It's FOSS

50 Best Ubuntu Apps You Should Be Using Right Now

Last updated July 30, 2018 By Abhishek Prakash (https://itsfoss.com/author/abhishek/)

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Brief: A comprehensive list of best Ubuntu apps for all kind of users. These
software will help you in getting a better experience with your Linux
desktop.

I have written about things to do after installing Ubuntu

(https://itsfoss.com/things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-18-04/) several times in
the past. Each time I suggest installing the essential applications in Ubuntu.

But the question arises, what are the essential Ubuntu applications? There is no
set answer here. It depends on your need and the kind of work you do on your
Ubuntu desktop.

Still, I have been asked to suggest some good Ubuntu apps by a number of
readers. This is the reason I have created this comprehensive list of Ubuntu
applications you can use regularly.

The list has been divided into respective categories for ease of reading and ease
of comprehension.

Best Ubuntu apps for a better Ubuntu experience

 It's FOSS

Of course, you don’t have to use all of these applications. Just go through this
list of essential Ubuntu software, read the description and then install the ones
you need or are inclined to use. Just keep this page bookmarked for future
reference or simply search on Google with term ‘best ubuntu apps itsfoss’.

The best Ubuntu application list is intended for average Ubuntu user. Therefore
not all the applications here are open source. I have also marked the slightly
complicated applications that might not be suitable for a beginner. The list
should be valid for Ubuntu 16.04,18.04 and other versions.

Unless exclusively mentioned, the software listed here are available in

Ubuntu Software Center.
 It'ssoftware
If you don’t nd any application in the FOSS center or if it is missing
installation instruction, let me know and I’ll add the installation procedure.

Enough talk! Let’s see what are the best apps for Ubuntu.

Web Browser
Ubuntu comes with Firefox as the default web browser. Since the Quantum
release, Firefox has improved drastically. Personally, I always use more than
one web browser for the sake of distinguishing between di erent type of works.

G o o gl e Chr o m e B r ave

Google Chrome is the most used web Google Chrome might be the most
browser on the internet for a reason. used web browser but it’s a privacy
With your Google account, it allows you invader. An alternative browser
seamless syncing across devices. Plenty (https://itsfoss.com/open-source-
of extensions and apps further browsers-linux/) is Brave
enhance its capabilities. You can (https://brave.com/) that blocks ads
download Chrome in Ubuntu from its and tracking scripts by default. This
website provides you with a faster and secure
(https://www.google.com/chrome/). web browsing experience.

Music applications
 It's FOSS

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Ubuntu has Rhythmbox as the default music player which is not at all a bad
choice for the default music player. However, you can de nitely install a better
music player.

S a yo na r a

Sayonara (https://itsfoss.com/sayonara-music-player/) is a small, lightweight

music player with a nice dark user interface. It comes with all the essential
features you would expect in a standard music player. It integrates well with the
Ubuntu desktop environment and doesn’t eat up your RAM.

Au dac i t y

Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/) is more of an audio editor than an

audio player. You can record and edit audio with this free and open source tool.
It is available for Linux, Windows and macOS. You can install it from the

Software Center.

M u si c B ra i n z Pic a rd
Picard (https://itsfoss.com/musicbrainz-picard/) is not a music player, it is a
It's FOSS
music tagger. If you have tons of local music les, Picard allows you to
automatically update the music les with correct tracks, album, artist info and
album cover art.

Streaming Music Applications

In this age of the internet, music listening habit has surely changed. People
these days rely more on streaming music players rather than storing hundreds
of local music les. Let’s see some apps you can use for streaming music.

S po t i fy N u vo l a m u sic playe r

Spotify (https://www.spotify.com//) is Nuvola

the king of streaming music. And the (https://tiliado.eu/nuvolaplayer/) is not
good thing is that it has a native Linux a streaming music service like Spotify.
app. The Spotify app on Ubuntu It is a desktop music player that allows
(https://itsfoss.com/install-spotify- you to use several streaming music
ubuntu-1404/) integrates well with the services in one application. You can
media key and sound menu along with use Spotify, Deezer, Google Play Music,
the desktop noti cation. Do note that Amazon Cloud Player and many more
Spotify may or may not be available in such services.
your country.

Video Players
 It's FOSS

Ubuntu has the default GNOME video player (previously known as Totem) which
is okay but it doesn’t support various media codecs. There are certainly other
video players better than the GNOME video player.

V LC M PV

The free and open source software VLC MPV (https://mpv.io/) is a video player
(https://www.videolan.org/index.html) that deserves more attention. A sleek
is the king of video players. It supports minimalist GUI and plenty of features,
almost all possible media codecs. It MPV has everything you would expect
also allows you to increase the volume from a good video player. You can even
up to 200%. It can also resume playing use it in the command line. If you are
from the last known position. There are not happy with VLC, you should surely
so many VLC tricks give MPV a try.

(https://itsfoss.com/vlc-pro-tricks-
linux/) you can use to get the most of
it.
Cloud Storage Service It's FOSS

Local backups are ne but cloud storage gives an additional degree of freedom.
You don’t have to carry a USB key with you all the time or worry about a hard
disk crash with cloud services.

D r o pbo x pCl o ud

Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/) pCloud

is one of the most popular Cloud (https://itsfoss.com/recommends/pcloud
service providers. You get 2GB of free is another good cloud storage service
storage with the option to get more by for Linux. It also has a native Linux
referring others. Dropbox provides a client that you can download from its
native Linux client and you can website. You get up to 20GB of free
download it from its website. It creates storage and if you need more, the
a local folder on your system that is pricing is better than Dropbox. pCloud
synced with the cloud servers. is based in Switzerland, a country
renowned for strict data privacy laws.

Image Editors

I am sure that you would need a photo editor at some point in time. Here are
some of the best Ubuntu apps for editing images.

GIMP I k
GIMP I n k sc ape
It's FOSS

GIMP (https://www.gimp.org/) is a free Inkscape (https://inkscape.org/en/) is

and open source image editor available also a free and open source image
for Linux, Windows and macOS. It’s the editor speci cally focusing on vector
best alternative for Adobe Photoshop graphics. You can design vector arts
in Linux. You can use it for all kind of and logo on it. You can compare it to
image editing. There are plenty of Adobe Illustrator. Like Gimp, Inkscape
resources available on the internet to too has plenty of tutorials available
help you with Gimp. online.

Paint applications
Painting applications are not the same as image editors though their
functionalities overlap at times. Here are some paint apps you can use in
Ubuntu.

K ri t a P in ta

Krita (https://krita.org/en/) is a free and Pinta (https://pinta-

open source digital painting project.com/pintaproject/pinta/) might
 p g p g p j p p j p ) g
application. You can create digital art, not be as feature rich as Krita but that’s
It's FOSS
comics and animation with it. It’s a deliberate. You can think of Pinta as
professional grade software and is Microsoft Paint for Linux. You can
even used as the primary software in draw, paint, add text and do other such
art schools. small tasks you do in a paint
application.

Photography applications
Amateur photographer or a professional? You have plenty of photography tools
(https://itsfoss.com/image-applications-ubuntu-linux/) at your disposal. Here
are some recommended applications.

digi K am D ar k t abl e

With open source software digiKam darktable (https://www.darktable.org/)

(https://www.digikam.org/), you can is an open source photography
handle your high-end camera images in work ow application with a special
a professional manner. digiKam focus on raw image development. This
provides all the tools required is the best alternative you can get for
for viewing, managing, editing, Adobe Lightroom. It is also available
enhancing, organizing, tagging and for Windows and macOS.
sharing photographs.

Video editors
 It's FOSS

There is no dearth of video editors for Linux (https://itsfoss.com/best-video-

editing-software-linux/) but I won’t go in detail here. Take a look at some of the
feature-rich yet relatively simple to use video editors for Ubuntu.

K de n l i ve

Kdenlive (https://kdenlive.org/en/) is the best all-purpose video editor for Linux.

It has enough features that compare it to iMovie or Movie Maker.

S h o t c ut

Shotcut (https://shotcut.org/) is another good choice for a video editor. It is an

open source software with all the features you can expect in a standard video
editor.

Image and video converter

If you need to convert the le format (https://itsfoss.com/format-factory-
alternative-linux/) of your images and videos, here are some of my
recommendations.
X n c o nve r t It's FOSS
H an dbr a k e

Xnconvert HandBrake (https://handbrake.fr/) is an

(https://www.xnview.com/en/xnconvert/)easy to use open source tool for
is an excellent batch image conversion converting videos from a number of
tool. You can bulk resize images, formats to a few modern, popular
convert the le type and rename them. formats.

Screenshot and screen recording tools

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 MAIS SEGURANÇA,
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It's FOSS

TESTE AGORA

Here are the best Ubuntu apps for taking screenshots and recording your
screen.

S h ut t e r

Shutter (http://shutter-project.org/) is my go-to tool for taking screenshots. You

can also do some quick editing to those screenshots such as adding arrows, text
or resizing the images. The screenshots you see on It’s FOSS have been edited
with Shutter. De nitely one of the best apps for Ubuntu.

K aza m

Kazam (https://launchpad.net/kazam) is my favorite screen recorder for Linux

(https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-screen-recorders/). It’s a tiny tool that allows you
to record the entire window, an application window or a selected area. You can
also use shortcuts to pause or resume recording. The tutorials on It’s FOSS
YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/itsfoss?sub_con rmation=1) have
been recorded with Kazam.

O ce suites
I cannot imagine that you could use a computer without a document editor. And
why restrict yourself to just one document editor? Go for a complete o ce
suite.

L ibre O c e W PS O c e
 It's FOSS

LibreO ce WPS O ce (http://wps-community.org/)

(https://www.libreo ce.org/download/download/)
has gained popularity for being a
comes preinstalled on Ubuntu and it is Microsoft O ce clone. It has an
undoubtedly the best open source interface identical to Microsoft O ce
o ce software and it claims to be more compatible
(https://itsfoss.com/best-free-open- with MS O ce. If you are looking for
source-alternatives-microsoft-o ce/). something similar to the Microsoft
It’s a complete package comprising of a O ce, WPS O ce is a good choice.
document editor, spreadsheet tool,
presentation software, maths tool and
a graphics tool. You can even edit some
PDF les with LibreO ce.

Downloading tools

If you often download videos or other big les from the internet, these tools will
help you.

yo ut ube -dl
 It's FOSS

This is one of the rare Ubuntu application on the list that is command line
based. If you want to download videos from YouTube, DailyMotion or other
video websites, youtube-dl is an excellent choice. It provides plenty of advanced
option for video downloading (https://itsfoss.com/download-youtube-linux/).

uG e t

uGet (http://ugetdm.com/) is a feature rich download manager for Linux

(https://itsfoss.com/4-best-download-managers-for-linux/). It allows you to
pause and resume your downloads, schedule your downloads, monitor
clipboard for downloadable content. A perfect tool if you have a slow,
inconsistent internet or daily data limit.

Code Editors

If you are into programming, the default Gedit text editor might not be
su cient for your coding needs. Here are some of the better code editors for
you.
At o m It's FOSS
V isu al S tu dio Co de

Atom (https://atom.io/) is a free and VS Code (https://itsfoss.com/install-

open source code editor visual-studio-code-ubuntu/) is an open
(https://itsfoss.com/best-modern-open- source code editor from Microsoft.
source-code-editors-for-linux/) from Don’t worry about Microsoft, VS Code is
GitHub. Even before it was launched its an awesome editor for web
rst stable version, it became a hot development. It also supports a
favorite among coders for its UI, number of other programming
features and vast range of plugins. languages.

PDF and eBooks related applications

In this digital age, you cannot only rely on the real paper books especially when
there are plenty of free eBooks available. Here are some Ubuntu apps for
managing PDFs and eBooks.

Ca l i bre
 It's FOSS

If you are a bibliophile and collect eBooks, you should use Calibre
(https://calibre-ebook.com/). It is an eBook manager with all the necessary
software for creating eBooks (https://itsfoss.com/create-ebook-calibre-linux/),
converting eBook formats and managing an eBook library.

O ku lar

Okular is mostly a PDF viewer with options for editing PDF les. You can do
some basic PDF editing on Linux (https://itsfoss.com/pdf-editors-linux/) with
Okular such as adding pop-ups notes, inline notes, freehand line drawing,
highlighter, stamp etc.

Messaging applications

I believe you use at least one messaging app on Linux (https://itsfoss.com/best-

messaging-apps-linux/). Here are my recommendations.

S kype

Skype (https://www.skype.com/en/) is the most popular video chatting

application. It is also used by many companies and businesses for interviews
and meetings. This makes Skype one of the must-have applications for Ubuntu.
Ra m bo x It's FOSS
Rambox (https://rambox.pro/) is not a messaging application on its own. But it
allows you to use Skype, Viber, Facebook Messanger, WhatsApp, Slack and a
number of other messaging applications from a single application window.

Notes and To-do List applications

Need a to-do list app or simple an app for taking notes? Have a look at these:

S imple n o t e Re m e m be r T h e M i l k

Simplenote (http://simplenote.com/) is Remember The Milk

a free and open source note taking (https://itsfoss.com/remember-the-
application from WordPress creators milk-linux/) is a popular to-do list
Automattic (https://automattic.com/). It application. It is available for Windows,
is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android. Your
iOS and Android. Your notes are to-do list is accessible on all the
synced to a cloud server and you can devices you own. You can also access it
access them on any device. You canIt's FOSS
from a web browser. It also has an
download the DEB le from its website. o cial native application for Linux that
you can download from its website.

Password protection and encryption

If there are other people regularly using your computer perhaps you would like
to add an extra layer of security by password protecting les and folders.

En c r ypt Pa d

EncryptPad (https://itsfoss.com/encryptpad-encrypted-text-editor-linux/) is an
open source text editor that allows you to lock your les with a password. You
can choose the type of encryption. There is also a command line version of this
tool.

G no me Enc fs M a n a ge r

Gnome Encfs Manager allows you to lock folders with a password in Linux
(https://itsfoss.com/password-protect-folder-linux/). You can keep whatever
les you want in a secret folder and then lock it with a password.

Gaming
 It's FOSS

Gaming on Linux (https://itsfoss.com/linux-gaming-guide/) is a lot better than

what it used to be a few years ago. You can enjoy plenty of games on Linux
without going back to Windows.

S t e am

Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/) is a digital distribution platform that

allows you to purchase (if required) games. Steam has over 1500 games for
Linux (https://itsfoss.com/free-linux-games/). You can download the Steam
client from the Software Center.

Pla yOnL in u x

PlayOnLinux (https://www.playonlinux.com/en/) allows you to run Windows

games on Linux over WINE compatibility layer. Don’t expect too much out of it
because not every game will run awlessly with PlayOnLinux.

Package Managers [Intermediate to advanced users]

 It's FOSS

Ubuntu Software Center is more than enough for an average Ubuntu user’s
software needs but you can have more control on it using these applications.

G de bi

Gedbi is a tiny packagae manager that you can use for installing DEB les. It is
faster than the Software Center and it also handles dependency issues.

S yna pt i c

Synaptic was the default GUI package manager for most Linux distributions a
decade ago. It still is in some Linux distributions. This powerful package
manager is particularly helpful in nding installed applications and removing
them (https://itsfoss.com/how-to-add-remove-programs-in-ubuntu/).

Backup and Recovery tools

 It's FOSS

Backup and recovery tools are must-have software for any system. Let’s see
what softwares you must have on Ubuntu.

T im e shi ft

Timeshift is a tool that allows you to take a snapshot of your system

(https://itsfoss.com/backup-restore-linux-timeshift/). This allows you to restore
your system to a previous state in case of an unfortunate incident when your
system con guration is messed up. Note that it’s not the best tool for your
personal data backup though. For that, you can use Ubuntu’s default Deja Dup
(also known as Backups) tool.

T e st D i sk [I n te r me di a t e Use rs]

This is another command line tool on this list of best Ubuntu application.
TestDisk (https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk) allows you to recover data
on Linux (https://itsfoss.com/recover-deleted- les-linux/). If you accidentally
deleted les, there are still chances that you can get it back using TestDisk.

System Tweaking and Management Tools

 It's FOSS

G N O M E/ Un ity T we a k To o l

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TESTE AGORA

These Tweak tools are a must for every Ubuntu user. They allow you to access
some advanced system settings. Best of all, you can change themes in Ubuntu
(https://itsfoss.com/install-themes-ubuntu/) using these tweak tools.

UF W F i re wa l l

UFW (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UncomplicatedFirewall) stands for Uncomplicated

Firewall and rightly so. UFW has prede ned rewall settings for Home, Work
and Public networks.

Stacer

If you want to free up space on Ubuntu, try Stacer. This graphical tool allows
you to optimize your Ubuntu system (https://itsfoss.com/optimize-ubuntu-
stacer/) by removing unnecessary les and completely uninstalling software.
Download Stacer from its website (https://github.com/oguzhaninan/Stacer).

Other Utilities
 It's FOSS

In the end, I’ll list some of my other favorite Ubuntu apps that I could not put
into a certain category.

N e o fe t c h

One more command line tool! Neofetch displays your system information such
as Ubuntu version (https://itsfoss.com/how-to-know-ubuntu-unity-version/),
desktop environment, theme, icons, RAM etc info along with ASCII logo of the
distribution (https://itsfoss.com/display-linux-logo-in-ascii/). Use this command
for installing Neofetch.

sudo apt install neofetch

Et c he r

INNOVAÇÃO
PARA ZIMBRA
MAIS SEGURANÇA,
CONTROLE E MOVILIDADE

TESTE AGORA

Ubuntu has a live USB creator tool installed already but Etcher is a better
application for this task. It is also available for Windows and macOS. You can
download it from its website (https://etcher.io/).
gsc an 2 pdf It's FOSS
I use this tiny tool for the sole purpose of converting images into PDF
(https://itsfoss.com/convert-multiple-images-pdf-ubuntu-1304/). You can use it
for combining multiple images into one PDF le as well.

Au dio R e c o r de r

Another tiny yet essential Ubuntu application for recording audio on Ubuntu
(https://itsfoss.com/record-streaming-audio/). You can use it to record sound
from system microphone, from music player or from any other source.

Your suggestions for essential Ubuntu applications?

I would like to conclude my list of best Ubuntu apps here. I know that you might
not need or use all of them but I am certain that you would like most of the
software listed here.

Did you nd some useful applications that you didn’t know about before? If you
would have to suggest your favorite Ubuntu application, which one would it be?

In the end, if you nd this article useful, please share it on social media, Reddit,
Hacker News or other community or forums you visit regularly. This way you
help us grow :)

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Abo u t Abh ish e k Pr a kash

I am a professional software developer, and founder of It's FOSS. I am an
avid Linux lover and Open Source enthusiast. I use Ubuntu and believe in
sharing knowledge. Apart from Linux, I love classic detective mysteries.
I'm a huge fan of Agatha Christie's work.
 g g

It's FOSS

52 comments
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Jason

1 hour ago

Picked up the Lifetime 2TB subscription of pCloud. Excellent service and a Linux
client to boot. The encrypted folders option is pretty sweet.

Vote:

Diogo
1 day ago

Megaupload, Franz, Mailspring and Zenkit.

Vote:
 It's FOSS

Salman, Khwaja
1 day ago

Well I think you missed sublime text in notepad section.

Vote:

Diogo

1 day ago

Franz, Mailspring, Megauplaoad

Vote:

Alan OConnor
1 day ago

Lack of printer drivers means still stuck with Windows

Vote:

Sam Tuke

16 hours ago

Use Turboprint
 Vote: It's FOSS

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