Published Mar 17, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT
Roine Bertelson is a Stockholm-based tech writer, translator, and digital strategist with more than twenty years of hands-on experience in AI tools, Linux, consumer tech, cybersecurity, and SEO-driven content. He's known for turning complex topics into clear and practical guidance that helps readers solve real problems. People trust his work because he actually uses and tests the tools he writes about, breaks things on purpose, and translates the chaos of modern technology into advice that feels human, honest, and useful.
For years, watching a video on Linux often meant choosing between a powerhouse media player with endless knobs or a dated default app that hadn’t seen a modern UI refresh in a while. Somewhere between those two extremes, GNOME quietly introduced something new.
It’s called Showtime, or simply Video Player, and if your first reaction is “that looks… suspiciously simple,” you’re not wrong. But under that clean surface is a very intentional design philosophy. Showtime isn’t trying to replace every media player on Linux. It’s trying to solve one very specific problem: playing video without turning it into a technical project.
GNOME’s new player is built for the modern desktop
A GTK4 and libadwaita app that actually feels native
One of the first things you notice about Showtime is how well it fits into a modern GNOME desktop. That’s because it was built from scratch using GTK4 and libadwaita, the same toolkit and design framework behind most of GNOME’s newer apps. If you’ve used older Linux media players, you’ve probably seen the opposite. Buttons that look slightly off. Windows that ignore your theme. Interfaces that feel like they belong to another decade.
Showtime doesn’t have that problem. The interface blends seamlessly with the rest of the GNOME environment. Dark mode switches automatically. Animations feel smooth. Window controls behave exactly the way you expect. Even small details, like hover states and spacing, match GNOME’s visual language. It’s the difference between installing a random app and using something that feels like it actually belongs on your desktop.
The interface is intentionally minimal
A player designed for pressing play, not tweaking settings
If you open Showtime expecting a control panel full of playback options, prepare for disappointment. Or relief, depending on your personality. The interface is almost aggressively minimal.
You get:
- Play and pause
- A progress bar
- Volume control
- Fullscreen
- Basic keyboard shortcuts
That’s basically it.
There are no advanced codec panels, no mysterious rendering options, and no menu full of obscure toggles that most people will never touch. The goal is simple: open a video file and watch it. That might sound boring, but it’s actually a deliberate design decision. GNOME has been moving toward focused, single-purpose apps for years. Instead of one massive tool with endless options, each app does one thing well. Showtime follows that philosophy almost to the letter.
GStreamer handles the heavy lifting
Despite its minimalist interface, Showtime isn’t some toy player with limited capabilities. Under the hood, it uses GStreamer, the multimedia framework that powers many GNOME apps. In practical terms, that means codec support comes from the same place your system already gets its multimedia capabilities.
Install the typical codec packages on your distro and Showtime can usually handle formats like:
- MP4
- MKV
- WebM
- VP9
- AV1 (depending on plugins)
So while the interface is simple, the backend is surprisingly capable. Showtime doesn’t reinvent video playback. It just presents it in a cleaner, more modern package.
It’s also part of GNOME’s quiet app modernization push
Replacing older tools with cleaner, GTK4-native alternatives
Showtime didn’t appear in isolation. Over the last few years, GNOME has been steadily modernizing its default applications. Several long-standing tools are being replaced by newer apps built around GTK4 and libadwaita. The new image viewer, Loupe, is one example. Snapshot replaced the older Cheese camera app. And Showtime appears to be following the same path for video playback.
Historically, GNOME shipped Totem, also known as GNOME Videos. Totem worked, but it was built on older technologies and had accumulated years of design baggage. Showtime represents a fresh start. Instead of bolting modern features onto an aging interface, GNOME developers chose to build a player that reflects the design language of the current desktop. Cleaner layout, fewer menus, and tighter integration with the system.
A video player you don’t have to think about
GNOME Showtime
GNOME Showtime is the video player that ships natively with GNOME desktops.
If you’re expecting Showtime to compete with power-user tools like VLC or MPV, you’re missing the point. That’s not the role it’s trying to fill. Where Showtime shines is in everyday playback: You download a video, you double-click it, and the video plays. No configuration, no interface clutter, and no hunting for the right option buried three menus deep.
For GNOME users, that experience feels refreshingly straightforward. It’s especially pleasant on Wayland desktops and laptops, where modern GTK apps tend to feel smoother and better integrated with the rest of the system. Of course, there are still plenty of situations where heavier players make more sense. If you need deep subtitle control, streaming protocols, frame stepping, or codec-level tweaks, tools like VLC and MPV are still the undisputed champions.
Software should focus on the task at hand
But not every video session needs a cockpit full of switches. Showtime embodies a very GNOME idea: software should focus on the task at hand instead of exposing every possible knob and lever. The result is a player that might look almost suspiciously simple at first glance. For some Linux users, that approach feels refreshing. A clean interface that does exactly what it promises without demanding attention. For others, it feels like someone hid the settings menu and threw away the key.
Both reactions are understandable. Linux has a long tradition of powerful, endlessly configurable tools, while GNOME increasingly leans toward clarity and restraint. Showtime sits right in the middle of that tension. It’s not trying to be the most powerful video player on Linux. It’s trying to be the one you never have to think about. And for something as ordinary as watching a video, that might actually be the smartest design choice of all.