# Phosh 0.54: New Indicator Plugins and Phoc Improvements for Mobile GNOME
On April 5, 2026, Phosh 0.54.0 was released — a mobile shell for smartphones built on GNOME Shell and GTK. Originally developed by Purism for the Librem 5, the project has evolved into an official unofficial GNOME component. It's used in distributions like postmarketOS, Mobian, and Droidian, as well as Pine64 firmware and Fedora Atomic for mobile devices. Phosh works with the Phoc Wayland compositor and its own on-screen keyboard. Licensed under GPLv3+.
Key improvements focus on modularity, error handling, focus management, and support for new devices. The release is adapted for GNOME 50 with updates to key dependencies.
Indicator Plugins and Crash Notifications
A state indicator system has been introduced as plugins. This allows developers to extend functionality without modifying the Phosh core. When an app fails to launch, a notification is displayed, simplifying diagnostics.
Quick settings now include a geolocation accuracy option. The list of adaptive apps has been updated for screens of various sizes — from compact smartphones to tablets.
Phoc Compositor and Keyboard Improvements
Phoc has expanded focus management and support for windows with the override-redirect flag. This is crucial for X11 apps via Xwayland: screensavers and popup menus now display correctly without artifacts.
The Stevia on-screen keyboard now features additional modifiers in the hotkey panel and an option to disable auto-space insertion. This is useful for precise input in terminals or editors.
Key dependency updates:
- callaudiod 0.1.10
- Calls 50.0
- cellbroadcastd 0.0.3
- feedbackd 0.8.9
- feedbackd-device-themes 0.8.8
- iio-sensor-proxy 3.9
- mmsd-tng 2.6.4
- ModemManager 1.25.95
- wlroots 0.19.3
- wys 0.1.12
Configuration and Device Support
phosh-mobile-settings now includes an option to disable built-in panels for integration into non-Phosh systems. A library of standard widgets has been added, along with settings for incoming voice call audio.
The gmobile library has expanded support to:
- Google Pixel 6a
- Motorola edge 30
- Motorola Moto G7
- SHIFT6mq
The new libpms-rs library provides Rust bindings for libpms. The pfs file selector (Posh File Selector) now supports a context menu on long press: file properties, copying. Icon size adjustment has been added.
The transition to GNOME 50 ensures compatibility with the latest APIs and improves performance on Wayland.
Key Takeaways
- Modular indicators: Plugins simplify customizing status without recompiling.
- Phoc for Xwayland: Stable operation of legacy apps on mobile Wayland systems.
- gmobile expansion: New Pixel and Motorola models integrate without hacks.
- Rust bindings: libpms-rs accelerates mobile settings development on modern stacks.
- Adaptive UI: Updated app list works on screens from 5 to 10 inches.
Phosh 0.54 focuses on stability and extensibility, making GNOME viable for embedded and mobile use cases. Developers gain tools for fine-tuning to specific hardware.
— Editorial Team
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