Relic
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Install Relic

Get Relic on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad, with the download for each one and what the first launch asks you for.

· Every platform

Every download is on the front page of relic.space, which picks out the one for the machine you are reading on. Pick your platform below for the details.

Windows

  1. Get the installer
    If you use winget, one line does it. Otherwise download the installer from the download section and open it.
    terminal
    winget install relic
  2. Run it
    Relic installs into your own user folder, so there is no administrator prompt. It puts a shortcut in your Start Menu.
  3. Find it in the tray
    Relic has no window of its own sitting on your desktop. It waits in the tray, next to the clock. Press Ctrl + Shift + Q from any app to open it.
  4. Let it update itself
    Relic checks for a new version on its own. The tray menu has Check for updates…, and it becomes Install update once one is ready.

Mac

  1. Open the disk image
    The Mac download is a disk image. Open it and open Relic inside.
  2. Let it move to Applications
    On that first launch Relic offers to install itself properly, under the heading Relic runs from your Applications folder. Press Install and reopen and it copies itself across and opens again from there. The other button is Quit. If your Mac refuses the copy, Relic opens your Applications folder in Finder and asks you to drag it in yourself.
  3. Find it in the menu bar
    Relic lives in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click the icon, or press Ctrl + Shift + Q from any app.
  4. Decide about Accessibility
    On first run Relic asks for one macOS permission, under the heading Let Relic paste for you. It uses it to put the item you pick straight into the app you were just in. Press Open Accessibility settings to grant it, or Skip for now. Skipping costs you nothing else: Relic still keeps everything you copy, and picking an item still copies it. You press ⌘V yourself.

Linux

Two downloads, the same build. The tarball is the default because it depends on nothing at all. The AppImage is one file, so it is the only one Relic can update by swapping in place.

  1. Take the tarball, or the AppImage
    Both are on the download page. Extract the tarball anywhere and run the app inside it. For the AppImage, make it executable first.
    terminal
    # the tarball: extract it, then run the app inside
tar -xf relic-*-linux-x64.tar.gz
./relic-*-linux-x64/relic_app

# the AppImage: make it executable, then run it
chmod +x relic-*-x86_64.AppImage
./relic-*-x86_64.AppImage
  2. Make sure FUSE is there, for the AppImage
    The AppImage mounts itself with FUSE. Current distributions ship what it needs (it runs on a stock Ubuntu 24.04, which has fuse3). On an older machine with nothing usable, run it with --appimage-extract-and-run, or take the tarball.
  3. Let it add itself to your launcher
    Nothing installs system-wide and there is no package manager step. On first run Relic writes its own launcher entry and icon into ~/.local/share/applications/, so it shows up in your launcher like anything else. Its vault lives in ~/.local/share/relic.
  4. Check which session you are in
    Relic is built for X11, and it is honest about the difference. On X11 everything works: the shortcut from any app, summoning the window, and pasting your pick back where you were. On Wayland the desktop does not hand any app a global shortcut or let it press keys, so the shortcut reports itself as unavailable and there is no paste-back. Capture and sync still work. Use your desktop's own shortcut settings to open Relic if you want a key for it.
    terminal
    echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

Plain GNOME has had no system tray for years. Relic asks the session first, so on a desktop with no tray it points you at your keyboard shortcut instead of at an icon that is not there. Install the AppIndicator extension and the icon appears.

Android

  1. Install from Google Play
    Relic is on Google Play.
  2. Sign in
    Sign in with the same account you use on your computer and your vault comes down to the phone.

A phone will not let an app watch the clipboard in the background, so Relic on Android does not capture on its own. You send things in with the share sheet, or paste them into the app. Everything already in your vault is there to search. Capture on Android shows the ways in.

iPhone and iPad

  1. Install from the App Store
    Relic is on the App Store. The same download covers iPhone and iPad.
  2. Sign in
    Sign in with the same account you use on your computer and your vault comes down to the phone or the tablet.

The same rule applies here. iPhone and iPad do not let an app read the clipboard in the background, so you send things in with the share sheet rather than having them picked up for you. Capture on iPhone shows the ways in.

What happens next

On a computer, the first launch walks you through making a vault or signing in to one you already have. That is the first run, step by step, including the recovery kit you should save somewhere safe.

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