The open-source photo management software digiKam has released version 8.8, featuring a full port to Qt 6.10 and automatic monitor color profile support on Wayland, Windows, and macOS. This update, arriving four months after version 8.7, includes over 100 bug fixes and new tools for photographers. It improves stability, tag handling, and cross-platform compatibility.
digiKam 8.8, released on October 19, 2025, marks a significant update for the free, cross-platform digital photo management application. Developed over four months following the 8.7 release, it introduces a complete port to the Qt 6.10 framework, enhancing performance and compatibility with modern operating systems. Users are encouraged to migrate from Qt 5 builds, as Qt 5 approaches end-of-life.
Key features include automatic application of monitor color profiles under Wayland, Windows, and macOS, ensuring consistent color rendering across platforms. The preview module now visualizes focus points for FujiFilm and Olympus/OM Systems cameras, aiding photographers in assessing focus accuracy. Tag management has been upgraded to allow import and export of hierarchical structures in the Controlled Vocabulary Keyword Catalogue format, facilitating metadata sharing.
In the image editor, a new tool enables progressive background blurring to simulate depth-of-field effects. The G’MIC-Qt plugin has been updated to version 3.6.0, expanding image processing options. Internal libraries received refreshes, such as OpenCV 4.12, FFmpeg 7.1.1, ExifTool 13.36, and Libraw (20250727) for broader RAW format support. The Progress Manager now uses native desktop notifications on Linux, macOS, and Windows for better integration.
Stability improvements address Wayland sessions, Windows 11 background processes, face recognition, DLNA server performance, and database operations. Over 100 issues were fixed, including tag import/export, drag-and-drop, UI sorting, thumbnail display, and language selection. The application supports 61 interface languages, with Brazilian Portuguese added to the documentation. English strings were refined using codespell for consistency, and Windows gains long file path support beyond the 260-character limit.
Looking ahead, the team plans an early 2026 maintenance release focusing on full Qt 6.10 bundle migration for Windows 11 and macOS, along with optimizations and AI-powered photo enhancements. digiKam 8.8 is available as an AppImage for Linux, or via distribution repositories and Flathub Flatpak.