Refine — A New App for Fine-Tuning the GNOME Environment

If you've ever tried to customize a Linux distribution with GNOME, you've likely encountered GNOME Tweaks — the official application that provides a graphical interface for settings not available in the standard system menu.

In recent years, GNOME developers have started integrating many GNOME Tweaks options into the system settings, debunking the common belief that GNOME only removes features rather than adding new ones.

However, GNOME is unlikely to cover all possible user needs. Developing such features takes up resources that could be allocated to higher-priority tasks. Fortunately, third-party developers can create applications, extensions, and tools to fill these gaps.

What Is Refine?

Refine is a new GTK4/libadwaita-based application that provides access to advanced and experimental GNOME settings. It is not a fork of GNOME Tweaks but rather a separate tool with additional capabilities.

The developer of Refine does not officially support Ubuntu, considering it a customized version of GNOME. In recent updates, the app may display a warning about an "unsupported environment," but it will still function.

However, keep in mind that the reliability of all settings in Ubuntu is not guaranteed. If you decide to try Refine, be prepared for potential bugs or incompatibility with certain features.

The First Version of Refine on Flathub Already Offers Many Useful Features, Including:
→ Theme selection
→ Cursor theme
→ Icon packs
→ Light theme (for GNOME Shell)
→ Default interface font
→ Terminal font (monospace)
→ Middle-click paste
→ Centering new windows
→ Attaching modal windows to parent windows
→ Enabling variable refresh rate
→ Enabling fractional scaling
→ Native Xwayland scaling
→ Volume adjustment step

And this is just the beginning — more features are expected in the future, making hidden and experimental settings more accessible.
Should You Try It?

Some options, like the light theme toggle, may not work in Ubuntu (since the distribution uses its own Yaru theme), and fractional scaling is already available in system settings. However, many other settings will prove useful, especially considering that they previously could only be changed through the terminal.