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Sketch

DESIGN
Velocity5.0

Sketch is clearing its feature-request backlog while the web app quietly becomes the main surface.

design-toolsweb-appdeveloper-handoffcraft-featuresperformanceagent-skills
◆Current state
Sketch ships two named Mac releases a year — Dublin in April, Edinburgh in June — each bundling long-requested craft features: selection colors, independent borders, corner smoothing, a rebuilt eyedropper with color variables, multi-paste, and perceptual gradients. Point releases in between carry those features forward with fixes and nothing else. The web app is on its own track, most recently gaining a Command Bar, reworked notifications, and steady developer-handoff improvements.
◆Where it's heading
The Mac app's roadmap reads as debt repayment — features designers have asked about for years, plus performance work on symbols and Libraries — rather than any bid to change what the tool is. Momentum is shifting toward the browser, where collaboration, handoff, and navigation are getting the attention. The one forward-looking move sits outside the release line: a public skills repository giving AI agents reusable workflows against Sketch documents.
◆Prediction
Expect the next named Mac release to continue the craft-feature backlog while the web app absorbs more workspace and handoff surface; agent-facing work will likely stay in the skills repo rather than the app itself.

◆Recent moves

  1. 28d ago

    Web app: Command Bar and better notifications

    The web app gains a Command Bar for keyboard-driven navigation and a rebuilt notifications experience for workspace activity. Both are collaboration-surface work, consistent with the browser taking on the workspace role while the Mac app stays the drawing tool.

  2. 28d ago

    Edinburgh features roll forward with minor fixes

    A point release rolling up the Edinburgh feature set with minor fixes. No new capability of its own.

  3. 1mo ago

    Edinburgh (2026.2)

    The Edinburgh release adds multi-paste, perceptual and vibrant gradients, prototype player options, and meaningful speed gains on symbols and Library replacement. A solid craft release that deepens the existing tool rather than redirecting it.

  4. 3mo ago

    Dublin features carried forward with fixes (2026.1.2)

    A maintenance release carrying the Dublin features plus fixes. Version-only entry with no separate content.

  5. 3mo ago

    First Dublin patch: minor improvements and fixes (2026.1.1)

    The first patch after Dublin, bundling the same feature set with minor fixes. Routine servicing of the April release.

  6. 4mo ago

    Dublin (2026.1)

    Dublin answers a stack of long-standing requests — selection colors, independent borders, corner smoothing, and an eyedropper that understands color variables. The release is explicitly framed as backlog clearing, which is a fair read of where the Mac app's effort is going.

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