GNOME’s new app is the beautiful media player Linux deserved
GNOME’s new app is the beautiful media player Linux deserved
https://www.makeuseof.com/gnomes-new-app-is-the-beautiful-media-player-linux-deserved/
Publish Date: 2026-03-17 14:00:00
Source Domain: www.makeuseof.com
For years, watching a video on Linux often meant choosing between a powerhouse media player with endless knobs or a dated default app that hadn’t seen a modern UI refresh in a while. Somewhere between those two extremes, GNOME quietly introduced something new.
It’s called Showtime, or simply Video Player, and if your first reaction is “that looks… suspiciously simple,” you’re not wrong. But under that clean surface is a very intentional design philosophy. Showtime isn’t trying to replace every media player on Linux. It’s trying to solve one very specific problem: playing video without turning it into a technical project.
GNOME’s new player is built for the modern desktop
A GTK4 and libadwaita app that actually feels native
Screenshot: Roine Bertelson/MUO
One of the first things you notice about Showtime is how well it fits into a modern GNOME desktop. That’s because it was built from scratch using GTK4 and libadwaita, the same toolkit and design framework behind most of GNOME’s newer apps. If you’ve used older Linux media players, you’ve probably seen the opposite. Buttons that look slightly off. Windows that ignore your theme. Interfaces that feel like they belong to another decade.
Showtime doesn’t have that problem. The interface blends seamlessly with the rest of the GNOME environment. Dark mode switches automatically. Animations feel smooth. Window…
