These arethe best GNOME Shell extensions available toinstall on Ubuntu ― according to you!
Over the past fortnight we askedyou to nominate yourtop extensions for the GNOME desktop. And you did just that. Having nowsifted through thehundreds of entries, we’re ready to reveal your favourite GNOME Shell extensions.
GNOME Extensions: A Quick RecapGNOME 3 (which is more commonly used with the GNOME Shell) offershas an extension framework that letsdevelopers (and users) extend,build on, and shape how the desktop looks, acts and functions.
The Best GNOME Shell Extensions 1.Dash to Dock
Dash to Dock takes theGNOMEDash ― this isthe ‘favourites bar’ that appears on the left-hand side of the screen in the Activities overlay ― and transforms it in a desktop dock.
And just like Plank, Docky or AWN you can add app launchers, rearrange them, and use them to minimise, restore and switch between app windows.
Dash to Dockhasmany of the common “Dock” features you’d expect, including autohide and intellihide, a fixed-width mode, adjustable icon size, and custom themes.
Dash to Dock on GNOME Extensions
2.TopIcons Plus
My biggest pet peeve withGNOME Shell is its legacy apptray that hidesin thebottom left of the screen. Allextraneous non-system applets, indicatorsand tray icons hide down here.
This makes it a little harder touse applications that rely on a system tray presence, like, Skype, Franz, Telegram, Dropbox.
TopIconsPlusis the quick way to putGNOME system tray icons backwhere they belong: on show and in reach.
The extension moves legacy tray icons from the bottom left of Gnome Shell to right-hand side of the top panel.A well stocked settings panel lets you adjust icon opacity, color, padding, size and tray position.
Dive into the settings to adjust the sizing, styling and positioning of icons.
TopIcons Plus on GNOME Extensions
3. Caffeine
Likethe populardaily stimulant of choice, CaffeineGNOME extension keeps your computer awake.
It couldn’t be simpler to use: just click the empty mug icon an empty cup means you’re using normal auto suspend rules i.e.screensaver, while a freshly brewed cup of coffee meansauto suspend and screensaverare turned off.
This Caffeine GNOME extension supports GNOME Shell 3.4 or later.
Caffeine on GNOME Extensions
4.Drop Down TerminalFamiliar with applications like Guake and Tilda? If so, you’ll instantly see the appeal of the (superbly named) ‘Drop down terminal’ GNOME extension.
When installed just tap the keyabove the tab key(though it can be changedto almost any key you wish) to get instant access to the command line.
Dropdown Terminal on GNOME Extensions
5. Top Panel Workspace ScrollWant to speed up using workspaces? This simple tool lets you do just that. Once installed you canquickly switch between workspaces by scrolling over the top panel ― no need to enter the Activities Overlay!
Top Panel Workspace Scroll on GNOME Extensions
Honourable MentionsTodo.txt which lets you create a simple, actionable to-do list ran a close 6th, with Pixel Saver, which removes the window title bar formaximised apps, and gTile , which arranges windows to a grid, also rating highly.
Did your favourite bolt-on not make the list? Let us know in the comments space below.