I was wondering if Ubuntu would consider implementing something similar in the future?
ps. if anyone is thinking “but this just looks like black”, take a screenshot, and then use a tool like Eyedropper to sample pixel colours in the panel and dock. They’re all different.
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I would also like to see the Blur My Shell extension installed by default in Ubuntu; it would give the system a much more beautiful touch. It’s one of the few extensions I manually install. To be honest, I don’t always enable it, but I usually keep it installed. It’s also one of the most popular extensions.
My implementation suggestion would be to simply add a toggle for transparency within the Ubuntu Desktop settings. When turned on, the default blur would be applied to the dock, panel, and overview. It could include a few additional options, but for deeper customization, users could still install the Extension Manager to access more advanced settings.
The default Blur My Shell settings are too strong. The Dock/Panel become distracting.
The idea is for the background image to slightly tint the dock/panel without any patterns or details of the background being visible.
Also important that text and icons remain clear with all types of background image.
I looked into this a bit more and it seems to work for all desktop background it would require:
a) some kind of analysis to find out whether the background is predominantly light or dark
b) white or black text for panel
c) a set of blur parameters (sigma/brightness) that suit that image