A system-wide push-to-talk feature offers considerable utility, enabling microphone control across all applications, even those without native support. This functionality is a notable addition to any operating system, and it is surprising that some widely used platforms do not yet offer it.
KDE Plasma, a popular Linux desktop environment, is implementing a system-wide push-to-talk system. The KDE team is developing several enhancements expected to improve the user experience significantly.
KDE Plasma Enhancements: Process Manager, Push-to-Talk, and More
Promising Developments for FOSS Enthusiasts
The KDE Blog regularly publishes “This week in Plasma” posts, providing updates on the desktop environment’s development and offering insights into future builds. These posts keep the community informed about ongoing progress.
A key feature highlighted for Plasma 6.6.0 is a new graphical menu for the process priority screen. This tool simplifies the management of how applications run, allowing users to easily adjust process priorities. An image illustrating this UI is available above.
Another anticipated feature, scheduled for Plasma 6.7.0, is the global push-to-talk functionality. This allows users to set a specific key that, when held down, will mute all microphones until released. This provides convenient, on-the-fly microphone control:
Added a global push-to-talk feature: if you set a push-to-talk key, all microphones will be muted until the specified key is held down. (Kai Uwe Broulik, Aleix Pol Gonzalez, and Shubham Arora, plasma-pa MR #394, kglobalaccel MR #41, and plasma-workspace MR #6126)
KDE Plasma 6.7.0 will also introduce a new toggle within the Brightness and Color widget, enabling quick switching between light and dark modes. While the initial transition may be abrupt, the KDE team plans to implement a smooth cross-fade effect in a future update.
These continuous updates and quality-of-life improvements demonstrate a strong commitment to enhancing KDE’s functionality and user experience.
