BioManagerDownload
Download BioManager. Free, with no account and no subscription.
For macOS, Windows and Linux, and the Android app for a lab's server. Your data stays on your computer or your lab's own server.
- Your data stays yours.Your records never leave your computer or your lab's server unless you connect a calendar or email. Once a day BioManager sends its makers anonymous counts, never names, which an admin can switch off.
- Nothing is locked in.Settings → Export my data downloads every record you keep, whenever you like.
- Free, for good.Released under the MIT licence: use it, share it, change it.
Version 1.0.6 · What's new in this version
On your phone
The phone apps open your lab's BioManager server — the same data as everyone in the lab, with a Scan button for cage cards. Ask your lab's admin for the server's address.
iPhone, or no app: open the server in Safari or Chrome and choose Share → Add to Home Screen (iPhone) or ⋮ → Install app (Android). On Android, allow your browser to install the .apk when it asks.
Read the user guide · All releases and what changed
Like BioManager? Star it on GitHub.
A star helps other labs find it. Found a bug, or missing something your lab needs? Tell us on GitHub.
Unzip and move it
On a Mac, drag BioManager into Applications. On Windows, extract the whole zip first (right-click → Extract All), then open BioManager.exe in the extracted folder, not from inside the zip. On Linux, mark the AppImage executable and open it.
Open it the first time
macOS: right-click → Open, then Open. Windows: More info → Run anyway. They ask once, because the app isn't signed by Apple or Microsoft.
Set up your lab
Create your account (the first is the admin) and tick what your lab keeps. BioManager makes just those databases, then Getting started walks you through the first steps. The user guide has the rest.
FAQ
Good to know.
Where is my data kept?
On your computer, outside the app, so updating or reinstalling never touches it:
~/Library/Application Support/Biomanager/ on macOS, %APPDATA%\Biomanager\
on Windows and ~/.local/share/Biomanager/ on Linux. Settings → Export my data
downloads your records as a zip at any time.
Can I keep the database in Dropbox, OneDrive or iCloud?
Please don't. Sync services corrupt database files mid-write. BioManager warns you if it finds itself in a synced folder. For a lab, run it on a server instead, which everyone can use at once.
Can the whole lab use it?
Yes, on a lab server: a lab computer on your network, a university VM, or a free cloud VM with Tailscale. New sign-ups wait for an admin's approval; you edit what you own, shared cages belong to everyone in them, and every change is recorded. Every option, its cost and the steps.
How safe is our data?
A server backs up every night, restores the newest backup every week to prove it works, and can keep encrypted copies off-site and on your own computers. Bulk changes can be undone, and every edit is in the history. How the copies are kept.
Is there a phone app?
Yes, for a lab server: the Android app opens your lab's server full screen and scans cage cards. On an iPhone or iPad, open the server in Safari and tap Share → Add to Home Screen: it gets its own icon and opens full screen like an app. The desktop app on one computer is private to that computer, so phones can't reach it.
Linux: the AppImage doesn't open.
Mark it executable first (right-click → Properties → Allow executing, or chmod +x BioManager-Linux.AppImage).
If it still won't start, your system may lack FUSE: install libfuse2, or use the .tar.gz and run
BioManager/BioManager.
Windows: an error appears instead of BioManager.
Messages such as Unhandled exception in script, Failed to load Python DLL or 'gbk' codec can't decode mean one of these:
- It was opened from inside the zip. Close it, right-click the zip → Extract All, and open BioManager.exe in the extracted folder.
- It is version 1.0.5 or older on a Windows set to Chinese, Japanese or Korean. Those versions don't start there. Download the latest version above: an old copy that never opened can't offer the update itself.
- Antivirus removed some of its files (360, Huorong and others sometimes do, because the app isn't signed). Allow BioManager in the antivirus, then extract the zip again.
Still stuck? Open an issue with a screenshot of the message.
Windows 10: BioManager opened in my web browser.
Its window needs Microsoft Edge WebView2, a free part of Windows that Windows 11 includes and some Windows 10 PCs lack. BioManager offers to download it from Microsoft (choose Yes) and works in your browser meanwhile; leave its message open while you use it. Once WebView2 is installed, open BioManager again and it has its own window.
Why does my computer warn me when I first open it?
BioManager isn't signed with an Apple or Microsoft developer certificate, so the system asks you to confirm once. On a Mac, right-click the app and choose Open; on Windows, choose More info, then Run anyway.
Does it work for organisms other than mice?
Zebrafish, Drosophila and C. elegans have their own modules. For anything else, Add database lets you describe the organism — its words, how it's counted, what it needs — without any programming.
Is it related to BiocManager, the R package?
No. BiocManager is Bioconductor's installer for R packages. BioManager is a separate app for running a lab: its animals, stocks, supplies, calendar and notebook. You don't need R to use it.
Is it really free?
Yes. BioManager is released under the MIT licence: use it, share it, change it.
I found a bug or want a feature.
Open an issue on GitHub — please say which system you're on and what you expected to happen.