Downloads

Install LightBuddy

Download the latest LightBuddy installers for macOS, Windows and Linux.

Choose the installer for your operating system. The Windows installer supports 64-bit Intel, AMD and ARM PCs; the Microsoft Store version is also available.

Download for MacLightBuddy 0.3.8 macOS installerRequires macOS Monterey 12 or later. Universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.Get it from the Mac App StoreInstall LightBuddy from the Mac App StoreDownload for PCLightBuddy 0.3.8 Windows installer for x64 and ARM64 PCsRequires Windows 10 or later and a 64-bit processor.Get it from Microsoft StoreInstall LightBuddy from the Microsoft StoreDownload for Linux (x64)LightBuddy 0.3.8 AppImage for 64-bit Intel and AMD Linux PCsDownload for Linux (ARM64)LightBuddy 0.3.8 AppImage for 64-bit ARM Linux computers

Installation

Install and verify

Open the section for your operating system. The Linux section includes SHA-256 values for both AppImage downloads. You can also download the Linux checksums.

macOS

The universal build supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs and requires macOS Monterey 12 or later.

  1. Download LightBuddy-0.3.8.dmg and open it from Downloads.
  2. In the disk image window, drag Light Buddy to Applications.
  3. Close the window, eject the LightBuddy disk image in Finder, then open Light Buddy from Applications.
Windows

This single installer supports 64-bit Intel, AMD and ARM processors and selects the compatible build automatically. Windows 10 or later is required.

  1. Download and open LightBuddy-Setup-0.3.8.exe.
  2. Follow the installer prompts to complete the installation.
  3. The direct installer is unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen may identify it as an unrecognised app. Continue only if you downloaded it from lightbuddy.co.uk and are comfortable proceeding; otherwise cancel and contact support.
  4. If Sophos or another antivirus product identifies the installer as malware, stop and contact support with the detection name. Do not allow or restore the file.
Linux

Choose x64 for a 64-bit Intel or AMD processor (x86_64), or ARM64 for a 64-bit ARM processor (aarch64). Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Desktop is the tested baseline; other distributions may work but are not yet validated. This build uses a static AppImage runtime and does not require installing FUSE 2.

  1. Download the AppImage matching your processor.
  2. In Files, right-click the AppImage, open Properties, and enable “Allow executing file as program”. Or, from Downloads, run chmod +x LightBuddy-0.3.8-*.AppImage.
  3. Open the AppImage. If using Terminal, run ./LightBuddy-0.3.8-arm64.AppImage for ARM64 or ./LightBuddy-0.3.8-x86_64.AppImage for x64.

SHA-256 for LightBuddy-0.3.8-x86_64.AppImage (x64):

940880c12bac8b295b61c5d2a0cce46247a736997892149e9f5e8b7b63116ffd

SHA-256 for LightBuddy-0.3.8-arm64.AppImage (ARM64):

db8418cb7bb4fd05fe3e7e98263fbf600fe7bfc71867bff1abc9d15e109442fe

To verify both files from Downloads, run sha256sum LightBuddy-0.3.8-*.AppImage and compare each value above.

USB DMX permissions

When a supported USB DMX interface is connected but inaccessible, LightBuddy offers to set up access through an administrator approval prompt. The udev rule is scoped to the device’s USB vendor and product IDs and, when available, its serial number; it grants access to the active desktop user. If you decline the prompt or your distribution does not support this rule, check the device’s owner and group with ls -l /dev/ttyUSB0; on Ubuntu, the manual fallback is sudo usermod -aG dialout "$USER", followed by signing out and back in.

Other Linux notes

Saving GDTF Share and AI Builder credentials requires a desktop Secret Service/keyring. Native speech recognition is currently available on macOS only. The 3D visualiser uses WebGL 2; if a compatible graphics device is unavailable, software rendering may be slower, and 2D visualisation remains available.

Development history

Release history

Feature milestones reconstructed from the LightBuddy development history and published release records.

0.3.8
  • Improved audio device input detection and channel selection for timecode and tempo inputs, including stereo summing for tempo detection.
  • Refined the Audio/Timecode settings layout and device refresh controls.
  • Security fixes: updated Electron and dependencies for published advisories, blocked HTTPS downgrade redirects and stopped forwarding credentials across origins.
  • Mitigated CVE-2026-111497 in application HTTP requests by rejecting Brotli responses before decoding. Gzip, deflate and uncompressed responses remain supported; Electron's bundled Node runtime still awaits the upstream Brotli fix.
0.3.7
  • Universal, notarised macOS release for Intel and Apple Silicon.
  • Standard Windows installer for x64 and arm64 PCs.
  • Linux AppImage releases for x86_64 and ARM64 systems.
  • Better support for USB DMX dongles in Windows
  • Enhanced 3D scene object management and visualisation.
0.3.6
  • Added support for OSC control mapping, including OSCQuery discovery.
  • Added functionality to automatically create a fixture personality from a PDF file.
  • Improved the UI for framing shutters, including support for full-curtain shutters and shutters using position and rotation rather than AB positioning.
  • Improved illustrations for automatically generated Beam palettes.
  • Improved the Attribute Editor layout to make better use of the available space.
0.3.5
  • Added fixture highlight tools to the Attribute workflow and Pocket Buddy, making it faster to identify and step through selected fixtures while programming.
  • Refined the Attribute editor layout with clearer bank grouping and ordering for dimmer, shutter, strobe, beam, prism, frost and framing controls.
  • Improved 2D and 3D visualiser accuracy for gobo and animation wheels, prism selection and rotation, colour wheel projection and surface gobo masks.
0.3.4
  • Added custom Control Layouts for arranging panels, individual playbacks, palettes, executors, saved views and styled text on a flexible grid.
  • Added an admin PIN interface lock for Standard and Professional licences for limited operator access, with matching restrictions in Pocket Buddy while playback controls remain available.
  • Added optional executor clearing, which fades out other executor-triggered playbacks using their configured fade-out times.
  • Corrected GDTF mode-master handling so attribute controls, ranges and presets follow the active function, including gobo indexing, rotation, spin and prism controls.
  • Improved 3D prism beams with the configured facet count, divergence, rotation and divided brightness across every fixture, and corrected shutter, CMY colour and high-quality gobo rendering. Fixed open white prism beams appearing on only the first fixture and aligned gobo rotation across prism copies.
  • Added guided recovery for missing GDTF fixture personalities, selectable 3D render resolution.
0.3.3
  • Restored the brightness and detail of high-quality gobo beams by retaining a dedicated 16-sample patterned-beam grid.
  • Fixed live 3D beam colours for CMY fixtures by tracking resolved colour-source changes as well as DMX frame changes.
  • Fixed saved MIDI mappings appearing to be missing by opening their target sections when the MIDI Mapping view loads.
0.3.2
  • Added reusable Button Drawings for palettes, groups, playbacks, executors and views, with a built-in editor for shapes, curves, freehand artwork, styled lines and arrows.
  • Expanded macro authoring with typed $ references, array expressions, friendlier JSON editing, inline syntax help and safer handling of incomplete drafts.
  • Added saved 3D camera angles, standard view presets, perspective and orthographic projection, shaded and flat wireframe modes, and quicker access from visualiser title bars.
  • Improved 3D visualiser performance and model handling, including lower rendering overhead, faster repeated geometry and more consistent linked-object visibility.
  • Improved MIDI mapping with search, selected-control learning, a bounded scrollable list and multi-selection through the global delete workflow.
  • Consolidated Fixture Library, Universe Routing and DMX Viewer under Patch, expanded rig-location distribution and truss-chord details, and added Button Drawing artwork to Pocket Buddy groups and playbacks.
0.3.1
  • Added Show Cues for arranging multiple songs and Cue Lists on a master timecode timeline, with internal, LTC, MTC and Art-Net playback plus linked audio transport.
  • Expanded Cue List programming with clearer current and next cue displays, improved tracking, separate in and out timing, Mark support and more reliable playback ownership.
  • Added cell-aware selection and layout editing for multi-cell fixtures, richer fixture cloning and filtering, improved fixture labels and per-fixture visualiser controls.
  • Expanded MIDI mapping, playback pages, custom palette button artwork, recording tools, global history controls and reusable custom layouts.
  • Brought Pocket Buddy closer to desktop parity with playback pages, Show Cue controls, cell selection, colour and attribute editing, and improved remote state updates.
  • Improved the effects, pixel mapper, programmer, DMX output engine and 2D/3D visualisers for smoother live updates and more accurate colour, beam and fixture rendering.
  • Fixed moving playbacks into empty handles and added verified drag scrolling for touchscreens that macOS exposes as mouse input.
0.3.0
  • Added an editable WebGPU/WebGL 3D visualiser with scene hierarchy, object transforms, MVR geometry import, GDTF fixture models, live beams, haze and quality controls.
  • Added named 2D visualiser layouts with location, group and fixture filtering, flat-on location projection, layout switching and alignment tools.
  • Added Rig Drawings, power-source planning, fixture grids, richer selection and distribution tools, and expanded multi-window panel layouts.
  • Improved GDTF Share updates, multi-emitter personalities, fixture media, show-file packaging and separation between the local fixture library and patched show personalities.
  • Improved playback LTP and Fade to Fader behaviour, effect blending, flash release timing, worker-based DMX output and detailed DMX Viewer source information.
  • Fixed fixture exchange transforms, show recovery after a clean close, fixture naming, visualiser layout editing and a broad set of 2D/3D rendering issues.
0.2.7
  • Added macro authoring, AI-assisted macro generation and the local control API.
  • Added patch locations, fixture distribution, improved fixture patching and reusable default groups and palettes.
  • Expanded palette spreading, Gobo palettes, GDTF media handling, effects and visualiser feedback.
  • Updated show-file version 4 validation so current shows save, reopen and transfer between windows correctly.
0.2.6
  • Expanded GDTF fixture data, media import and attribute controls.
  • Improved effects, pixel mapping, fixture targeting and playback behaviour.
  • Added broader multi-window and workspace refinements.
0.2.5
  • Added unsaved-change handling and safer show shutdown.
  • Persisted display-window view settings and improved live engine state handling.
0.2.4
  • Added fixture exchange, timecode tools, palette timing and the on-screen keyboard.
  • Reworked the effects, pixel mapper and output engine architecture.
0.2.3
  • Added built-in update checks and the application update menu.
  • Refined release packaging and desktop layout controls.
0.2.2
  • Added Open DMX USB output and expanded output-device routing.
  • Improved visualiser beams, effects playback, licence limits and patch defaults.
0.2.1
  • Improved GDTF image storage, fixture-library resilience and application error recovery.
  • Delivered general installer and runtime stability fixes.
0.2.0
  • Added PocketBuddy remote control for phones and tablets.
  • Introduced LightBuddy licensing, customer downloads, release auditing and the commercial website.
0.1.5
  • Added virtual dimmers for colour-only fixtures.
  • Expanded pixel mapper generators and multi-segment fixture support.
0.1.4
  • Improved GDTF parsing, fixture personalities and DMX output calculations.
  • Added richer gobo, colour and shared-channel attribute data.
0.1.3
  • Added GDTF Share login, browsing and fixture import.
  • Introduced versioned macOS and Windows installer names.
0.1.2
  • Expanded playback controls, cue-list operation and DMX output routing.
0.1.0
  • Initial Electron and TypeScript release with patching, fixtures, groups, palettes, programmer, playbacks and Art-Net output.
  • Added MIDI mapping, effects and the first pixel mapper workflows.

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