Docker Desktop 4.90.0 tray icon disappears on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

[0Ky]

Bug report

Bug description

On a fresh installation of Ubuntu 26.04 LTS with GNOME 50.1 running Wayland, the Docker Desktop tray/panel icon works correctly with the previous Docker Desktop version 4.89.0, but disappears after updating to Docker Desktop 4.90.0.

The AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support GNOME extension is installed and enabled.

Environment

• Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
• GNOME Shell 50.1
• Wayland
• Docker Desktop 4.90.0
• AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support GNOME extension

Reproduction steps

1. Start with a fresh Ubuntu 26.04 LTS installation.
2. Update system sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
3. Reboot
4. Install the AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support GNOME extension.
5. Download Docker Desktop wget https://desktop.docker.com/linux/main/amd64/docker-desktop-amd64.deb
6. Install Docker Desktop sudo apt install ./docker-desktop-amd64.deb
7. Run the Docker Desktop

Actual behavior

After installing or upgrading to Docker Desktop version 4.90.0, the panel/tray icon doesn't show Docker.

When Docker Desktop starts, a ... indicator briefly appears in the panel, then immediately disappears.

Restarting Docker Desktop produces the same behavior: the ... indicator appears briefly and then disappears.

Docker Desktop itself otherwise starts and operates normally.

Expected behavior

The Docker Desktop tray/panel icon should remain visible, as it does with the previous Docker Desktop release on the exact same Ubuntu/GNOME/Wayland installation.

Additional testing

I completely removed Docker Desktop and its user configuration/data (~/.docker), then reinstalled the older version (4.89.0). The tray icon immediately worked again.

Relevant process information

Docker Desktop is running normally, including:

• /opt/docker-desktop/bin/com.docker.backend
• /opt/docker-desktop/Docker Desktop --reason=open-tray ...
• Electron processes using --ozone-platform=wayland

So this does not appear to be a general Docker Desktop startup failure.

Regression

The behavior appears to be a regression between the previous Docker Desktop release version 4.89.0 and 4.90.0.

Could this be related to the StatusNotifierItem/AppIndicator registration or tray handling under GNOME 50 / Wayland?

Platform

Linux

Version information

Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:           29.8.0
 API version:       1.55 (downgraded from 1.56)
 Go version:        go1.26.8
 Git commit:        88096ef
 Built:             Thu Sep  3 21:50:20 2026
 OS/Arch:           linux/amd64
 Context:           desktop-linux

Server: Docker Desktop 4.90.0 (238679)
 Engine:
  Version:          29.7.2
  API version:      1.55 (minimum version 1.40)
  Go version:       go1.26.5
  Git commit:       6a43e3d
  Built:            Wed Aug  5 18:28:36 2026
  OS/Arch:          linux/amd64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          v2.3.3
  GitCommit:        aad11006b869517fcd3009450b6f82da282e1a9b
 runc:
  Version:          1.4.3
  GitCommit:        v1.4.3-0-gbb14dabe
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0
Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:    29.8.0
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  agent: Docker AI Agent Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.128.0
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-agent
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.30.0
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-ai
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.36.1-desktop.1
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v5.5.1
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.47
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-debug
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.4.3
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-desktop
  dhi: CLI for managing Docker Hardened Images (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.0.7
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-dhi
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-extension
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-init
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.43.3
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-mcp
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.6.15
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-offload
  pass: Docker Pass Secrets Manager Plugin (beta) (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.2
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-pass
  sandbox: "docker sandbox" is deprecated, use Docker Sandboxes instead (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.13.0
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sandbox
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.24.0
    Path:     /home/user/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-scout

Server:
 Containers: 0
  Running: 0
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 0
 Images: 0
 Server Version: 29.7.2
 Storage Driver: overlayfs
  driver-type: io.containerd.snapshotter.v1
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs
 Cgroup Version: 2
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: bridge host ipvlan macvlan null overlay
  Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local splunk syslog
 CDI spec directories:
  /etc/cdi
  /var/run/cdi
 Discovered Devices:
  cdi: docker.com/gpu=webgpu
 Swarm: inactive
 Runtimes: io.containerd.runc.v2 runc
 Default Runtime: runc
 Init Binary: docker-init
 containerd version: aad11006b869517fcd3009450b6f82da282e1a9b
 runc version: v1.4.3-0-gbb14dabe
 init version: de40ad0
 Security Options:
  seccomp
   Profile: builtin
  cgroupns
 Kernel Version: 7.0.12-linuxkit
 Operating System: Docker Desktop
 OSType: linux
 Architecture: x86_64
 CPUs: 12
 Total Memory: 7.321GiB
 Name: docker-desktop
 ID: *-*-*-*-*
 Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker
 Debug Mode: false
 HTTP Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 HTTPS Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 No Proxy: hubproxy.docker.internal
 Labels:
  com.docker.desktop.address=unix:///home/user/.docker/desktop/docker-cli.sock
 Experimental: false
 Insecure Registries:
  hubproxy.docker.internal:5555
  ::1/128
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false
 Firewall Backend: iptables

Diagnostics ID

No response