Noctalia 5.4 Wayland shell adds JPEG XL screenshots, expanded theming, and UEFI reboot

Noctalia 5.4, the customizable Wayland desktop shell, has been released with expanded desktop theming capabilities, new screenshot format support, and various workflow enhancements. The update makes previously template-restricted color properties available to all users, including accent container colors, multiple surface levels, and additional outline options, while renaming surface_variant to surface_container and outline to outline_variant.

Screenshot functionality now supports PNG, JPEG, WebP, and JPEG XL output with configurable quality, plus focused-window capture via IPC command. The release also adds five new wallpaper and lock-screen transition effects, improved desktop widgets with per-CPU-core monitoring, Bluetooth connectivity enhancements, CalDAV client-certificate authentication, and a session management option to reboot directly into UEFI firmware settings.

What changes in Noctalia 5.4

• Color system expansion: Previously template-restricted theme properties including accent container colors, multiple surface levels, and additional outline options are now user-accessible, with automatic GUI migration but required manual updates for declarative configurations via noctalia config validate.
• Screenshot format support: Captures can now be saved as PNG, JPEG, WebP, or JPEG XL with configurable quality; focused-window capture is exposed through a new IPC command.
• Visual effects and transitions: Five new wallpaper and lock-screen transitions are added: Vortex, Pixel, Diamond, Golden, and Melt.
• Widget and panel improvements: Audio visualizers gain a wave rendering mode, system monitor widgets add individual CPU core gauges, network speed displays gain configurable decimal precision, and unused panel areas can be configured to pass mouse clicks through to underlying windows.
• Session and connectivity fixes: Reboot-to-UEFI firmware settings is added, Bluetooth notifications work for external connections with optional auto-connect for trusted devices, CalDAV supports mutual TLS client certificates, and idle CPU wakeups are reduced alongside panel crash and RTL text fixes.

Why it matters

For Linux users running Wayland compositors, Noctalia 5.4 offers a more complete alternative to traditional desktop environments with modern format support like JPEG XL that many shells lack. The improved Hyprland and UWSM session compatibility, along with reduced idle wakeups, makes it more viable for power-conscious laptop users and those building custom Wayland-based workflows from modular components.