Apps & Installation

Before installing official packages, the terminal shows that it is checking for pending system updates. This check may take a while before the administrator password is requested. Flatpak installations also announce their preparation stage.

SUPER + Space and Main > Apps open the same app list. Enter launches an app. Delete is available in Apps and asks for uninstall confirmation. Global search from SUPER + F launches apps but does not expose uninstall actions. There is no separate pin-based app menu.

Typing in the main menu searches installed apps and actions from all submenus. Typing inside a submenu, such as System or Install, searches that submenu and everything below it. Submenu rows end with >; Shift + Backspace returns to the parent.

Install

Press Delete on an installed entry in the named Install lists to uninstall it after confirmation. Web Apps retain their removal action. Packages (Pacman and Yay) remain install-only and have no Delete action. Required system dependencies are never removed recursively; pacman refuses removals that would break another package.

Managed language bundles show their full removal warning in a terminal before asking for confirmation with [y/N]; Enter cancels. Node removal includes all NVM-managed versions and their global npm tools. Python removal affects uv-managed versions and uv, not system Python. Java removes the current SDKMAN Java and Maven versions; Rust removes only its stable toolchain. Rails and Laravel remove their framework tools while retaining Ruby, PHP and Composer. Projects, settings and credentials are kept, but dependent tools and environments may stop working. Native assistant removal keeps cached versions and settings.

Apps already on the system show Installed under their name; choosing one says so instead of installing it again. This also recognizes tools installed by their own managers, such as Java from SDKMAN or Node.js from NVM. Packages that need a runtime, such as DBeaver's Java, bring a small one only when no package provides it yet.

• AI CLIs: optional AI command-line clients.
• Browsers: supported browser choices.
• Databases: optional tools such as DBeaver, database clients and Valkey (the Redis-compatible server Arch ships instead of Redis).
• Development Languages: optional language toolchains; Java/Flutter are not mandatory desktop dependencies.
• JavaScript Tools: optional JavaScript runtimes and tooling.
• Packages > Pacman and Packages > Yay (AUR): search the official Arch packages or the community AUR packages, each labeled with where it comes from and whether it is installed. The search is on top, the packages under it and the selected package's details below; Ctrl+B shows its build file (PKGBUILD) instead and back, Ctrl+O opens its page in the browser, Tab selects several and Enter installs them. AUR packages are built on this computer from their build file, so read it first; they are not official Arch packages.

Installation/update/setup terminals show the themed EITR banner. Successful tasks normally close; failures stay visible. Reports such as Cleanup stay open so you can read them. Ordinary terminals and About do not show the task banner.

Press Esc to close waiting task, account, report and About terminals. Enter remains for answers and confirmations, including acknowledging a recovery key and powering off the installer.

Tools

Calculator in Apps (or the keyboard's calculator key) opens Eitr's calculator in the current theme's colors. Type or click: + − × ÷, ^ for powers, % for percent (200×15%), √ and brackets; a number before a bracket multiplies (2(3+4)). Enter shows the result, Backspace removes a character, Escape clears (twice closes) and Ctrl+C or Copy copies the result. It works out the expression itself rather than running it as code.

Offline dictation is speech-to-text that never leaves the computer. Hold SUPER + D, speak, and release: the words are typed where the cursor is, in the language you spoke. While it listens, the red dot beside the weather becomes a small waveform that moves with your voice, so you can see it hears you; after release it pulses until the words are typed. The first use downloads the speech model once (148 MB, checked against its published checksum) to ~/.local/share/eitr/whisper/; after that it works offline. Transcribing takes a moment after release, longer on older processors.

Main > Tools > Reminders > New Reminder asks when (a delay such as 10m or 1h30m, or a time of day such as 18:30) and what about, then shows a notification at that time that stays until you dismiss it. Upcoming Reminders lists the waiting ones; pick one to cancel it. Reminders survive a restart, and any that came due while the computer was off appear at the next login. From a terminal: eitr remind 25m Take the tea out, and eitr remind alone lists them.

Gaming

Main > Gaming lists GeForce NOW, RetroArch and Steam. Choosing one opens it when it is installed, and installs it otherwise. RetroArch comes from Arch's official packages with cores for the classic consoles: NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, Mega Drive/Genesis, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, PSP and Dreamcast. Add your own games and, where a console needs one, its BIOS files; Eitr ships neither. GeForce NOW installs from Flatpak.

Toggle > Game Mode gets the desktop out of the way while you play: window animations, blur and shadows turn off, notification popups wait (do not disturb), and the power profile switches to performance where the computer has one. Turning it off restores exactly what it changed. Steam installs with GameMode and MangoHud: add gamemoderun mangohud %command% to a game's launch options in Steam to boost the CPU during play and show the FPS overlay.

LocalSend's packaged app includes its runtime requirements: you do not need the Flutter SDK just to run it. Developer tools remain optional.

Use Updates & Cleanup for upgrading; installing one package is not the same as the snapshot-protected System Update workflow.