OptimusUI
OptimusUI provides a user-friendly solution for managing NVIDIA Optimus dual-graphics systems on Linux laptops and helps save battery life through intelligent GPU switching.
Challenge
NVIDIA Optimus laptops on Linux currently offer no comfortable solution for managing older graphics cards that cannot automatically shut down. Community tools do exist, but they are exclusively terminal-based and fragmented across different distributions and desktop environments. There is particularly a lack of a user-friendly, unified interface in the form of a Flatpak application that makes this functionality accessible to users without command-line knowledge.
Solution
Our solution is a wrapper application as a Flatpak that combines multiple existing Optimus tools under a unified user interface, making it completely distribution and desktop-independent. It provides users with a clear GUI featuring live status display of the dedicated graphics card and simplifies GPU management to a minimum.
OptimusUI – The Graphical Solution for NVIDIA Optimus on Linux
Linux users with NVIDIA Optimus laptops know the problem: older dedicated graphics cards cannot be actively shut down on Linux, which wastes power unnecessarily and reduces battery life. While several community tools such as nvidia-prime, envycontrol, prime-select, SUSEPrime, and optimus-manager exist that enable this functionality, they are exclusively terminal-based and offer no unified, user-friendly interface. Moreover, there is no good GUI application for these tools that is distribution and desktop-independent, and certainly no solution packaged as a Flatpak.
This is precisely where OptimusUI comes in. The application functions as a wrapper for existing Optimus tools and combines their functionality under a modern, unified user interface. As a Flatpak application, OptimusUI is completely distribution and desktop-independent. Whether Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, openSUSE, or even immutable distributions, whether GNOME, KDE, XFCE, or other desktop environments: OptimusUI works everywhere. The application displays the current status of your dedicated graphics card and allows you to switch between integrated and dedicated GPUs with just a few clicks, completely without the terminal.
Screenshots
Main Window
