BearWave Logo BearWave Line Logo
Public Beta Multi-Desktop UI Qt 6

An extremely lightweight player for Linux desktops and Android. Fast station browsing, solid playback controls, and native integrations without getting in your way.

Jump to Install Flatpak
GitHub GitLab

Looking for the Mobile App?

BearWave is also available for your Android device.

View Mobile App

Fast station access

Powered by the Radio Browser API. No nested menu labyrinths, just search and start listening.

Desktop-native controls

MPRIS, media keys, system tray icon, and cached state fit into your daily desktop workflow.

Strictly limited

BearWave will never manage podcasts, organize files, or scan a music library. It just plays radio.

Features

Built for Linux workflows, not for feature checklists.

Focused core capabilities for daily listening on KDE Plasma with reliable integration.

Clean desktop layout

A structured desktop layout with a persistent sidebar, compact player bar, and thoughtful navigation.

Discover the world

Browse tens of thousands of web radios by country and genre to find new stations globally.

Search and filter

Quickly search by station name or genre, and sort the results by bitrate or popularity.

Favorites & resume

Persistent local favorites and immediate resume of your last-played station for a fast start.

Add custom streams

Favorite stream missing from the directory? Easily add URLs to your own custom web radio streams manually.

Open source through and through

Built on Qt 6 (C++). Strictly GPLv3 licensed, completely open source, and tracker-free.

100% Free & Open Source Software

BearWave is licensed under the GPLv3. No ads, no tracking, no mandatory accounts. The entire source code is hosted on GitHub and GitLab and open for contributions.

GitHub GitLab
Go to Install

Technologies

Platform & integrations

BearWave stays Linux-first and integrates seamlessly into your desktop workflow.

Linux Platform
Arch Linux / AUR
Wayland Native
Qt 6 / QML
MPRIS Playback
Radio Browser API

System

Support matrix & project status

BearWave is currently in public beta. It is built for contributors, testers, and technically comfortable Linux users who prefer control over fully polished consumer packaging.

Arch Linux: actively tested
Android: actively tested
KDE Plasma 6: primary target
Other distros: best effort

Install

Get BearWave

Choose your preferred installation method. We recommend Flatpak for desktop users as it is the most secure option.

Recommended / Secure

Flatpak (Universal / Sandboxed)

For security (sandboxing) and ease of updates, we recommend installing BearWave from our independent repository. This is the ideal path for immutable distributions (like Fedora Silverblue or SteamOS) and on non-Arch distributions.

Prerequisite: Flatpak must be installed on your system. On many distributions it is already present; otherwise install it from your package manager first.

Install (recommended):
Confirm the prompts when Flatpak asks to install the runtime and app (first install also pulls the Qt 6 Platform runtime).
flatpak install --from https://flatpak.bearwave.app/bearwave.flatpakref
Alternative (manual remote):
flatpak remote-add --user bearwave-repo https://flatpak.bearwave.app/bearwave.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user bearwave-repo de.nerdbear.bearwave
Download installation file

Arch Linux

AUR Package

For experienced Arch users. Due to potential supply-chain attacks in the AUR, we strongly advise manually inspecting the `PKGBUILD` before installation.

IMPORTANT: AUR updates are currently blocked by Arch. The AUR package (`bearwave-git`) is not receiving automatic updates at the moment. We highly recommend using our official Flatpak for version 1.3.0 and newer.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/bearwave-git.git
cd bearwave-git
makepkg -si
Open AUR package

Source

Source Build

Build from source if you want the documented upstream path. Recommended for developers and contributors.
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j"$(nproc)"
cmake --install build --prefix "$HOME/.local"
Open repository
Important Security Notice
Official Distribution & Security Notice:
We only control and sign the official Flatpak binary. We do not verify, support, or guarantee the security of any other third-party binary repositories (such as unofficial repositories on the openSUSE Build Service or other mirrors).

Installing from unofficial sources — including the AUR — carries additional security risks, as those packages or pre-compiled binaries are not built or controlled by the original author.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is BearWave a general media player?

No. It is intentionally focused on internet radio and desktop playback.

Which desktops does BearWave support?

Thanks to universal Qt 6, BearWave runs natively on Wayland and X11. Whether you use GNOME, Plasma, or Sway – the app integrates seamlessly via MPRIS, system tray, and notifications.

Is it really free and open source?

Yes. BearWave is 100% free software, licensed under the GNU GPLv3 license. You can find the entire source code on GitHub and GitLab.

Where does BearWave store its data?

To keep things simple and transparent, BearWave saves everything locally in standard directories:
Favorites~/.config/bearwave/favorites.json
Settings~/.config/bearwave/state.json
Caches & Covers~/.cache/bearwave/

Updates

Changelog

Version 1.3.0

2026-08-10

Added

  • System light/dark appearance (xdg-desktop-portal, gsettings, Qt style hints,
  • Now Playing stage (right column): active stream only, large artwork,
  • My stations library for manually added streams
  • Shared monochrome MediaIcon / IconButton set (no emoji chrome).
  • Shared PlayerTransport used by stage dock and bottom bar.
  • Three transport layouts driven by window size:
  • wide + tall (width ≥ 1240, height ≥ 960): transport dock in the stage
  • wide + short (e.g. 1440×900): stage keeps Now Playing (compact cover);
  • narrow (width < 1240): full bottom player bar with station meta

Changed

  • Product framing: Qt 6 Linux desktop app (not KDE-only, not tied to a
  • Flatpak: keep org.kde.Platform/Sdk 6.10 as the official Qt stack on
  • Control D-Bus interface: org.kde.BearWave.Control →
  • Desktop entry drops FreeDesktop KDE category; German Comment/Keywords.
  • Radio Browser HTTP User-Agent: BearWave/<version>.
  • Outside KDE sessions: Fusion Quick Controls, no KDE platform theme,
  • Left sidebar restyled (Browse / Library, DE·NL chips, monochrome icons).
  • Station list: card layout, meta chips, Live marker, header with count,
  • Add/Edit station dialogs restyled to BearTheme.
  • Responsive layout: detail column below ~1240px width; list margins keep

Fixed

  • Live streams no longer stick on Buffering… while audio is already
  • ICY metadata: force HTTP/1.1 (HTTP/2 breaks metaint), wait for headers,
  • Light mode when the desktop prefers light but Qt alone stayed dark.
  • Arch packaging: qt6-tools makedepend; drop unused extra-cmake-modules.
  • Flatpak: persist favorites, My stations, and state via XDG config/cache

Version 1.2.0

2026-07-25

Added

  • Add Dutch UI translation.
  • Add a persistent language selector for system default, German, English, Dutch, and Russian.
  • Localize World country names and country search in German, Dutch, and Russian using bundled Unicode CLDR data.
  • Add a validated asynchronous cache for station favicons and cover art.
  • Add shared station-logo rendering with deterministic initials and homepage,
  • Show connecting, buffering, retrying, paused, and unavailable stream states
  • Add an in-app changelog with bundled release notes in the About dialog.

Changed

  • Resolve and validate Radio Browser nodes dynamically while retaining
  • Limit the cover cache to 50 MiB and remove entries unused for more than 30 days.
  • Restructure the About dialog into clearer information, settings, actions,
  • Use one consistent BearWave button style across the main interface and

Fixed

  • Complete Russian translations for the redesigned navigation and station details.
  • Complete German translations for the redesigned interface.
  • Restore spacing and fallback artwork in the right station detail panel.
  • Make station detail bindings null-safe when station or player data is not available yet.

Version 1.1.1

2026-07-21

Fixed

  • Prefer the SVG app/tray icon and keep the PNG as a fallback when SVG load fails.
  • Restore readable light borders on search and dialog buttons in the dark theme.
  • Avoid Flatpak deploy failures on hosts that reject permission attributes on

Changed

  • Set the Flatpak app version to 1.1.1.

Contact & Legal Notice

Provider Information (Section 5 DDG)

Sebastian Palencsar

c/o Block Services

Stuttgarter Str. 106

70736 Fellbach

Germany

Contact

Email: dev@bearwave.app

Social Media

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Trust & Transparency

This information is provided to meet legal provider identification requirements. For legal matters, please contact directly.

Legal Notices & Privacy

Copyright & Design

© 2026 Sebastian Palencsár. All rights reserved. This website is a project landing page for the BearWave desktop application.

All content, works, website design, and graphical elements created by me are protected by German copyright law. Reproduction or use of these elements without explicit permission of the author is not permitted.

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This website is a pure online portfolio and does not collect personal data for analysis. No tracking tools are used.

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A temporary PHP session may be used for the contact form. PHPSESSID This is used exclusively to protect against abuse and is not stored permanently. The webserver does not process user data. access_log off Error logs are only created for critical system errors, without permanently storing IP addresses.

Protecting your personal data is a top priority.

Disclaimer

The content of these pages has been created with great care. However, no guarantee can be given for correctness, completeness, and timeliness.

Operators of external websites are solely responsible for their content.

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