Bug 505910 - When switching among activities with multiple desktops then applications from one activity are shown on another activity
Summary: When switching among activities with multiple desktops then applications from...
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 501393
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: activities (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.4.0
Platform: Fedora RPMs Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-06-21 11:11 UTC by Alberto
Modified: 2025-07-18 13:54 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Description Alberto 2025-06-21 11:11:52 UTC
SUMMARY
When using multiple desktops and multiple activities, when switching from one activity (e.g., X) to another (Y), if the selected desktop (e.g., 1) of the origin activity (X) is the same of the destination activity (Y) the behavior is correct. If, instead, the desktop that was previously selected in the destination activity (e.g., 2) is different from the one (e.g., 1) of the origin activity, then things get messed up. The first application  shown in the origin activity and desktop (e.g., X-1) are shown also in the destination activity and desktop (e.g., Y-2), and this application is shown over the other applications of the destination activity/desktop. The only way to  workaround the problem is to be sure to be in the same desktop  number in both activities before switching from one activity to the other. This workaround is also the only way of fixing the problem when it happens (i.e., you switch activity while they are set in different desktops).

This behavior has been around for awhile, probably since release 6 was introduced but, my bad, I haven't had time to investigate and report it before today.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Set up more than one activity and multiple desktops (3 activities and 4 desktops in my case). For simplicity, let's call the activities X, Y, and Z. Desktops are named 1, 2, 3, 4
2. In activity X, select desktop 2 and open an application
3. Switch to activity Y

OBSERVED RESULT
The application that is open in activity X, desktop 2 is shown in activity Y.

EXPECTED RESULT
Applications belonging to one activity are not shown in other activities.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Fedora Linux 42
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.0
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.15.0
Qt Version: 6.9.1
Kernel Version: 6.14.11-300.fc42.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comment 1 TraceyC 2025-06-24 20:43:34 UTC
This sounds similar to bug 502022 in that an application on one activity is shown in another activity
In the other bug, the application is explicitly set to only show in a particular activity

I'm not able to replicate this bug on git-master, following the replication steps.
I also can't reproduce on Fedora 42

Does this happen for you with a brand new user, and the same desktop / activity configuration?
Comment 2 Alberto 2025-06-24 22:11:36 UTC
(In reply to TraceyC from comment #1)
> This sounds similar to bug 502022 in that an application on one activity is
> shown in another activity
> In the other bug, the application is explicitly set to only show in a
> particular activity
> 
> I'm not able to replicate this bug on git-master, following the replication
> steps.
> I also can't reproduce on Fedora 42
> 
> Does this happen for you with a brand new user, and the same desktop /
> activity configuration?

Thanks for your reply.
I tried some time ago with a new user and I experienced the same problem. I also have some applications that are explicitly set to show only in one activity, but they still show in other activities when I experience the bug that I described.
I see that also in the other bug an nVidia Quadro graphic card is mentioned... Can it be anything related to this?
Comment 3 TraceyC 2025-06-25 16:52:03 UTC
Thanks for the additional detail. It sounds like you are experiencing the same bug as 502022, so I'll merge this in with that one. Please follow that report for updates.

I don't think this is related to the GPU. This isn't a bug with the video display, but with the logic of which activity to show an application on.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 502022 ***
Comment 4 Nate Graham 2025-07-18 13:54:37 UTC

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 501393 ***