Configurable hover delay for auto-hidden panels (0–10 seconds)

Brainstorm
1

Summary

Add an option to configure the delay before an auto-hidden panel is revealed when the mouse cursor reaches the screen edge.

Motivation / Problem

In KDE Plasma, auto-hidden panels are immediately revealed when the mouse touches the screen edge. This can lead to frequent accidental triggers, especially when:

  • Using maximized applications

  • Moving the cursor across screen edges

  • Gaming or working with edge-heavy UI (e.g. browsers, IDEs)

Currently, there is no way to prevent or delay this behavior without disabling auto-hide entirely or switching to a different visibility mode.

Proposed Solution

Introduce a configurable hover delay for auto-hidden panels.

  • Add a slider in panel settings:

    • Label: “Reveal delay on hover”

    • Range: 0 to 10 seconds

    • Default: 0 seconds (current behavior)

  • Behavior:

    • When the cursor reaches the screen edge, the panel is only revealed after the configured delay

    • If the cursor leaves the edge before the delay expires, the panel remains hidden

UI/UX Details

Location:

  • Panel Settings → Visibility section (where “Auto Hide”, “Dodge Windows”, etc. are configured)

Optional enhancements:

  • Tooltip explaining the feature:

    “Delay before the panel appears when the mouse touches the screen edge.”

Benefits

  • Prevents accidental panel reveals

  • Improves usability for users with multi-monitor or edge-heavy workflows

  • Maintains the advantages of auto-hide without being intrusive

  • Simple and intuitive control (slider)

Implementation Notes (optional)

  • Likely involves introducing a delay (e.g. QTimer) in the panel hover detection logic (PanelView / QML layer)

  • Default value preserves current behavior (no regressions)

  • Could be stored per panel in plasmashellrc

Alternatives Considered

  • Disabling hover-trigger entirely → too restrictive

  • Using “Dodge Windows” → not equivalent behavior

  • Moving panel away from edge → workaround, not a solution

Additional Context

This feature has been requested by users who want finer control over panel behavior, particularly to avoid unintended interruptions during focused tasks.