Synapse is a semantic graphical launcher written in Vala that you can use to start applications as well as find and access relevant documents and files by making use of the Zeitgeist engine, a service that logs activity.
With a quick keyboard shortcut, users can launch an application or take action on a certain file, depending on the plugins installed.
The software is released under an open source license.
Key Features
- Light and fast.
- Browse recent items.
- Actions.
- Audio – allows you to play/enqueue music files.
- Applications – searches your desktop files.
- Audio – allows you to play/enqueue music files in Banshee.
- Places.
- Documents.
- Images.
- Video.
- Contacts.
- Internet – search with DuckDuckGo.
- Gnome session – log out, shut down, restart.
- Hybrid search – complete Zeitgeist results by searching for similar files.
- Rhythmbox – play/enqueue music files in Rhythmbox.
- UPower – suspend & hibernate your computer.
- Zeitgeist – search anything logged by Zeitgeist.
- Plugin support. Examples include Banshee, Rhythmbox, Devhelp, Dictionary, Log out/Shut Down/Suspend, and quick Terminal commands.
Website: launchpad.net/synapse-project
Support:
Developer: Michal Hruby, Alberto Aldegheri, Tom Beckmann, Rico Tzschichholz
License: GNU GPL v2, GNU GPL v3, GNU LGPL v2.1

Synapse is written in Vala. Learn Vala with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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