KDE Gear will improve file access to Apple devices like iPhone and iPad in a version update to be released next year. Several existing KDE implementations can already access files on iOS devices, but the KDE team has announced that it will merge the latest KIO code to compile for this feature.
The rewritten KIO code supports the Apple File Conduit (AFC) service on iOS devices and has been merged into the kio-extras module, which will be integrated into the KDE Gear release in the future.
These new AFC codes in kio-extras are written based on the latest KIO classes that support the latest file access methods when iPhone / iPad devices are connected to the KDE desktop environment via USB. This feature allows access to shared files via the House Arrest API, in addition to files in the regular file system.
KDE Gear version 22.12 entered the feature freeze phase on November 10, and the official version is expected to be released on December 8. KDE Gear 23.04, which supports Apple File Conduit KIO, is expected to be released in April 2023.
The KDE Gear is a set of applications and support libraries developed by the KDE community, primarily for use on Linux-based operating systems, but mostly for multiple platforms, and released under a public release schedule. The package consists of more than 100 applications. Examples of applications highlighted in the bundle include Dolphin, a file manager, Okular, a document viewer, Kate, a text editor, Ark, an archiving tool, and Konsole, a terminal emulator.
