firelet.media Gallery is on Linux, and the Mac is next: what to expect

firelet.media Gallery now runs on Linux. Version 2026.11.1 is the first Linux release, as an AppImage, a .deb and an .rpm, with the same panels, editor, AI search, trial and licence as on Windows. What differs is plumbing: video previews need FFmpeg, HEIC and scanners use your distribution's tools, text reading is English only, and motion photos stay on Windows. The Mac version is next.

Status: Windows and Linux today, the Mac next#

• Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit: on sale, version 2026.11.1.
• Linux, 64-bit (x86-64): on sale from 8 November 2026, version 2026.11.1. Tested on Ubuntu 24.04 and Fedora 42.
• macOS, on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs: being finished, with no date yet.
• Android: the phone app is on Google Play.

The Linux and Mac versions are one desktop program, built to match the Windows app panel for panel. The Mac version will come when it is ready; the quickest way to hear is Email me when it's ready at firelet.media/app/updates/notify.

The licence is the same everywhere. One key works on every platform, one computer at a time per seat, and moving a seat is free. The price is the same too: $160 per computer, once, with optional updates at $100 a year. See how firelet.media Gallery is priced. So is the trial: 14 days, every feature, no limits, no card.

A photo manager for Linux with the same features#

Almost everything you read about the Windows app applies on Linux:

• The same layout. The icon rail with Library, Filters, AI, Albums & keywords, People, Calendar, Presets, Statistics and Advanced query (Alt+1 to Alt+9), plus Devices (Alt+0). The Viewer and Imaging views.
• The same editing. The Adjust panel with crop, straighten, light, colour, looks and presets. Originals are never changed.
• The same AI. Describe search, similar photos, tags, groups, duplicates and quality culling. Faces after Download face models (39 MB).
• Albums, keywords and XMP sidecars, export and print, and the Picasa importer.
• The Wi-Fi link to the Android app.
• Dark and Light themes. The app follows your system's setting until you press the theme button in the title bar.
• The same licence handling. Activation sends the key, a machine fingerprint and the computer's name as a label, just as on Windows. On Linux the licence is sealed with a key kept by your desktop's keyring (the Secret Service or KWallet).

Search quality is identical on every system. Only how fast pictures are first indexed differs, because the AI runs on the processor on Linux and the Mac.

Your library lives in ~/.config/firelet.media Gallery/ on Linux, and will live in ~/Library/Application Support/firelet.media Gallery/ on a Mac.

The eight differences#

The platforms page lists eight things that change by operating system:

What they mean in practice on Linux:

• Video. Videos play in the app's built-in engine. FFmpeg is optional: it supplies each video's length, dimensions and preview frames. Without it, videos are still in the library with their name, size and date. Install FFmpeg from your distribution's packages, restart the gallery, and the next scan fills in the rest. FFmpeg does not make HEVC, AVI or WMV files play inside the app.
• HEIC. Grid tiles for HEIC photos come from heif-convert in the libheif tools (on a Mac, from the built-in sips). The full-size viewer cannot open HEIC; it offers Open in default app instead.
• Scanner. Linux scans through SANE: install it and scanners appear in Imaging. There will be no scanner support on the Mac.
• Motion photos. Google and Samsung motion photos play on Windows only.
• Map. Built in, with no WebView2 needed. As on Windows, locations are plotted but the background map needs a tile provider you choose.
• Text in photos. English only. Press Download English text model (about 3 MB) once, then Read text.

A few smaller differences are worth knowing too:

• There is no USB phone import. Import works from removable drives, cloud folders and phones paired over Wi-Fi.
• Deleting moves pictures to the Trash.
• In Export, the option reads Remove the location before sharing (camera data goes too): it removes the date and keywords along with the location.
• Set as desktop background works on GNOME and desktops that use its settings.
• Updates are checked at launch and daily. Download opens your browser, and you install the new version by hand.

Which Linux file to download#

The download page has three files, so pick the one that suits your system:

• .deb: for Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint and their relatives. On Ubuntu 23.10 and later it is the one to use, because it also installs the AppArmor profile the app needs to start.
• .rpm: for Fedora and its relatives.
• AppImage: a single file that runs without installing, on most other distributions. It needs FUSE 2.

There is no Flatpak or Snap. How to install firelet.media Gallery on Linux has the commands for each file, and system requirements has the details.

The Mac: what to expect and how to hear first#

The Mac version is the same program, so everything above applies, with the Mac column of the table. It will come as two .dmg files, one for Intel Macs and one for Apple Silicon; About This Mac in the Apple menu shows which chip you have. The first Mac builds may not yet be notarised by Apple: if macOS warns when you first open the app, right-click it and choose Open, then confirm.

1. Go to firelet.media/app/updates/notify, the Email me when it's ready page.
2. Enter your email address.
3. Confirm the subscription from the email it sends you.

You will hear when the Mac version lands, and nothing else: firelet.media sends no marketing email. In the meantime, the Windows or Linux trial is the best preview of what is coming, and if you scan on Linux, how to scan photos and documents shows what the scanner can do.