Thunar file list jumps/reorders continuously when a file is being downloaded (high-frequency update signals)

Description:

When downloading a large file (e.g., a movie) into a directory that is currently open in Thunar, the entire file list re-sorts and visually jumps every second. This makes it impossible to click or navigate files during the download.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Open Thunar and navigate to a folder (e.g., ~/Downloads or ~/Movies).
  2. Ensure the window is not fullscreen (tiled mode works, especially on Hyprland).
  3. Start downloading a large file into that same folder using a browser or download manager (e.g., Firefox, wget, aria2).
  4. Observe the file list: the file being written to updates its name/size/modification time every second, causing the entire list to re-sort and "jump" constantly.

Expected behavior:

The file list should remain stable and not reorder due to frequent updates to a single file's metadata. Updates should be throttled or batched.

Actual behavior:

The list re-sorts on every filesystem change event, causing constant visual disruption and making interaction difficult.

Environment:

  • OS: Arch Linux (up-to-date)
  • Thunar version: thunar --version (paste output)
  • GTK version: (paste pkg-config --modversion gtk+-3.0 or GTK4)
  • Window manager: Hyprland (tiling) — issue also occurs on other WMs but is more noticeable here.
  • File system: (e.g., ext4, btrfs)
  • Download tool: (e.g., Firefox, wget)

Additional context / root cause analysis:

Thunar's file monitor receives a flood of G_FILE_MONITOR_EVENT_CHANGED signals (one per write, often every second or faster). Each event triggers a re-validation and re-sort of the entire file list. A rate-limiting or debounce mechanism for ThunarFile "changed" and ThunarFolder "files-changed" signals would resolve this. This is related to upstream work in Merge Request !372 (closed) (throttling signals) and older bug reports suggesting "rate-limiting the changed signals."