Variety 0.4.12 was released today with several very nice new features and improvements.

Quotes support

Variety can now fetch quotes from QuotesDaddy and display them in a very beautiful way on the desktop. Users can configure almost everything related to the type of quotes they would see and the way they would be displayed – keywords, authors, font, colors, placement, etc. Sharing the best quotes on Facebook is one click away. Check the screenshots and the video for a demonstration of quotes goodness. I believe a lot of users will like and use this feature.



Preferences are applied immediately

Variety’s preferences now behave the “Ubuntu” way – once you click an option, it becomes active immediately, there is no need to press a dedicated “Save” button. This makes it much easier to work with some of the “visual” features like filters, quotes, clock. And losing changes by forgetting to press Save is now also a thing of the past.

Customizable indicator icon



Users can now configure the indicator icon that Variety displays, so that it blends best with their desktop looks. There are five options:

“Light” is the default icon, suitable for dark themes like Ubuntu’s Ambiance.

“Dark” is the inversed version, which is best for light themes like Ubuntu’s Radiance.

Users can choose a custom image which better suits their icon theme

The current wallpaper can be used as an icon, changing dynamically as the wallpaper changes. I am sure a lot of users will like this option.

Or the icon can be completely hidden. Variety can still be controlled from the command line, via keyboard shortcuts, or from the Launcher icon quicklist. To facilitate this I have added support for several additional command line arguments.

Clock font options



Until now the clock was only configurable in a hacky way via the clock_filter property in variety.conf. This still remains an option, but I have added user-friendly options in the GUI for the most important aspect of the clock – the fonts (name and size) of the clock and date texts. The default clock filter was also updated to provide a more refined look to the clock. NOTE: If you have modified the clock_filter property you will not see the new version, unless you comment it out or delete it from variety.conf. Read more on clock configuration here and here.

Copy to Favorites vs. Move to Favorites

This release introduces a user-friendly way to choose which operation you prefer to have in the menu – Copy to Favorites, Move to Favorites or both.

Support for XMP/EXIF image ratings



Variety can now filter images based on their EXIF ratings, and also provides means for editing image ratings (without cluttering the menu for users who don’t use this feature). EXIF ratings can also be used or changed in external photo-management applications like Shotwell, Darktable, etc.

A Donate tab in Preferences

I have added a way for users to give back to Variety. If you like and use Variety, please consider a small donation. I don’t expect to become rich from donations, but they will show me Variety is valued by you – the users – and will motivate me to continue working actively on it.

Video Demo

Here is a video demonstrating the most important new features.

I wish you many pleasant moments with Variety,

Peter Levi