Flicker

Emberly's desktop app for screenshots, recordings and uploads on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Flicker is Emberly's own desktop app. Press a shortcut, pick an area, and the link is on your clipboard a moment later. It works with embrly.ca and with self-hosted Emberly servers.

Download

Get Flicker from embrly.ca/downloads, which picks the right installer for your system. Every release is also on the GitHub releases page.

System	Download
Windows	`.exe` installer or `.msi` package
macOS	`.dmg`, separate downloads for Apple silicon and Intel
Linux	`.AppImage`, `.deb` or `.rpm`

Flicker updates itself: Settings → About checks for new versions and installs them.

The installers aren't code-signed yet. Windows may warn about an unknown publisher; choose More info → Run anyway. On macOS, move Flicker to Applications, then run xattr -cr /Applications/Flicker.app once in Terminal if macOS says Flicker is damaged or can't be checked.

Open Flicker and choose how to sign in:

Sign in with your browser (recommended). Flicker shows a short code and opens embrly.ca. Check the code matches and click Approve. Flicker gets its own key, named after your computer, which you can revoke any time in Profile → API on the website.
Email and password, if you'd rather not use the browser.
Upload token, pasted from Profile → Uploads on the website.

The sign-in screen shows which server you're signing in to. To use a self-hosted Emberly, click Change next to it and enter your server's address; Flicker checks it's an Emberly server before switching.

Capture and Upload

Action	Default shortcut	What it does
Capture region	`Ctrl+Shift+X`	Drag an area on any screen, or click once to capture a window
Capture screen	`Ctrl+Shift+S`	The screen your cursor is on
Capture all screens	`Ctrl+Shift+A`	Every monitor in one image
Record video	`Ctrl+Alt+R` (`Cmd+Shift+R` on macOS)	Press again to stop
Upload clipboard	`Ctrl+Alt+U`	Upload a copied image or file
Open Flicker	`Ctrl+Alt+F` (`Control+Option+F` on macOS)	Show the window, or hide it if it's in front

Shortcuts work while Flicker is in the background. Change them in Settings → Hotkeys; Reset to defaults puts them back.

You can also drag files onto Flicker's Upload page, or use the quick actions there.

When an upload finishes, the link is copied to your clipboard and you get a notification with a sound. You can change both in Settings → Preferences.

Closing and Reopening

By default, closing the window keeps Flicker running in the system tray (the menu bar on macOS), so your shortcuts keep working. To get the window back, press Open Flicker (Ctrl+Alt+F), click the Flicker icon in the tray, or open Flicker again from the Start menu, Dock or a shortcut.

To minimize to the taskbar (Dock on macOS) or quit instead, change Settings → Preferences → Window. To quit from the tray, right-click the icon and choose Quit.

Pages

Page	What's there
Upload	Quick actions for every capture type, drag and drop, and your recent uploads
History	Your latest 100 files from Emberly, including ones uploaded from the website or other devices
Shorten	Shorten a link; the short link is copied as soon as it's ready
Stats	Uploads over the last 14 days, with views and downloads
Settings	Account, Capture, Hotkeys, Preferences and About

Settings

Tab	Settings
Account	Who you're signed in as, your upload token, perks, and signing out
Capture	Screenshot and recording options, default visibility and password for uploads, and which domain links use
Hotkeys	Every shortcut
Preferences	Theme, text size, sounds, notifications, what's copied after an upload, and what closing the window does
About	Updates, the activity log, console logs for bug reports, and links

macOS Permissions

Flicker needs Screen Recording to capture the screen, and Accessibility for shortcuts to work in other apps. Settings → Capture shows whether each is granted, with a button to open the right System Settings page. After granting Screen Recording, quit and reopen Flicker.

The same section shows whether Flicker starts at login. While its window is open, Flicker has a Dock icon and shows in Cmd+Tab; when you close it, it stays in the menu bar.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Try
A shortcut does nothing	Another app may use the same keys. Pick a different one in Settings → Hotkeys. On macOS, check Accessibility permission.
Screenshots are black or only show the wallpaper (macOS)	Grant Screen Recording, then quit and reopen Flicker.
Uploads fail	Check you're still signed in under Settings → Account. If you revoked Flicker's key on the website, sign in again.
Something else	Settings → About → Activity log shows what went wrong. Copy the console logs into a bug report.

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