Open source audio editor Audacity has issue a new patch release with a sizeable set of bug fixes, including an appreciable one for Ubuntu users using the official Audacity AppImage.

Audacity 3.7.2, the second point update in the currently Audacity 3.7 series which debuted in October of last year, fixes FFmpeg loading in its official AppImage when run on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (and Linux distributions based off of it).

Which is welcome.

Elsewhere, Audacity’s noise reduction filter regains a “Residue” option thanks to a community contribution, and no longer screws up pasting content copied from a clip by offsetting its beginning.

The software also will warn if a users tries to save a project originally made in an older version of Audacity. Due to the app’s lack of backwards compatibility, silently saving it as a new project made it impossible to then open the file in an older version.

When adding realtime effects to a track in Audacity 3.7.2 the editor now opens the effect settings immediately, saving you needing to open it yourself. Duplicating tracks now gives the clones their own realtime effect instances.

Other changes in Audacity 3.7.2 include:

  • Automatic tempo detection can now be disabled
  • Modules don’t need to be updated for patch releases
  • Cloud saving is now more reliable
  • Mew “get effects” button next to the Upload Audio button

An array of crash fixes also feature, including a particularly pesky one triggered by applying effects to multiple tracks with one track (i.e., a gap between tracks) empty.

Other fixes in Audacity 3.7.2 include:

  • Audio pasted in wrong time position when pasting to the start of the same clip
  • Misc. crashes emanating from the Mixer window
  • Range-selection beyond the edge of a clip being destructive
  • Audacity continuing to scroll after letting go of the scrollbar
  • Black stripes no longer appear when zooming with envelope or multi-tool
  • Text label colours now correct in dark themes
  • High precision trackpad zoom tweak

Update: A hot-fix follow up, Audacity 3.7.3, has since been released with two fixes:

  • Incorrect results when applying effects to multiple clips
  • ‘Truncate Silence’ fails to work when there is more than one silent part

In all, a sizeable set of refinements which podcasters, musicians, ASMR content creators (don’t pretend you don’t read) and other audio editing enthusiasts are sure to appreciate.

Oh, and tracking for Windows and macOS…

Audacity 3.7.2 introduces tracking on Windows and macOS but not on Linux—no, don’t reach for the pitchfork unduly! As tracking goes this is fairly benign and all users are prompted to opt-in/out, upfront, before anything gets sent anywhere.

Tracking is contentious, and Audacity is aware of it.

It says a random UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) is assigned to an Audacity install. This is then ‘pinged’ back each time the app is opened to allow the team to discover how many people use the app and, more importantly, how often.

They’re particularly interested to know whether people continue to use Audacity beyond the first session, I.e., what’s the bounce rate.

The Audacity UUID is, they say, not linked to any personally identifiable information; it’s a random number assigned to the install. Only if a user opts-in will the UUID be sent, and all it does it allow the team to see that a specific UUID, e.g., used Audacity twice in a month.

All users are presented with an option to accept or decline participating — if choosing to opt-out, no UUID is created, thus nothing can be sent.

That’s all per the Audacity Privacy Policy (at the time this article was written).

Download Audacity 3.7.x

Head to the Audacity website to download the latest version of the software for Windows, macOS, or Linux. There you can also find out more detail on the app, its features, and various “commercial” add-ons and enablements available for it.

The Linux version is provided as an AppImage. This is a standalone all-in-one app bundle that works across Linux distributions. To run AppImages on Ubuntu you now need to install a small library from the Ubuntu repos to get them to work.

I will note that although the AppImage is official, it won’t look as good on Ubuntu as the native distro package does. This is because the AppImage is built using WxWidgets rather than Qt. If you want a nicer UI, opt for an unofficial Flatpak or PPA build.

If you don’t need the latest features, all versions of Ubuntu have an older version of Audacity packaged in the repos, but an apt install audacity away from being used.