Installation Guide

Welcome to Orchard! This guide will help you install the desktop music client on Windows, macOS, or Linux, as well as Orchard Mobile, the standalone Android client, on your phone.

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Windows Installation

Orchard is distributed as a standard setup executable for Windows.

1. Download the installer: Get the latest Orchard <version>.exe from the downloads portal.
2. Launch the setup: Double-click the downloaded executable to start the installation.

⚠️ Windows Defender SmartScreen Notice

Because Orchard is a self-published project and is not signed with an expensive commercial EV certificate, Windows Defender SmartScreen may display a warning stating that it “protected your PC” when you launch the installer. (im not paying microsoft 120$+ a year for an EV cert)

To complete the installation:

1. Click More info on the alert window.
2. Click the Run anyway button that appears. (why is this hidden?)

Once accepted, Orchard will install and launch automatically.

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macOS Installation

Orchard 3.0.2 and newer is distributed as separate unsigned ZIPs for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

1. Download Orchard: Get Orchard-<version>-mac-arm64.zip for an Apple Silicon Mac, or Orchard-<version>-mac-x64.zip for an Intel Mac, from the downloads portal.
2. Extract the app: Double-click the ZIP, then move Orchard.app to your Applications folder.
3. Try to open Orchard: Double-click the app once so macOS records the blocked launch.
4. Allow the app: Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the security notice for Orchard, and click Open Anyway.
5. Confirm: When the warning appears again, click Open.

Because this build is not signed or notarized with an Apple Developer ID, macOS cannot verify its developer automatically. Only override Gatekeeper if you downloaded Orchard from the official Orchard download page. See Apple’s official instructions for opening an unnotarized app.

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Linux Installation

Orchard is packaged in several native and portable Linux formats to support most major distributions.

1. AppImage (Portable)

The AppImage format is a single executable file that runs on almost any distribution.

1. Download the Orchard-<version>.AppImage.
2. Open a terminal in your download folder and make the file executable:

   chmod +x Orchard-*.AppImage

3. Double-click the file to launch it, or execute it from the terminal:

   ./Orchard-*.AppImage

2. Debian / Ubuntu (.deb)

For Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, and other derivatives:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ./orchardv2_*_amd64.deb

3. Fedora / RHEL / SUSE (.rpm)

For Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, or OpenSUSE:

sudo dnf install ./orchardv2-*.x86_64.rpm

4. Arch Linux (.pkg.tar.zst)

For Arch Linux, Manjaro, or EndeavourOS:

sudo pacman -U orchard-*-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

5. Flatpak

Install the bundle, then launch it from your desktop menu or the terminal:

flatpak install --user Orchard-*.flatpak
flatpak run dev.sfg.orchard

Two notes for Flatpak users. Discord Rich Presence needs access to Discord’s IPC socket at $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/discord-ipc-0, and Orchard Connect needs the sandbox to permit network access, which the published manifest already does.

arm64 Linux

The AppImage and Flatpak are both published for arm64 as well as x86_64, built on native arm64 runners rather than cross-compiled. Download the file with arm64 in its name for a Raspberry Pi, an Ampere box, or an arm64 laptop.

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Verifying your download

Every release publishes a SHA256SUMS.txt alongside the packages. Since the Windows and macOS builds are unsigned, checking the hash is the best assurance you have that the file is the one that was actually built.

Download SHA256SUMS.txt into the same folder as the package, then:

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing

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Android (Orchard Mobile)

Orchard Mobile is a standalone native Android client. It plays music on its own, keeps its own library, and signs in to YouTube Music directly, so it works with or without a desktop nearby. It can also pair with Orchard desktop to hand playback back and forth over your local network.

Orchard Mobile requires Android 12 (API 31) or newer.

1. Download the APK: Fetch the latest Orchard Mobile APK to your Android device.
2. Allow Installation: If prompted by your browser or file manager, enable “Install unknown apps” or “Install from unknown sources” for that application.
3. Run Installation: Open the downloaded APK and select Install.
4. Launch: Open Orchard from the app drawer. Search and playback work immediately; sign in from Profile → Account to load your own library.

For the full feature list and the desktop pairing flow, see Orchard Mobile and Orchard Connect.