Brief: We list some of the most useful indicator applets for Ubuntu 16.04 in this article.

If you are in a mood to make the most out of your desktop; you need to install some of the best indicator applets for Ubuntu 16.04. For beginners, we will also recommend installing indicator applets as one of the first things to do after installing Ubuntu 16.04.

What is indicator applet?

When you have indicator applets (IA) installed, you may observe to have more accessibility. Also, 3rd Party software developers can make things easier by offering an indicator applet for their application. Also, indicator applets act somewhat like widgets on your iPhone or Android.

Basically, indicator applet provides an easier and quicker way to access some of the main functionalities of applications. You can get it right from the panel.

Best indicator applets for Ubuntu 16.04

We have covered best indicator applets for Ubuntu in the past. However, not every of the indicator applets that worked on Ubuntu’s previous version would work with Ubuntu 16.04. So, in this article, we will list out only the best out of the available compatible indicator applets for Ubuntu 16.04.

1. CPUFREQ: Indicator Applet To Tweak Your System’s CPU Speed

CPUFREQ is a quite helpful indicator applet that you lets you control your system’s CPU speed. While switching to a range of tasks, you can utilize this indicator to tune your system for best performance or optimize it to lower the power consumption (extending the battery life to an extent).

With that being said, the power-save mode could prevent overheating of your system if it is a common issue you encounter every day. Also, after installing CPUFRQ, you will notice it be a dynamic one (not a static indicator). So, with the help of the indicator, you can partially get to know about your CPU’s utilization.

To install CPUFREQ indicator, you will have to type in the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq

2. Netspeed Unity: Indicator Apple To Check Internet Speed

With Windows, you get a variety of applications to keep a track on your Internet data usage and the speed as well. Here, with Ubuntu 16.04, you can install Netspeed Unity indicator applet to keep a check on your Internet speed.

The indicator applet comes baked in with a variety of options. It lets you change the theme of the indicator as dark, light or current. Also, you get to adjust how the indicator looks like by changing the view mode as normal, compact or minimal. In the normal view mode, you will observe the prefixes mentioned (kb/s), and in the compact mode, you will observe less of it. Moreover, again, with the minimal view mode, the indicator will take the least space which might look clean to you.

To install Netspeed Unity, you need to type in the following commands in the terminal:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:fixnix/netspeed

sudo apt-get update

3. Simple Weather Indicator: Check Weather

You will probably need to keep track of the weather conditions while at your home or the workplace. Considering that you have a system loaded with Ubuntu 16.04, you can easily check the weather with the help of the simple weather indicator applet.

The weather indicator automatically detects your location to display the weather information. In either case, if you observe it to be inaccurate, you can simply click on the indicator and set your coordinates to get the right information. Also, you can set the indicator applet to start automatically when you boot up your system. By default, we observed that the temperature is displayed in terms of Fahrenheit scale. So, you can change it to Celsius through the preferences option.

To install simple weather indicator, type in the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install indicator-weather

4. System Load: Indicator Applet To Monitor System

If you switched from Windows to use Linux distros on your system, then you already know why Linux is better than Windows. However, you might miss the user-friendly task manager which provides you with some of the system stats you need (RAM usage, CPU usage, etc.,).

With Ubuntu 16.04, you can check similar system stats necessary using System Load Indicator applet. You can observe some of the most important system stats when you click on the indicator icon. It generally includes RAM usage, CPU utilization, I/O wait, Cache memory, disk access speed, and the Internet speed as well. However, you can keep the ones you like or are relevant to your needs by changing your preferences.

In addition, if you need to check out the complete details of the processes running, resources utilized and disk space, you can simply do that by opening system monitor through this indicator applet.

To install system load indicator applet, you need to enter the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install indicator-multiload

5. Disk Indicator: Indicator Applet To Easily Manage Drives

A simple but handy indicator applet developed by Tony George to help users quickly manage system drives. With this indicator applet installed, you can mount/unmount a drive, open a drive, and lock/unlock it as well.

Do note that you cannot open and view the swap space through a file manager. So, even if you encounter the swap space listed by the indicator available to open, simply ignore it.

To install disk indicator, you need to enter the following commands in the terminal:

sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:teejee2008/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install indicator-diskman

6. Twitch Indicator: Get Notified About Live Broadcasts

Well, sadly, there is not much scope for gaming on Ubuntu 16.04 (compared to Windows-powered systems). However, why miss keeping up with Twitch?

So, to get notifications on your favorite broadcasts or channel directly on your desktop, you can install Twitch’s indicator applet.

You can either choose to launch the broadcast through your browser or using the live streamer (which you need to install separately).

To install twitch indicator applet, you will have to first download the installer package available at Launchpad. And, then simply install it by launching it through a package manager or via Ubuntu Software Center.

7. CopyQ: Copy Quickly To Your Clipboard

CopyQ is an amazing clipboard manager. There might arise a situation when you copy a text you need but accidentally you lost it while you did overwrite it with another text. In such cases, CopyQ could come to the rescue by keeping the history of what you copied to your clipboard.

With CopyQ indicator applet installed, you can easily know what’s currently on your clipboard and what existed before. You also get the ability to delete the clipboard items or edit them for future use. In addition, you can also manually enter something to the clipboard which you want to access later with the help of the indicator applet.

You get a lot of options to adjust according to your preferences starting from the way clipboard history is managed to the appearance settings.

You need to type in the following commands in the terminal to install CopyQ applet indicator:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/indicators

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install copyq

8. Caffeine Indicator: Don’t Let Your Screen Sleep

Caffeine Indicator is a useful tool which lets you prevent the screen from turning off. This indicator usually helps when you are watching a movie or if you are away for a while but still want the screen to be active. In other words, the creators of this indicator prefer to describe it as an applet to manually control the desktop’s idle state.

To install Caffeine indicator on Ubuntu 16.04, you need to type in the following commands in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa



sudo apt-get update



sudo apt-get install caffeine

9. Keylock Indicator

You may already have physical LED indicators attached to your system (or keyboard). But, are they convenient enough?

Unless you are an expert, every time you write something, you need to take a look at the indicator lights which might distract you for a second. So, in that case, the keylock indicator applet would prove to be more efficient.

The keylock indicator notifies you of a keylock right at your desktop in real-time without any visible delay. Also, when you click on the indicator, you can get to know what keylocks are active and what are not.

To install the keylock indicator, you need to enter the following commands in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tsbarnes/indicator-keylock

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install indicator-keylock

10. Clear Desktop Indicator

Do you have a lot of files or shortcuts on your desktop? Do you feel like it is ruining the look but it is still needed for quick access?

If that is the case, the clear desktop indicator could help you. The user needs to simply click on the indicator and then select to clear the desktop to remove all the icons to make it look cleaner as you want it to be. Fret not, it does not delete the files or shortcuts residing on the desktop, it simply cleans them. If you want to access the folders or shortcuts that you had earlier, you need to click on the indicator again to open the folder and access them.

You need to first download the installer package and then install it.

Wrapping Up

So, finally, now you know about 10 of the best indicator applets available for Ubuntu 16.04. According to what you need and what you perform on your system, we would definitely recommend installing the suitable indicator applets to make your desktop more productive.

Did we miss any of your favorite indicator applets that you already use in Ubuntu 16.04? Is there an interesting indicator applet you think we should know about?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.