Incorrect wxWidgets Version

This page is to inform users of Audacity 2.x of usability problems if it is built with wxWidgets 3.0 or later. This affects for example the packaged Audacity 2.0.6 supplied by Ubuntu 15.04. You can look at the About Audacity dialog then the Build Information tab to check the version of wxWidgets that was used.

Audacity 2.x below 2.1.2 requires wxWidgets 2.8.12

You most likely reached this page from an incorrectly built version of Audacity that uses wxWidgets 3.0 or later.

Audacity 2.x below 2.1.2 should be compiled with the previous stable release of wxWidgets (2.8.12) which is still available on http://wxwidgets.org/downloads/. Ubuntu and Linux Mint users who do not want to compile Audacity are recommended to try installing an unofficial PPA build of Audacity 2.1.0 or 2.1.1 release compiled against wx2.8.12.

The developers have been fixing Audacity bugs when using wx3, so that the next 2.1.2 release of Audacity will support and require wx3.0.2 rather than wx2.8.12. For those using Audacity HEAD compiled against wx 3.x, please see below for the remaining wx3 problems that we know about (for all platforms).

ID	P	Status	Summary (22 tasks) ⇒
139	P-Sum	REOPENED	Summary: Mac Accessibility Issues
1206	P2	RESOLVED	Toolbar height too small when not docked
1166	P3	CLOSED	libmp3lame.dylib file unselectable by default.
1247	P3	NEW	Linux: TAB does not stay in its own tooldock/moving to and from tracks does not access upper tooldock.
1119	P3	REOPENED	Mac: Window menu's list of open windows not available
1193	P3	RESOLVED	Timeline text too large/lower tooldock text far too small.
904	P4	CLOSED	WX3: No splashscreen if using wx3
885	P4	NEW	Linux: WX3: Renaming track in Track dropdown menu operates Transport shortcuts
907	P4	NEW	Linux: WX3: Automatic Crash Recovery interface issues
910	P4	NEW	Linux: WX3: Segfault manually locating FFmpeg
774	P4	NEW	Windows: WX3: Meters flash on and off when Meter Preferences are open.
908	P4	NEW	Linux: ASSERT playing audio after adding a label
1063	P4	NEW	Win/Linux: Effects are not modal in other projects.
1153	P4	RESOLVED	In dialogs for select audio host, etc, ok and cancel buttons can be squashed and unreadable
1202	P4	RESOLVED	Mac OS X: Unwanted slider interactions with focus and Device Toolbar.
1099	P4	RESOLVED	Window size not restored on launch
778	P4	RESOLVED	Summary: Windows: NVDA Accessibility Issues (in wx3)
1222	P4	RESOLVED	Scrollbar areas flicker when recording or scroll-scrubbing.
1201	P4	RESOLVED	Mac OS X: Toolbar handle tooltips only visible on mouse down
640	P4	RESOLVED	WX3: Label Tracks: Cannot UP/DOWN out of multiple label tracks. Cannot UP/DOWN out of single label track unless there is a closed label.
776	P4	RESOLVED	Track Dropdown Menu does not open with SHIFT + M shortcut.
1100	P4	RESOLVED	Export options not shown when export dialog first opened

Correct as at 24 Oct 2015.

See https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/buglist.cgi?keywords=wx3&resolution=--- for the latest position.

2.1.0 and 2.1.1 stable release PPA's built against wx2.8.12

For users of Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, 14.10, 15.04 and 15.10, also Linux Mint 13 and 17 there is a recommendable PPA of Audacity 2.1.0 or later releases built against wx2.8.12: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntuhandbook1/+archive/ubuntu/audacity. FFmpeg support is included and is known to work in Ubuntu 15.04, but does not export correctly in Ubuntu 14.10.

Uninstall the packaged version of Audacity before installing the PPA.