Getting started

Apps and platforms

Sunflare runs in your browser, as a desktop app on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and as an Android app. Your account, servers, and messages are the same everywhere; a few features only exist where the operating system makes them possible.

Which one should I use?#

What only the desktop app can do#

The browser is a complete Sunflare: servers, messages, voice, video, screen share, and settings all work there. The desktop app adds things a web page isn't allowed to do:

• Global keybinds. Toggle mute, deafen, camera, screen share, and the overlay while another app (like a game) has focus. See Keybinds.
• Game Activity: show what you're playing, detected from running games.
• Game Overlay: a small voice HUD that floats over your game.
• Broadcast Studio: a video compositor that can stream to RTMP.
• Plugins: install local scripts that add buttons, panels, and tools.
• Automatic Streamer Mode when OBS or similar is running. See Streamer Mode.
• A second window on another monitor (Split View works in the browser too). See Multi-Window and Split View.
• Native notifications that keep working in the background.

Rich Presence (what you're listening to) works on the desktop apps and Android, because it reads your device's own "now playing" information.

Installing on Windows#

1. On the download page, click Download for Windows.
2. Run the installer. It installs for your user only, so it doesn't ask for administrator rights.
3. Sign in. From then on, updates download quietly in the background.

Installing on macOS#

1. Click Download for Mac and drag Sunflare into Applications.
2. The first time, right-click (or Control-click) Sunflare and choose Open, then confirm.
3. After that first launch, open it normally.

Installing on Linux#

Pick the package for your distribution and install it with your package manager:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install ./Sunflare-*.deb

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ./Sunflare-*.rpm

# Arch
sudo pacman -U ./Sunflare-*.pacman

Installing on Android#

The easiest way is Sunflare on Google Play: open the listing on your phone, tap Install, then open Sunflare and sign in. Google Play keeps it up to date.

You can also install the APK straight from sunflare.me:

1. On your phone, open the download page and tap Download the APK.
2. Open the downloaded file. Android asks you to allow Install unknown apps for your browser; allow it, then go back and install.
3. Open Sunflare and sign in.

Updates on desktop#

The Windows and Mac apps check for updates when they start and every two hours after that. New versions download silently and install the next time you fully quit Sunflare. You never have to visit the download page again.

• Settings
• Updates

Shows your installed version, a Check for Updates button, and, once an update has downloaded, Restart & Install Now if you don't want to wait.

The tray icon#

On desktop, Sunflare lives in the system tray (the menu bar on macOS). Right-click it for:

Open Sunflare

Brings the window back.

Open at Startup

Starts Sunflare when you sign in to your computer. Untick it if you'd rather start it yourself.

Quit Sunflare

Fully exits, which disconnects any call and stops notifications until you open it again.

Which monitor it opens on, and whether it starts maximized, are under Desktop modules, Advanced.

Signing in on another device#

You can be signed in on as many devices as you like at once; messages and settings sync between them. Some preferences are per device on purpose, like keybinds, plugins, and a few appearance options, because they depend on the hardware in front of you.

To sign in to sunflare.me on a computer without typing your password, use the phone app: Settings → My Account → Scan QR Code, then scan the QR code on the computer's login page. Every signed-in device is listed under Devices and sessions.