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# Decibels is a Minimal Audio Player, And That's About it!
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/decibels/
- Published: 2024-05-26T04:30:22.000Z
- Updated: 2024-05-28T05:21:24.000Z
- Description: A focused audio player to play what you need for the moment.
- Author: Sourav Rudra
- Tags: First Look, News, #Import 2025-11-08 21:15

We Linux users have plenty of audio players to choose from, but, there's always some new option that aims to offer something different. I know it's challenging to develop one, but many still give it a shot.

One such option that I recently came across was “**Decibels**”, a minimal audio player app for Linux that doesn't come on too strong at first glance. So, let's check it out!

📋

Psst, a gentle reminder, we recently started a dedicated [Android series](https://news.itsfoss.com/tag/android/?ref=itsfoss.com) where we cover FOSS Android apps.

## Decibels: Overview ⭐

![a screenshot of decibels](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/04/Decibels_a.png)

Written primarily using TypeScript, Decibels is an audio player that was recently accepted into the [GNOME Incubator](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/Incubator?ref=itsfoss.com), where apps land when they are being considered to be included into the GNOME desktop environment.

The lead developer, [Angelo Verlain](https://www.vixalien.com/?ref=itsfoss.com), worked on this to make it a reality, while also taking many cues from a [couple of mockups](https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/Design/app-mockups/-/blob/master/audio-player/audio-player.png?ref=itsfoss.com) that Allan Day from GNOME shared a few months ago.

Some **key highlights** of the app include:

- **Minimal User Interface**
- **Intuitive Audio Controls**
- **Support for Many File Formats**

### Initial Impressions 👨‍💻

I tested the official Flatpak package on an Ubuntu 22.04 LTS installation, where I added an audio file to Decibels by using the “Open…” option. 

When the file loaded, a neat-looking waveform animation started playing in sync with the audio, which could be dragged forward or backward to change the timestamp of the audio being played.

![a screenshot of decibels playing an audio file](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/04/Decibels_b.png)

The **audio controls were useful too**; there was the usual playback slide control, a dedicated option to change the speed of playback, options to move 10s forward/backward, a pause/play button, and the volume slider.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts to control the Decibels app. For that, you can refer to the three-ribbon menu on the top-left of the app to get started.

![a screenshot of decibels audio control options](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2024/04/Decibels_c.png)

And that's all there is to the app, a focused media playing experience.

If you ask me, **Decibels is a great match for you if you want to play single audio files**, such as an audiobook or a podcast. However, if you were looking for features like audio queuing and playlists, this is not the one for you.

You can try other [music players available for Linux](https://itsfoss.com/best-music-players-linux/):

[Top 11 Best Music Players for Linux \[2024\]It isn’t rocket science to play music on Linux, but you should have a great experience with a good music player!![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSAnkush Das![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/07/best-music-players-for-linux.jpg)](https://itsfoss.com/best-music-players-linux/)

## 📥 Get Decibels

For getting the latest Decibels release, the [Flathub store](https://flathub.org/apps/org.gnome.Decibels?ref=itsfoss.com) is your friend.

[Decibels (Flathub Store)](https://flathub.org/apps/org.gnome.Decibels?ref=itsfoss.com)

You can also run the following command to get it installed on your Flatpak-equipped system:

```
  flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Decibels
```

Then, to run it, either launch it from the app launcher or run this command:

```
flatpak run org.gnome.Decibels
```

If you are interested in the source code, or want to contribute to it, head to Decibels' [GitLab repo](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/Incubator/decibels?ref=itsfoss.com).

*💬 Did this app pique your interest? Do you have some other app in mind? Feel free to add your thoughts below!*