1. Home/
  2. Howtos/
  3. How to Install Rhythmbox 3.4 in Ubuntu Gnome 16.04 via PPA

How to Install Rhythmbox 3.4 in Ubuntu Gnome 16.04 via PPA

Last updated: September 4, 2016

Rhythmbox music player

Gnome’s default music player, Rhythmbox, has reached the 3.4 release. It has been made into the universe repository (to be default) for Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety.

Rhythmbox 3.4 comes with a new remote web control plugin, allows users to control the basic music playback remotely via a web browser.

Other changes in Rhythmbox 3.4:

  • Grilo plugin now uses Grilo 0.3
  • Soundcloud plugin fetches more search results and allows pausing
  • No longer uses webkit (partly due to OpenBSD W^X enforcement)
  • Slightly better handling of keyboard shortcuts for playback
  • Core and some plugin data files compiled into binaries using GResources
  • Memory leak and plugin fixes, translation updates, etc.
  • See more in NEWS page.

Rhythmbox 3.4

rhythmbox 3.4 web control plugin

Install Rhythmbox 3.4 in Ubuntu 16.04

Besides building the new release from source, you can install Rhythmbox 3.4 in Ubuntu Gnome 16.04 via a third-party PPA repository.

Tried both official Rhythmbox 3.4 build in Ubuntu 16.10 daily and the PPA backports in Ubuntu 16.04, there are a few issues found in my case:

  • No menu (global or title bar menu) in Unity Desktop
  • new web control plugin does not work in my browser

If you intend to install Rhythmbox 3.4 via PPA, follow below steps:

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fossfreedom/rhythmbox

Add rhythmbox PPA

2. Update package index and install the 3.4 packages:

sudo apt update; sudo apt install rhythmbox rhythmbox-plugins

DO NOT use apt upgrade, because the PPA also contains GTK 3.20 backports you may not want.

3. Remove the PPA after installation, via either Software & Updates -> Other Software or the command below:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:vascofalves/gnome-backports && sudo apt update

4. (Optional) To revert back to Rhythmbox 3.3, purge the PPA via ppa-purge

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:fossfreedom/rhythmbox
In Howtos ,
 permalink

    Twitter

    I'm a freelance blogger who started using Ubuntu in 2007 and wishes to share my experiences and some useful tips with Ubuntu beginners and lovers. Please comment to let me know if the tutorial is outdated! And, notify me if you find any typo/grammar/language mistakes. English is not my native language. Contact me via [email protected] Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/ubuntuhandbook1

    One response to How to Install Rhythmbox 3.4 in Ubuntu Gnome 16.04 via PPA

    1. Ali January 3, 2017 at 12:57 pm

      Tried this on LM Serena, removing the ppa gives this response;

      You are about to remove the following PPA:
      Backports of GNOME packages. This is for my personal use. Don’t expect anything here to work properly.
      More info: https://launchpad.net/~vascofalves/+archive/ubuntu/gnome-backports
      Press Enter to continue or Ctrl+C to cancel

      failed to remove PPA: ‘[Errno 2] No such file or directory: ‘/etc/apt/sources.list.d/vascofalves-gnome-backports-xenial.list”

      The upgrade was successful, finally coverart browser is working, v3.3 crashed every time I tried to enable the plugin. But lLyrics plugin is gone though. I’m still trying to find a way around. If you have the solution, lemme know please. Thanks!