Ubuntu’s new “App Center” app has arrived in Ubuntu 23.10 daily builds – no Snap channel commands required to test it out.
The new front-end for installing Snap and Deb package is built using Flutter. Ubuntu made Flutter its ‘default choice’ for app making in 2021. Yet despite being built in a somewhat unconventional1 toolkit, the new software store looks totally in-keeping with the rest of the Ubuntu desktop.
I know hearing (or rather seeing) that will be a relief to many!
The “old” Ubuntu Software/Snap Store app (it was called both during its tenure) was routinely criticised by users for poor performance, high memory usage, and inconsistent behaviour. App Center starts afresh; it’s not a fork of GNOME Software.
While it’s too early to say definitively that App Center avoids the aforementioned pain points, my own hands-on testing of it in the past few months is positive. It feels faster and more responsive than the app it replaces.
Visually, the app is pleasant. The homepage is clean and uncluttered, logically ordered, and uses eye-catching banners to draw interest when scrolling. App listing pages put the install button within easy reach, and relays info on license, download size, confinement, and links to the publisher.
Screenshots (an important factor when perusing stuff to install) are large, clear, and prominent. Clicking on an image opens it in a Lightbox for close-up inspection.
App Center Caveats
There are some drawbacks — though I’m loathe to linger on them too long given that development is in flux. The “big one” is that, at the time I write this, there is no support for finding/installing repo/deb software — though a code pull-request which looks like it enables this functionality is pending.
Also at the time of testing (see the screenshots) you’ll notice that App Center lacks an application icon in the Ubuntu Dock (and there’s no entry for in the App Grid either). Again, temporary flaws for which fixes are no-doubt imminent.
Those not sold on Snaps as a packaging format will find App Center at odds with their tastes. It’s distributed as a Snap for one (there’s no deb build of it in the Ubuntu repo that I can see) which means those who run sudo apt purge snapd after installation will lose it.
Similarly, there is no Flatpak/Flathub support in Ubuntu App Center. The idea is a non-starter and has been robustly ruled out by developers.
Summary
The creation of Ubuntu’s App Center has its roots in an unofficial, community-made app (which I naturally featured here on the blog at the time). I can’t recall of many instances in Ubuntu’s history where a third-party app has been adopted and made official – which is quite something!
Of course, Ubuntu’s desire to ship its own app store (i.e. one not based on GNOME Software) goes back further. In 2019 I was (politely) asked by Canonical to remove a post I’d published that gave an early-look at a new Snap-only software store they were developing (which, it seems, never came to anything).
In summary, App Center has landed in Ubuntu 23.10 daily builds. It looks, works, and performs better (already) than the app it replaces. Support for installing non-Snaps is currently MIA but is only a temporary omission for now.
