If you’re someone who frequently switches between different audio sources on Ubuntu, you might find that the default labels for audio devices are often quite technical and not very user-friendly. For instance, instead of seeing the device as "Your Bluetooth Headset", you might see something like "BT-01 Headset #2".
Fortunately, Ubuntu offers a way to rename these audio devices to something more descriptive and intuitive. This can streamline your audio management and enhances visual clarity in settings and applications. As Ubuntu utilizes Pipewire as its sound server along with Wireplumber as the session manager, there are multiple methods to accomplish this, but the simplest one is through a tool called Simple Wireplumber GUI.
Getting Started with Simple Wireplumber GUI
To use this tool, you’ll need to install it from Flathub, which requires that you have Flatpak set up on your Ubuntu system. The app is relatively lightweight, downloading in under 400KiB:
flatpak install flathub io.github.dyegoaurelio.simple-wireplumber-guiBefore running the application, you’ll have to grant it permission to write in your home directory, as it’s necessary for creating a configuration file. You can do this via command line:
sudo flatpak override io.github.dyegoaurelio.simple-wireplumber-gui --filesystem=hostUsing the App
Once the app is launched, you’ll find a straightforward interface split into three tabs: Physical Devices, Output Nodes, and Input Nodes. Navigate through these tabs to select the audio device you wish to rename.
Click the pencil icon next to the device name and enter your desired label. To finalize the changes, click ‘Apply Changes’. The application may prompt you to reboot your system for the changes to take effect, but often, simply restarting the Wireplumber service suffices:
systemctl --user restart wireplumber.serviceReverting Changes
If you ever decide to revert the device names back to their original labels, you can uninstall the Simple Wireplumber GUI, but the name changes won’t be automatically removed. To clear your custom names, run:
flatpak run io.github.dyegoaurelio.simple-wireplumber-gui --clear-settingsAlternatively, you can delete the configuration file located in ~/Home/.config/wireplumber.
While renaming audio devices may seem like a small change, it can significantly enhance your overall experience on Ubuntu, making it more organized and easier to manage your audio settings.
For more details on how to get the app, check Simple Wireplumber GUI on Flathub.