[Flatpak request] Use nomacs Image Lounge instead of Gwenview

[n3thshan]

Background

When using Gwenview where you are scrolling multiple high resolution pictures, there appears to be performance issues with it, the most notable being a stutter(s) when moving from one image to another using arrow keys. This makes the experience feel very sluggish. A better alternative would be nomacs and it is a very well known app outside Linux as well and is still actively developed. It uses qt5 so integration with KDE looks good.

Other QT based image viewers that i tried and my verdict on them

• KDE Photos: its a gallery app more than an image viewer but is reasonably fast with some image manipulation tools
• qView: too basic with no editing tools whatsoever. It is the textbook definition of an image viewer much like Loupe in GNOME
• CoreImage: cannot scroll past multiple images with arrow keys for some reason. Instant deal-breaker :(
• PhotoQT: the ui doesn't look like KDE and is something else. Cannot configure AFAIK to get the Breeze look.

System information

Operating System: Aurora 41
KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.10.0
Qt Version: 6.8.1
Kernel Version: 6.11.8-300.fc41.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 22 × Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 155H
Memory: 15.0 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Arc
Manufacturer: HP
Product Name: HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 Laptop 14-eu0xxx

[etvt]

Note: I am not an Aurora maintainer, just a simple user.

Tbh I find Gwenview much better getting along with KDE from the point of view of modernity, style and look-and-feel, but I didn't really try nomacs.

In my opinion the best would be, where possible, to stick with KDE-affiliated applications to give users the most streamlined out-of-box desktop experience and active KDE support. (If wanted, users can install anything else they might want from Flathub.)

Also nomacs seems unverified on Flathub, which to me means I need to regularly keep a close eye on it.

[ledif]

I'm of the opinion that the core apps you would expect to find in a desktop (file manager, image viewer, calculator, etc) should be be apps that are from the KDE ecosystem. nomacs is a decent enough image viewer, but I feel that sticking with KDE in general would provide a more cohesive experience.

[n3thshan]

I'm of the opinion that the core apps you would expect to find in a desktop (file manager, image viewer, calculator, etc) should be be apps that are from the KDE ecosystem. nomacs is a decent enough image viewer, but I feel that sticking with KDE in general would provide a more cohesive experience.

if so, i think KDE Photos might do well here! It looked more modern than Gwenview and felt faster too. Please try scrolling past multiple high res pictures to confirm that its not placebo :)

[RealVishy]

if so, i think KDE Photos might do well here! It looked more modern than Gwenview and felt faster too. Please try scrolling past multiple high res pictures to confirm that its not placebo :)

Personally, I don't use the image viewer for multiple photos at a time, just for viewing stuff every once in a while. I don't find a gallery application very important in my workflow so I'm hesitant to add it to the base image.

When using Gwenview where you are scrolling multiple high resolution pictures, there appears to be performance issues with it, the most notable being a stutter(s) when moving from one image to another using arrow keys.

Were there any reports for this upstream? I'm sure they'd appreciate the report and they might be able to help out as well.

[n3thshan]

Personally, I don't use the image viewer for multiple photos at a time, just for viewing stuff every once in a while. I don't find a gallery application very important in my workflow so I'm hesitant to add it to the base image.

I do this especially with multiple photos taken from my phone that for some reason are rotated improperly and id just go scroll past all of em to fix their rotation within the image viewer itself. A well optimized image viewer makes sense in this context.

[n3thshan]

Were there any reports for this upstream? I'm sure they'd appreciate the report and they might be able to help out as well.

I didnt come across any bug reports but there were discussions in KDE forums, reddit, etc...

[KyleGospo]

I would recommend sticking with stock KDE applications and leaving changes like this as an exercise for the end user.

[NiHaiden]

I agree with Kyle here. We ship a set of default apps that work for most people, if you want something different you can always install it.