BearWave

KDE-focused desktop internet radio app for Linux, built with Qt 6, QML, KDE Frameworks, and QtMultimedia.

BearWave is designed for fast station browsing, simple playback controls, favorites, resume support, tray behavior, and clean Plasma integration without turning into a heavy media suite.

Screenshots

Main window	Station browser

Screenshots: KDE Plasma on Linux.

Demo Video

👉 Click here to watch the Demo Video

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Quick Start

Two sensible paths right now:

Option A: Arch Linux (AUR)

BearWave is officially available in the Arch User Repository as bearwave-git. You can easily install it using an AUR helper like yay or paru:

yay -S bearwave-git

(Alternatively, you can build from the included PKGBUILD locally by running makepkg -si)

Option B: Local source build

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j"$(nproc)"
cmake --install build --prefix "$HOME/.local"

Then launch:

~/.local/bin/bearwave

What BearWave Is

BearWave focuses on:

• KDE-first internet radio playback
• fast browsing via the Radio Browser API
• favorites and resume support
• lightweight desktop integration through tray + MPRIS
• straightforward local installation and operation

BearWave intentionally does not aim to be:

• a local music library manager
• a podcast client
• a broad cross-platform media application
• a feature-heavy all-purpose audio suite

Features

• internet radio via the Radio Browser API with local JSON caching
• station pages for Top, Germany, Netherlands, and quick world/genre filters
• local search and filtering by name, genre, and country
• sorting by name, bitrate, and votes
• favorites with persistent local storage
• manual station add
• playback metadata display when streams provide it
• resume support for last station and volume
• MPRIS integration for Plasma media controls and media keys
• system tray integration for background playback
• desktop notifications for song/track changes with local cover art caching
• embedded About dialog with links and GNU GPLv3 license text

Project Status

BearWave is an early public, source-first desktop project.

BearWave is currently in public beta and is best supported on Arch Linux and KDE Plasma.

It is already usable, but it should currently be treated as software for testers, contributors, and technically comfortable Linux users rather than a polished end-user release.

Current priorities:

• stability in normal playback flows
• predictable KDE/Plasma integration
• conservative packaging and installation behavior
• keeping the codebase small and maintainable

Current distribution status:

• source repository is the primary delivery format

Platform And Support

BearWave is intentionally KDE-first.

• primary platform target: Linux
• primary desktop target: KDE Plasma 6
• primary development environment: Arch Linux
• other Linux distributions may build from source, but are not yet documented or tested to the same level

Tested On

BearWave is currently aligned with and tested primarily against:

• Arch Linux
• KDE Plasma 6
• Qt 6
• KDE Frameworks 6
• Qt6 Multimedia

If support for other distributions becomes reliable, they should be added here explicitly instead of implied.

Language Support

BearWave currently supports English and German.

• the application uses the system locale to select its UI language
• English is the base UI language
• German is provided as a bundled translation
• README, repository metadata, and development-facing material remain in English

If the system language is German, BearWave appears in German. Otherwise it falls back to English.

Installation Status

BearWave should currently be understood as:

• officially documented for source builds
• most naturally aligned with Arch Linux packaging
• likely portable to other Linux distributions with Qt 6 / KF6 / QtMultimedia packages available
• not yet positioned as a broadly packaged consumer desktop app

If you want the least surprising path today, use either:

• a local source build
• the included Arch PKGBUILD

Dependencies

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S cmake extra-cmake-modules qt6-base qt6-declarative qt6-tools \
  kirigami qt6-multimedia qt6-multimedia-ffmpeg

KDE Neon / Ubuntu-based

sudo apt install cmake ninja-build qt6-base-dev qt6-declarative-dev qt6-tools-dev \
  libkf6kirigami-dev libkf6i18n-dev libkf6coreaddons-dev qt6-multimedia-dev

Note: exact package names can vary between distro releases, and non-Arch dependency sets should currently be treated as best-effort guidance rather than a guaranteed tested path.

Build And Install

From the repository root:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j"$(nproc)"

Optional local install:

cmake --install build --prefix "$HOME/.local"
update-desktop-database "$HOME/.local/share/applications"
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This installs:

• binary: ~/.local/bin/bearwave
• desktop file: ~/.local/share/applications/de.nerdbear.bearwave.desktop
• icon: ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/de.nerdbear.bearwave.png

Note: the generated desktop file uses the install prefix chosen during cmake --install.

If you want a clean rebuild:

rm -rf build
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j"$(nproc)"

Runtime Requirements

• Linux desktop session
• KDE Plasma recommended
• Qt 6 runtime libraries
• Qt6 Multimedia backend (e.g. ffmpeg or gstreamer)
• network access to Radio Browser instances

Usage

Basic flow

1. Open a station page such as Top, DE, NL, Favorites, or a quick filter.
2. Select a station and start playback.
3. Add favorites for quick reuse.
4. Use Resume to continue from the last station and volume state.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Space: play/pause
• Ctrl+F: focus search field

Sorting

Sort station lists by:

• name
• bitrate
• votes

Data And Persistence

BearWave stores user state under:

• favorites: ~/.config/bearwave/favorites.json
• last station + volume: ~/.config/bearwave/state.json
• API cache: ~/.cache/bearwave/api_cache/
• cover art cache: ~/.cache/bearwave/covers/

If these files are removed, app state resets to defaults or performs a fresh API sync.

Plasma Integration

BearWave exposes playback through MPRIS, so it works with:

• Plasma media applets/widgets
• global media key handling
• external MPRIS-capable controllers

Autostart

Enable autostart:

mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/autostart"
cp "$HOME/.local/share/applications/de.nerdbear.bearwave.desktop" "$HOME/.config/autostart/"

Disable autostart:

rm -f "$HOME/.config/autostart/de.nerdbear.bearwave.desktop"

Troubleshooting

No audio playback

• ensure qt6-multimedia and a backend like qt6-multimedia-ffmpeg or gst-plugins-good are installed
• test another station URL because some streams go offline

App icon or launcher entry not updating

Re-run:

update-desktop-database "$HOME/.local/share/applications"
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If desktop caches are stale, a logout/login cycle may still be required.

Station list empty or slow

• verify internet connectivity
• Radio Browser may be temporarily rate-limited or degraded
• try another station category or filter

Current Limitations

• packaging and install guidance are strongest on Arch Linux
• broader distro support is not yet validated to the same standard
• there are no official binary releases for non-technical end users yet

Contributing

Issues and focused pull requests are welcome.

Before opening a larger change, it is worth checking whether it matches the project direction:

• KDE-first desktop behavior
• no unnecessary dependencies
• small, maintainable changes
• stability before feature breadth

See CONTRIBUTING.md for local build and review expectations.

Development Notes

• main UI: src/qml/Main.qml
• backend orchestration: src/radiobackend.cpp
• stream playback: src/bearplayer.cpp
• API layer: src/radiobrowser.cpp
• MPRIS adapter: src/mprisadaptor.cpp
• desktop notifications: src/notificationmanager.cpp

For contributor and agent guardrails, see AGENTS.md.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU GPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE for details.