Shotwell 33 has been released, marking the first stable version of the photo manager to utilize GTK4. This significant underlying toolkit port has been in development since 2025, following its migration to GTK3 in 2012 (v0.12.0). Despite the backend update, the user interface largely retains its previous appearance. OMG! Ubuntu noted that "the user-facing result is just a plain port; it's not as visually transformative as gThumb's GTK4/libadwaita port." While this release focuses on the toolkit transition rather than a visual overhaul, a more substantive revamp potentially leveraging libadwaita may follow in future versions. The primary benefit for users is the updated toolkit foundation, which paves the way for future improvements.