A while back, my media center was an old PC running Manjaro. It wasn't very smooth, but I could do almost anything, and once I launched an app, I had no major issues. But that machine didn't age too well, and now I use a Mini PC with Windows. From the best thing I did on that old PC was to put it in Big Screen Plasma, which rejuvenated it a bit. The bad thing was that it had many bugs, such as duplicate applications, and many things were half-finished. The KDE TV interface remained at Plasma 5.27, and some of us feared the worst. But today I have some good news.
Via OMG! Ubuntu!, I have learned that a developer named Espi has continued with the project. Espi is a Plasma Mobile contributor and was always interested in having Linux on his TVHe realized that Plasma BigScreen was asking for help moving forward, and he took up the challenge. It's worth noting that Plasma Mobile and Plasma BigScreen are very similar, so it shouldn't be too difficult to work on the latter if you're already collaborating on the former.
Plasma BigScreen is an interface for televisions
At Espi's note Plasma BigScreen is explained: a graphical environment for televisions and other displaysIt's designed to be used with the arrow keys, TV remotes, or console controllers. I'd add that it feels smoother than a regular, full-featured Plasma, partly because it doesn't have a traditional desktop.
The first thing the developer did was to work on the repositories so that it would use everything related to the sixes, that is, Plasma 6, Qt6, etc. With the sixes already available, he began to modify the interface, and the work is clearly visible. The home screen shows what's in the header screenshot. It's clear that the icons are flatter and rounder, giving it a more modern look:
«I first worked on the home screen interface. I simplified the design to reduce visual complexity, removing panel backgrounds and shadows where possible, and added tooltips for indicators. I then added an "expanded clock" view for when the user is at the top of app categories (as prototyped), which shrinks as the user scrolls down. I migrated app lists to use ListViews and delegate caching, rather than manually positioning each item's coordinates, to improve performance. Additionally, the background now blurs when it's not the main focus of the interface.«.
On the other hand, it added a KRunner-based search, which in normal Plasma appears when you press the Alt + Slash keys.
Settings app with revamped interface and other improvements
The application of settings has been redesigned. It now looks less like Plasma Mobile and makes more sense in a larger-screen interface. It reminds me a bit of what you see in the Android version for tablets, or LineageOS for Raspberry Pi.
La overall interface response has greatly improvedThe previous one was "broken," so Espi decided to fix it. Now, the animation works as expected, and apps launch after displaying their icon, a background color that depends on the app and its icon, and a small fade-in.
Finally, Plasma BigScreen now also includes Envmanager, an app developed by Espi for Plasma Mobile that manages Shell-specific configurations needed for services like KWin.
Plasma BigScreen 6 is not available… yet
Anyone who wants to try Plasma BigScreen 6 should do so on postmarketOS on a Raspberry Pi, as explained in the note. There is also a package in AUR for Arch-based distributions, but it has not been tested by the developer and in my tests it has failed to compile.
The stable version of Plasma BigScreen 6 will be available in the Arch and Debian repositories, among others, later.