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Ubuntu / Debian · x64

Install Unwaver on Linux

One terminal command. Worth knowing first: on an Xorg session Unwaver sees every window, but on Wayland it can miss some.

Unwaver for Linux

Unwaver_2.4.1_amd64.deb · 9.6 MB

Download for Linux

Version 2.4.1 · What's new

A short looping animation of installing Unwaver on Ubuntu. In a terminal you go to Downloads and run sudo apt install ./Unwaver_2.4.1_amd64.deb, then type your password. apt unpacks and sets up the unwaver package. You search your apps for Unwaver and open it, and it shows its sign-in screen. The same steps are written out below.

apt unpacks Unwaver and sets it up.

The same steps, written out

  1. Open a terminal

    Press Ctrl + Alt + T, or find Terminal in your apps.

  2. Install the package

    Paste this and press Enter. sudo asks for your password; nothing shows while you type it.

    sudo apt install ~/Downloads/Unwaver_2.4.1_amd64.deb

    apt also fetches what Unwaver needs, WebKitGTK and a few GStreamer audio plugins, if you don't have them. If your browser saved the file somewhere else, use that path. A closing note that the download was "performed unsandboxed as root" is harmless. Prefer clicking? Double-click the file; if your software centre offers to install it, that works too.

  3. Open Unwaver

    Search your apps for Unwaver and open it. It starts on its sign-in screen. Your 7-day trial starts when you create your account.

On Wayland, Unwaver sees fewer windows

This matters if you turn on activity monitoring. Unwaver can only read windows from apps that run through XWayland; apps that run natively on Wayland look like no activity, so nudges get less accurate. If your login screen offers an Xorg session (on Ubuntu, the gear icon, then Ubuntu on Xorg), use that. Not sure which you're on? Run echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE. Idle and screen-lock detection work on both.

Good to know

Which distributions?

Ubuntu 22.04 or newer, Debian 12 or newer, and distributions built on them, on 64-bit Intel or AMD. It needs WebKitGTK 4.1, which older releases don't ship.

Updates ask for your password

Unwaver downloads updates in the background. When one's ready, click Restart to update and your system asks for your password, because a .deb installs for the whole computer. Nothing installs without you.

Microphone

There's no permission prompt on Linux. If talking to it doesn't work, check that a microphone shows up as an input in your sound settings.

Opening it each day

Unwaver doesn't start by itself when you log in. Open it from your apps when you start work; pinning it to your dock makes that one click. Closing its window quits it.

Uninstalling

Run sudo apt remove unwaver.

Only the .deb for now

There's no Fedora, Arch or Flatpak build yet. If that's what you run, email support@unwaver.ai so we know to make one.

Stuck on a step?

Email support@unwaver.ai with your distribution and what the terminal printed.

Installing on Windows instead Installing on a Mac instead

Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries; Tux the penguin was drawn by Larry Ewing with The GIMP. Ubuntu is a registered trademark of Canonical Ltd. Debian is a registered trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc. The desktop in the walkthrough is a simplified drawing for illustration. Unwaver is independent of all of them.