During the transition period, when GNOME Shell and Unity were pretty rough around the edges and slow to respond, 3rd party app launchers were a big deal. Overtime the newer desktop environments improved and became fast, reliable and predictable, reducing the need for a alternate app launchers.


As a result, many third-party app launchers have either slowed down development or simply seized to exist. Ulauncher seems to be the only one to have bucked the trend so far. Synpase and Kupfer on the other hand, though old and not as actively developed anymore, still pack a punch. Since Kupfer is too old school, we'll only be discussing Synapse and Ulauncher here.

Synapse

I still remember the excitement when I first reviewed Synapse more than 8 years ago. Back then, Synapse was something very unique to Linux and Ubuntu, and it still is in many ways. Though Synapse is not an active project that it used to be, the launcher still works great even in brand new Ubuntu 19.04.

 
No need to meddle with PPAs and DEBs, Synapse is available in Ubuntu Software Center.

 
CLICK HERE to directly find and install Synapse from Ubuntu Software Center, or simply search 'Synapse' in USC. Launch the app afterwards. Once launched, you can trigger Synapse with Ctrl+Space keyboard shortcut.

Ulauncher

The new kid in the block apparently. But new doesn't mean it is lacking in any way. What makes Ulauncher quite unique are its extensions. And there is plenty to choose from.

From an extension that lets you control your Spotify desktop app, to generic unit converters or simply timers, Ulauncher extesions has got you covered.

Let's install the app first. Download the DEB file for Debian/Ubuntu users and double-click the downloaded file to install it. To complete the installation via Terminal instead, do this:

OR

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/ulauncher_4.3.2.r8_all.deb

Change filename/location if they are different in your case. And if the command reports dependency errors, make a force install using the command below.

sudo apt-get install -f

Done. Post install, launch the app from your app-list and you're good to go. Once started, Ulauncher will sit in your system tray by default. And just like Synapse, Ctrl+Space will trigger Ulauncher.


Installing extensions in Ulauncher is pretty straight forward too.

Find the extensions you want from Ulauncher Extensions page. Trigger a Ulauncher instance with Ctrl+Space and go to Settings > Extensions > Add extension. Provide the URL from the extension page and let the app do the rest.

Snap apps are a godsend. ElectronPlayer is an Electron based app available on Snapstore that doubles up as a standalone media player for video streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube, Twitch, Floatplane etc.

And it works great on Ubuntu 19.04 "disco dingo". From what we've tested, Netflix works like a charm, so does YouTube. ElectronPlayer also has a picture-in-picture mode that let it run above desktop and full screen applications.

For me, this is great because I can free-up tabs on my Firefox window which are almost never clutter-free.

• Download ElectronPlayer from Snapstore.

OR

Use the command below to install ElectronPlayer directly from Snapstore. Open Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+t) and copy:

sudo snap install electronplayer

Press ENTER and give password when asked.

After the process is complete, search for ElectronPlayer in you App list. Sign in to your favorite video streaming services and you are good to go. Let us know your feedback in the comments.

The worldwide phenomenon that is Uber needs no introduction. Uber is an immensely popular ride sharing, ride hailing, company that is valued in billions. Uber is so disruptive and controversial that many cities and even countries are putting up barriers to protect the interests of local taxi drivers.

Enough about Uber as a company. To those among you who regularly use Uber app for booking a cab, Uber CLI could be a useful companion.

Uber CLI can be a great tool for the easily distracted. This unique command line application allows you to look up Uber cab's time and price estimates without ever taking your eyes off the laptop screen.

Install Uber-CLI using NPM

You need to have NPM first to install Uber-CLI on Ubuntu. npm, short for Node.js package manager, is a package manager for the JavaScript programming language. It is the default package manager for the JavaScript runtime environment Node.js. npm has a command line based client and its own repository of packages.

This is how to install npm on Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 18.10. And thereafter, using npm, install Uber-CLI. Fire up the Terminal and run the following.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nodejs npm
npm install uber-cli -g

And you're done. Uber CLI is a command line based application, here are a few examples of how it works in Terminal. Also, since Uber is not available where I live, I couldn't vouch for its accuracy.

Uber-CLI has just two use cases.

uber time 'pickup address here'
uber price -s 'start address' -e 'end address'

Easy right? I did some testing with places and addresses I'm familiar with, where Uber cabs are fairly common. And I found the results to be fairly accurate. Do test and leave feedback. Uber CLI github page for more info.

Even as someone who bought into the Ubuntu Touch hype very early, I was not expecting much from UBports to be honest. But to my pleasent surprise, UBports Installer turned my 4 year old BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition hardware into a slick, clean, and usable phone again.

UBports Installer and Ubuntu Touch
As many of you know already, Ubuntu Touch was Canonical's failed attempt to deliver a competent mobile operating system based on its desktop version. The first Ubuntu Touch installed smartphone was released in 2015 by BQ, a Spanish smartphone manufacturer. And in April 2016, the world's first Ubuntu Touch based tablet, the BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition, was released.

Though initial response was  quite promising, Ubuntu Touch failed to make a significant enough splash in the smartphone space. In fact, Ubuntu Touch was not alone, many other mobile OS projects like Firefox OS or even Samsung owned Tizen OS for that matter failed to capture a sizable market-share from Android/iOS duopoly.

To the disappointment of Ubuntu enthusiasts, Mark Shuttleworth announced the termination of Ubuntu Touch development in April, 2017.


Rise of UBports and revival of Ubuntu Touch Project
For all its inadequacies, Ubuntu Touch was one unique OS. It looked and felt different from most other mobile operating systems. And Ubuntu Touch enthusiasts was not ready to give up on it so easily. Enter UBports.

UBports turned Ubuntu Touch into a community-driven project. Passionate people from around the world now contribute to the development of Ubuntu Touch. In August 2018, UBPorts released its OTA-4, upgrading the Ubuntu Touch's base from the Canonical's starting Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) to the nearest, current long-term support version Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

They actively test the OS on a number of legacy smartphone hardware and help people install Ubuntu Touch on their smartphones using an incredibly capable, cross-platform, installer.

Ubuntu Touch Installer on Ubuntu 19.04
Though I knew about UBports project before, I was never motivated enough to try the new OS on my Aquaris E4.5, until yesterday. By sheer stroke of luck, I stumbled upon UBports Installer in Ubuntu Software Center. I was curious to find out if it really worked as it claimed on the page.

I fired up the app on my Ubuntu 19.04 and plugged in my Aquaris E4.5. Voila! the installer detected my phone in a jiffy. Since there wasn't much data on my BQ, I proceeded with Ubuntu Touch installation.

The instructions were pretty straight forward and it took probably 15 minutes to download, restart, and install, 16.04 LTS based Ubuntu Touch on my 4 year old hardware.

In my experience, even flashing an Android was never this easy! My Ubuntu phone is usable again without all the unnecessary bloat that made it clunky. This post is a tribute to the UBports community for the amazing work they've been doing with Ubuntu Touch. Here's also a list of smartphone hardware that can run Ubuntu Touch.

We've featured cool-retro-term before. It is a wonderful little terminal emulator app on Ubuntu (and Linux) that adorns this cool retro look of the old CRT displays.

Let the pictures speak for themselves.

Pretty cool right? Not only does it look cool, it functions just like a normal Terminal app. You don't lose out on any features normally associated with a regular Terminal emulator. cool-retro-term comes with a bunch of themes and customisations that takes its retro cool appeal a few notches higher.

Enough now, let's find out how you install this retro looking Terminal emulator on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 18.10. Fire up your Terminal app, and run these commands one after the other.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vantuz/cool-retro-term
sudo apt update
sudo apt install cool-retro-term

Done. The above PPA supports Ubuntu Artful, Bionic and Cosmic releases (Ubuntu 17.10, 18.04 LTS, 18.10). cool-retro-term is now installed and ready to go.


Since I don't have Artful or Bionic installations in any of my computers, I couldn't test the PPA on those releases. Do let me know if you faced any issues while installing the app.

And as some of you might have noticed, I'm running cool-retro-term from an AppImage. This is because I'm on Ubuntu 19.04 "disco dingo", and obviously the app doesn't support an unreleased OS (well, duh!).

This is how it looks on fullscreen mode. If you are a non-Ubuntu user, you can find various download options here. If you are on Fedora or distros based on it, cool-retro-term is available in the official repositories.

Live wallpapers are not a new thing. In fact we have had a lot of live wallpapers to choose from on Linux 10 years ago. Today? Not so much. In fact, be it GNOME or KDE, most desktops today are far less customizable than it used to be. Komorebi wallpaper manager for Ubuntu is kind of a way back machine in that sense.

Install Gorgeous Live Wallpapers in Ubuntu 18.10/18.04 using Komorebi

Komorebi Wallpaper Manager comes with a pretty neat collection of live wallpapers and even video wallpapers. The package also contains a simple tool to create your own live wallpapers.

Komorebi comes packaged in a convenient 64-bit DEB package, making it super easy to install in Ubuntu and most Debian based distros (latest version dropped 32-bit support though).  

• Download Komorebi 64-bit DEB for Ubuntu, Mint (direct download)
• Click-open the 'komorebi-2.1-64-bit.deb' package and hit the install button (enter password when prompted).

That's it! Komorebi is installed and ready to go! Now launch Komorebi from app launcher.

And finally, to uninstall Komorebi and revert all the changes you made, do this in Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T).

sudo apt remove komorebi

Komorebi works great on Ubuntu 18.10, and 18.04 LTS. A few more screenshots.

As you can see, live wallpapers obviously consume more resources than a regular wallpaper, especially when you switch on Komorebi's fancy video wallpapers. But it is definitely not a resource hog as I feared it would be.

Like what you see here? Go ahead and give Komorebi Wallpaper Manager a spin. Does it turn out to be not as resource-friendly in your PC? Let us know your opinion in the comments. 

A video wallpaper example. To see them in action, watch this demo.

Long years ago, we've talked about a Skype alternative called Tox which was still in its early developmental stages. Tox was supposed to become the anti-thesis of Skype by being a fully open-source video and voice chat client that placed user privacy and security at its center. Well, guess what, there are now fully active and well-maintained chat clients that are built on top of Tox protocol. qTox is one of them.

qTox: Free and Open Source Skype Replacement for Linux

Tox is a peer-to-peer instant-messaging and video-calling protocol that offers end-to-end encryption. There are two popular clients built on top of Tox, namely uTox and qTox. Here we will discuss about qTox, the more feature-rich and configurable of the two.

The work flow of qTox video chat client is pretty straight forward. You just need to share you unique Tox ID (the one you get after you sign up) with the person you want to chat. Friend requests pop-up in your screen once it is sent and you can either accept or reject it. qTox is fully featured with support for video/voice chat (picture-in-picture mode for video calls), sending/receiving files, screen-sharing etc. By default, video chat is disabled for security reasons and you need to enable it first in qTox-Settings when you want to video chat.

Installing qTox in Ubuntu 16.10:
Just copy-paste the following commands into Terminal one by one (keyboard shortcut: CTRL+ALT+T).

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/antonbatenev:/tox/xUbuntu_16.10/ /' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/qtox.list"
wget -nv http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:antonbatenev:tox/xUbuntu_16.10/Release.key -O Release.key
sudo apt-key add - < Release.key
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install qtox

The first line adds the repository while the second and third line download the key for authentication. Then you update the repositories and install the app, which is 'qtox' here.

Installing qTox in Ubuntu 16.04:
Installing qTox in Ubuntu 16.04.2 "Xenial Xerus", being the latest LTS release. Same as before, copy-paste the following lines to your Terminal.

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/antonbatenev:/tox/xUbuntu_16.04/ /' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/qtox.list"
wget -nv http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:antonbatenev:tox/xUbuntu_16.04/Release.key -O Release.key
sudo apt-key add - < Release.key
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install qtox

Done! After installing you can quick-launch the app from Ubuntu launcher, just search for 'qTox'. I have installed the app in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10 and Windows 10. The video and voice chat worked across platforms. Tried screen-sharing too with Windows 10, but the experience could have been a lot smoother. But as I understand, qTox is still in active development. So you can expect improvements to happen over time.

qTox is cross-platform and is available on a wide range of OSes. For downloading qTox for your favourite Linux OS (Arch, CentOS, Fedora, openSUSE supported), follow this link. For Windows and OSX installers, see here. qTox is still very much on the bleeding-edge side of things and we strongly recommend adequate testing before using it on production machines. Thank you for reading. Related: Meet the new Skype for Linux Beta.

After long years of inactivity, a new Skype for Linux was released about an year ago. Though the version of Skype released for Linux was in its early alpha and had many critical features missing, it was reassuring to know that Microsoft has not abandoned Skype for Linux platform entirely after acquiring it. Microsoft recently released the beta version of Skype for Linux platform giving a major fillip to many missing features.

New Skype for Linux Beta: What works, what doesn't?

So, the new Skype for Linux beta is here. It is not a finished product yet and has its limitations. But unlike the earlier alpha release, the Skype beta comes loaded with all the basic functionalities one expects from a video/voice chat software. It supports one to one video calls from Linux to other platforms and vice versa. Skype credits is also enabled by which you can make calls to mobiles and landlines.  

Screen sharing though is still tricky. Apparently, as a Linux user, you can view shared screens from other Skype desktop clients (Windows and Mac), but you cannot share your screen with other platforms, which is a major letdown for business users. Deeper integration with Ubuntu's Unity launcher is another plus. For example, Skype beta now shows the number of unread conversations on the Unity launcher. 

• Download Skype beta for Linux (DEB and RPM available)
• Double click to install in Ubuntu. Successfully tested on Ubuntu 16.10 "Yakkety Yak".

Soundnode is a pretty great Soundcloud client for Linux and Ubuntu. If you frequent soundcloud.com for your music needs, this stand alone app could be of real use. Another app you don't want to miss in the music genre is GPMDP aka Google Play Music Desktop Player, which is also open source like Soundnode. Both are cross-platform as well, different versions for Windows, OS X and Linux are available.

Installing Soundnode in Ubuntu 16.10
Installing Soundnode in most Debian based distros is a straight forward affair. Just copy-paste the following in Terminal. Test machine was running the latest Ubuntu 16.10 "Yaketty Yak".

curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/JonasGroeger/soundnode/script.deb.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt-get install soundnode

Done. Hope the installation went smooth. More Linux download options on the app homepage.

Thanks to an anonymous tip from a follower. Strangely enough, even though I have had zero issues installing the app and launching it afterwards, I'm having some trouble playing music, please let me know in the comments if you face similar sort of problems. Also fyi, unlike Soundcloud, Google Play Music is a subscription only service. EDIT: Apparently, there is an API limit, probably the source of my issues with playing music on Soundnode.

Bing Wallpapers for Linux app brings the gorgeous "Bing Image of the Day" featured wallpapers to Linux. The app itself is pretty straight forward. You can either manually check/update if/when a new wallpaper is available or you could just restart your system and find Bing's latest "featured image" as your desktop wallpaper. And I have to say, they are pretty darn good! By default, the app would check for new wallpapers every 3 hours.

Though I have tested this only on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, this should work on other Debian based distros such as elementary OS or Linux Mint. Installation is just 3 steps, do the following in Terminal.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:whizzzkid/bingwallpaper
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install bingwallpaper

Done. As you can infer from the post-installation instructions in Terminal, the Bing Wallpapers for Linux app will automatically set the latest Bing "featured image" as your wallpaper upon reboot. But if you want to see the results immediately, you need to run the following command in Terminal.

sh /usr/bin/bingwallpaper

Voila! And you have your latest Bing wallpaper up and running in Ubuntu! If you are inclined, all the images will be available at the following directory in Ubuntu: "~/Pictures/Bing/". See project's page on GitHub. Thanks to our reader Evan for sharing this news with us. And thanks for reading!

Taskwarrior is a simple, straight-forward command-line based TODO app for Ubuntu/Linux. This open-source app has to be one of the easiest of all CLI based apps I've ever used. Taskwarrior helps you better organize yourself, and without installing bulky new apps which sometimes defeats the whole purpose of TODO apps.

Taskwarrior: A Simple CLI based TODO App That gets the Job Done!

Taskwarrior is an open-source and cross-platform, command-line based TODO app, which lets you manage your to-do lists right from the Terminal. The app lets you add tasks, shows you the list, and removes tasks from that list with much ease. And what's more, it's available within your default repositories, no need to fiddle with PPAs. In Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and similar, do the following in Terminal to install Taskwarrior. 

sudo apt-get install task

A simple use case can be as follows:

$ task add Read a book
Created task 1.
$ task add priority:H Pay the bills
Created task 2.

This is the same example I used in the screenshot above. Yes, you can set priority levels (H, L or M) as shown. And then you can use 'task' or 'task next' commands to see your newly-created todo list. For example:

$ task next

ID Age P Description                      Urg
-- --- - -------------------------------- ----
 2 10s H Pay the bills                     6
 1 20s   Read a book                       0

And once its completed, you can use 'task 1 done' or 'task 2 done' commands to clear the lists. A more comprehensive list of commands, use-cases can be found here. Also, Taskwarrior is cross-platform, which means you'll find a version that fits your needs no matter what. There's even an Android version if you want one. Enjoy!

We have discussed Vivaldi before. It's a feature packed and very power-user friendly web browser for Windows, Mac and Linux. And from our limited experience, the browser seems pretty darn fast too.

Vivaldi 1.3 Released

Living up to its tagline "the most customisable web browser", the new update brings a whole host of new features that enhances Vivaldi's customisability. The new version comes with powerful themeing abilities for example. In our earlier review of Vivaldi web browser, we did complain about the slightly overdone color schemes and such. The new changes give you powers to tweak its looks the way you want. I especially liked the new dark themes.

Mouse gestures is perhaps one of my favourite feature in Vivaldi, even though I always prefer keyboard shortcuts. There are more than 90  browser actions that can be performed with mouse gestures now.

Also in this release, the developers have addressed some of Linux platform specific issues, which means that "tab hibernation now works as it should, and some proprietary media embedded in HTML5 content can now be enjoyed in Vivaldi on Linux without problems." 

There are other improvements on the Privacy front too with the added ability to turn off WebRTC. Overall, I'm really impressed with Vivaldi's improvements on the performance front. It is definitely faster and more responsive than before, and without any compromises on functionality. Features like 'Tab Stacks' work just as good. Both 32 and 64 bit DEB/RPM packages are available (see link below). Share your thoughts on Vivaldi. Thanks for reading.

Download Vivaldi for Linux (DEB, RPM) | Changelog and other details

I'm not really happy with my laptop's battery performance, and hence the need for reliable battery indicator apps. From simple widgets to full-fledged apps, there are quite a few to choose from. 'Battery Monitor' is the latest entrant. Use the following PPA to install Battery Monitor in Ubuntu and other Debian based distros.

Battery Monitor for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

What makes Battery Monitor different from a whole host of similar apps is its clever integration with Ubuntu notifications. It will notify user about charging, discharging, not charging and critically low battery states. Installation is pretty straight forward. Fire up your Terminal and do as following.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maateen/battery-monitor -y
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install battery-monitor -y

After installation, there are two ways to start Battery Monitor immediately. Either run battery-monitor in your Terminal itself OR hit ALT + F2 and run battery-monitor. I prefer the later. A few more screenshots.

Project homepage. Do share your thoughts.

After long years of neglect, Skype has reaffirmed its commitment towards Linux platform by announcing a brand new Skype client for Linux, and even goes on to release an Alpha version of the same which you can download and install right now. They come in DEB and RPM packages which must cover a vast variety of Linux platforms.

Finally! A New Skype client for Linux

A brand new Skype for Linux client was officially announced few hours ago. The new version of Skype for Linux is a brand new client using WebRTC, although, the just released Alpha version is not a fully functioning Skype client yet. In our experience, the new client definitely features a faster and more responsive Skype UI. Missing features will be added in the newer releases. Further information on Skype for Linux Alpha can be found here.

And there's more! Anyone using a Chromebook or Chrome on Linux can now visit web.skype.com and make one-to-one and group voice calls on top of the messaging features they get today. This again is an alpha version of Skype based on WebRTC and inherits the same features of the Alpha version of the Skype for Linux client. Video calling and calls to landlines and mobiles are coming soon to Chrome browsers in Linux and Chromebooks. This looks like a a sea change in Skype's attitude towards Linux platform. A welcome change I must say. Following download options are available right now. Do share your thoughts.

• Skype for Linux Alpha DEB (for Ubuntu, Mint, Debian etc. ) 
• Skype for Linux Alpha RPM (for Fedora, openSUSE etc. )

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" is released. As with all LTS (long-term support) releases, this one is expected to be the most stable and reliable of them all. But we will find more about that in the review later. Let's discuss the top apps you could install after downloading and installing the latest Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

10 Ubuntu Apps You Must Try after installing 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" 

The apps you use in your desktop vary from user to user. So take this list with a pinch of salt. I have tried to make it as broad based as possible, but they are still very much based on my use-case and might be biased. Let's take a look at the apps that I use the most, my personal favourites for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

My Favourite Ubuntu Apps for 16.04 LTS

Unity Tweak Tool, in my opinion, is an absolute must-have for new and experienced users alike. The new updated Unity Tweak Tool brings in a lot of new features including the ability to move the Unity launcher to the bottom. You can read more on that here. The latest version is downloadable from Ubuntu Software Center.

MPV Media Player is brilliant. Ever since I discovered MPV, I've completely stopped using VLC, SMPlayer and the likes for my multimedia needs. MPV keeps its light-weight profile without compromising much on functionality. Still no match for VLC in terms of features though, half of which you will never use anyway.

GPMDP for Ubuntu: Since I use Google Play Music a lot, GPMDP has become my go-to music streaming app for Ubuntu for a while now. For users looking for a more generic music streamer, try Nuvola. GPMDP can be downloaded from here. See also, our review of GPMDP with installation instructions.

Chrome/Chromium: Who wants Chrome when you have Firefox right? Wrong. I believe Chrome has its advantages too. After all, Chrome is now regarded as the most popular web browser across platforms. Firefox, in my opinion, still lags Chrome in some areas. Inbuilt language translation, for example, has proved very useful to me at least on several occasions. But of course Firefox has all the extensions you'll would ever need. For those still interested in Chrome, the only choice you have to make is between Chromium (the one without Google branding, available in Software Center) and the official Google Chrome for Linux (64-bit only).

Steam: Do you know that the number of Steam titles for Linux is now more than 1500 and counting? The list include major titles such as Left 4 Dead 2, Half Life 1 & 2, Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2, Portal 2, Witcher 2, Football Manager, Shank 2, Dota 2, Don't Starve, among others. The biggest complaint people had for Linux was the non-availability of good quality games. Steam's support for Linux platform is surely helping. Download Steam.

Youtube-dl: This one is a personal favourite of mine. Youtube-dl is a small commandline based tool that lets you download your favorite videos from the web (supports YouTube and many other popular video streaming sites). If all you require is to download the best quality version of a particular video, open up the Terminal and type "youtube-dl<space><link to the video>". The app is downloadable from Ubuntu Software Center. And if you don't like CLI much, these 5 apps with fancier looks and features might help.

Synergy lets you share your keyboard and mouse across multiple devices and platforms. And it works like magic. More about Synergy here. Unlike earlier though, Synergy is a paid app now, costing $10 for a lifetime license. Strongly recommend Synergy for those running multiple machines simultaneously. BUY.

Synapse: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and its default Unity launcher is impressive, but Synapse is just faster. I mostly use Synapse nowadays, but Unity launcher has improved quite a bit over the years. The difference in responsiveness is not as much pronounced as it used to be. It's a matter of personal preference now.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:synapse-core/testing
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install synapse

After executing the above commands in the Terminal, launch Synapse from the default Ubuntu launcher and it will reside in your system-tray afterwards. Just hit CTRL+Space to launch Synapse.

Shutter: A clever little screenshot tool that can handle some light editing as well. Has proved very useful over the years. Shutter is available within the default repositories. CLICK HERE.

Skype: Doesn't require much introduction, one of the most popular Internet based video and voice call service provider which was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 for quite a lot of money. Even though it works okay, their support for Linux platform has remained poor ever since the acquisition. Updates are too few when compared to other supported platforms. So stay away if you have a choice. Download Skype for Linux.

For more task-specific, professional-grade apps, see our following lists:

• Top 5 video editors for Ubuntu/Linux
• 6 most good-looking music players for Linux (see the user-recommendations too)
• 8 best CAD Apps for Linux [Updated]
• Professional grade music productions tools for Ubuntu

[Ubuntu App Store image via FS Icons Ubuntu, and thanks for reading!]