Audacity 4.0 Rebuilds Interface on Qt, Introduces New Clip Editing Model

Interface Overhaul with Qt

Audacity 4.0 features a rebuilt application interface based on Qt, which includes native high-DPI rendering. This change allows for greater customization, as toolbars and panels can now be moved, docked, floated, shown, or hidden. Users can also save their UI layouts as Workspaces, with Modern, Classic, and Music workspaces included by default. The update also adds light, dark, and high-contrast themes, along with accent colors, track colors, and clip styles.

Enhanced Clip Editing Capabilities

A new clip-editing model has been introduced in Audacity 4.0. Clips can now be selected directly and multiple clips can be edited together, with operations like moving, trimming, and time stretching applying to all selected clips. Clips can also be grouped, allowing them to remain together during various operations. The new model also allows clips to be placed more freely, including movement between mono and stereo tracks, and overlapping clips now replace the overlapped part instead of blocking the move.

Streamlined Workflow and Tools

The update includes several workflow improvements. Splitting now has a dedicated tool, and paste functionality handles more cases automatically, such as creating tracks when needed and adapting channel layouts. Alignment guides, sample-boundary snapping, and per-project snap settings have been added or expanded. The separate Select, Envelope, Draw, and Multi-tool modes have been removed, with their functions becoming context-sensitive. Volume envelopes are now displayed in Clip gain mode, and sample drawing is available when zoomed to individual samples.

Playback and Recording Improvements

Audacity 4.0 also brings changes to playback and recording. The playhead remains visible during navigation and can be dragged to a new position. Playback can seek to another position without stopping. Recording can now start anywhere on the timeline, creating a clip at that specific position.