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Installation

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Lane Holloway edited this page Sep 8, 2026 · 3 revisions

Installation

Download the build for your platform from the Releases page.

macOS

  1. Unzip sightings-macos-<version>.zip and drag Sightings.app to Applications.
  2. The build is not yet notarized, so the first launch is refused. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway (older macOS: right‑click the app and choose Open). This is a one‑time step.
  3. Plug in the DCA75. No driver is needed; the app connects automatically.

Works on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. libusb is bundled inside the app.

Linux (x86‑64)

Two builds are on the Releases page. Either way, install the udev rule once so your user can open the unit without root (Flatpak cannot do this for you):

sudo curl -o /etc/udev/rules.d/60-dca75.rules https://raw.githubusercontent.com/drlholloway/sightings/main/packaging/linux/60-dca75.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload && sudo udevadm trigger

Then plug in (or replug) the unit.

Flatpak (recommended, from 0.3.1)

Brings its own GTK and libusb, so nothing else to install.

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user sightings-linux-x64-<version>.flatpak

Sightings then appears in your app menu, or run flatpak run dev.laneholloway.Sightings. The app has raw USB access (--device=all), which the DCA75 needs. Data lives under ~/.var/app/dev.laneholloway.Sightings/.

Tarball

  1. Extract sightings-linux-x64-<version>.tar.gz anywhere, e.g. ~/Apps/sightings (the udev rule is included in the archive too).
  2. Run ./workbench.

Needs GTK 3 and libusb-1.0 from your distribution (Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install libgtk-3-0 libusb-1.0-0; Fedora: sudo dnf install gtk3 libusb1). Verified on Pop!_OS.

Android

  1. Download sightings-android-<version>.apk on the phone and open it. Allow installs from the browser when asked.
  2. Connect the DCA75 with a USB OTG cable or adapter.
  3. Android offers to open Sightings and asks for USB permission; accept it.

The phone powers the unit over OTG. If the unit's screen does not light, keep its AAA battery fitted or use a powered OTG hub. Only phones with USB host support can install the app.

Sightings

Releases · Issues

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