Skip to content

Install Hebrish

The download page always has the newest files. Hebrish is free for personal use; the terms say what needs a licence. The first time you open the app, it shows how it is licensed; the same text stays in About.

Android

Needs Android 9 or newer on an arm64 phone.

Recommended: F-Droid. Add the Hebrish repository once and new versions arrive as ordinary app updates.

  1. Install F-Droid if you don't have it.
  2. On your phone, open the Hebrish repository link with F-Droid and confirm.
  3. Search F-Droid for Hebrish and install it.

Or download the APK from hebrish.app/get/android. The link always gives the newest version, but an APK doesn't update itself. To update, install the new APK over the old one; you keep your models and settings.

Next: Set up the phone.

Ubuntu

The packaged app is built for Ubuntu 26.04 on amd64.

Recommended: the APT repository. One command adds the repository and installs Hebrish:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.hebrish.app/apt/setup.sh | sudo sh

The script checks the signing key's fingerprint before it adds anything. To add the repository by hand, or to install from a downloaded .deb, follow the download page. New versions then arrive with your normal system updates.

Let Hebrish see your hotkey. The hotkey is read from the keyboard device, so your user has to be in the input group:

sudo usermod -aG input $USER

Log out and back in afterwards. A new terminal isn't enough.

Then start Hebrish from the app menu and choose a model.

Other Linux

For other x86_64 distributions (Fedora 36+, Debian 12+, Arch, openSUSE, Ubuntu 22.04+), use the AppImage from the releases page:

chmod +x Hebrish-*-x86_64.AppImage && ./Hebrish-*-x86_64.AppImage
sudo usermod -aG input $USER     # for the hotkey; log in again afterwards

It needs FUSE, which every desktop distribution has. Without it, add --appimage-extract-and-run.

An AppImage can't install the rule that lets Hebrish press the paste keys, so until you add it, text goes to the clipboard only. The app tells you and shows this command:

echo 'KERNEL=="uinput", SUBSYSTEM=="misc", TAG+="uaccess", OPTIONS+="static_node=uinput"' |
  sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/70-hebrish-uinput.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger --sysname-match=uinput

Windows

Needs Windows 10 or 11, x64.

  1. Download the zip from hebrish.app/get/windows.
  2. Unzip it anywhere and run Hebrish.exe. There is no installer and no admin rights are needed.

The build is unsigned, so SmartScreen may warn you the first time. It has not yet been tried on real Windows hardware; if it misbehaves, report it.

To have it in the tray at every login, turn on Start at login in Settings → System or the tray menu.

Updates

Installed from How updates arrive
F-Droid As ordinary app updates
Android APK Install the new APK over the old one
Ubuntu APT repository System updates, or Update now in the app (it asks for your password)
Windows zip The app gives you a link to the new zip
AppImage The app gives you a link to the new AppImage

The desktop app checks for a new version at start and about once a day. Turn that off in Settings → App updates. Models update separately: see Models and add-ons.