GpgFrontend Files

Release Notes (v2.1.8)

• Key Group Support (#194): Added support for Key Groups, allowing encryption to a group of public keys as a unified target. Key Groups behave like a single key and support nesting.
• ADSK (Additional Decryption Subkey) (#194, requires GnuPG ≥ 2.4.1): Enables delegating decryption capability to another key pair by borrowing a subkey.
• OpenPGP Smart Card Integration (#112, requires GnuPG ≥ 2.3.0): View smart card information, perform basic operations, and generate keys directly on the card.
• Portable Mode for Linux AppImage: AppImage now supports portable use across systems. A new *-universal-portable.zip includes both Windows and Linux binaries with shared configuration.
• Improved UI Structure & Terminology (#193): Various interface elements have been refined to reduce confusion and improve usability.
• Hover Tooltip for Key List: Hovering over a key in the list now shows a tooltip with brief key information and structure.
• GpgAgent Lifecycle Management: GpgFrontend now starts and stops gpg-agent automatically, providing better control and integration.
• GUI Pinentry Detection: Automatically detects a graphical Pinentry (e.g., pinentry-gnome3, pinentry-qt, pinentry-gtk2 or pinentry-mac); if not found, the user will be prompted to install one.
• Improved Subkey Handling: Fixed an issue where subkey info could not be retrieved properly during decryption or verification.
• Minimum GnuPG Version Raised: Now requires GnuPG ≥ 2.2.0; 2.4.7 or newer is recommended.
• Flatpak Pinentry Fix: Flatpak builds now enforce use of pinentry-qt to resolve the long-standing "No Pinentry" issue.
• Bug Fixes & Stability Improvements: Various issues resolved based on internal and community testing.

👉 View the full changelog

💬 Feedback Wanted: Should GpgFrontend Support CMS (S/MIME)?

I’ve recently been exploring CMS-related functionality (like gpgsm and X.509 certificates) and I’m considering adding basic CMS support in the future — including certificate listing, import/export, and S/MIME email encryption. Currently, GpgFrontend supports only OpenPGP. However, I’m unsure how widely CMS (X.509/S/MIME) is actually used. If you think this feature would be helpful, please open an issue or send me an email to share your use case.

If it turns out to be rarely used, it may not be worth the development effort. Your feedback will help guide future priorities.