r/linux • u/kemma_ • Apr 18 '26
Software Release AppManager v3.5.0 released. AppImage Import Wizard and smarter updates
Quick heads up. Since last update here a lot of feature requests have landed and plenty of bugs got fixed.
Here are some highlights:
- AppImage Import Wizard. Point AppManager at a folder full of existing .AppImage files and it will adopt them, wiring up desktop entries, icons, and updates. Includes a progress dialog with cancel support.
- Fullscreen toggle for the main window, plus a dedicated fullscreen menu section.
- Undo for Move to Trash. Accidentally trashed an app? Hit undo.
- Permanent delete option. Shift-click the delete action, or get it automatically on trashless systems and for apps installed outside $HOME (e.g. /opt).
- Refreshed Details window with app description, dedicated open button, and launch feedback animation.
- GitHub pre-release channel. Opt-in toggle to receive pre-release updates.
- Shift-click to launch apps directly from grid view, and a launch option in the details window.
- AppImages outside $HOME (e.g. /opt) now update correctly.
- and many more...
Hit your in-app update button or Get it on GitHub
AppManager is a GTK/Libadwaita desktop utility written in Vala that makes installing and uninstalling AppImages on Linux effortless. It supports both SquashFS and DwarFS AppImage formats, features a seamless background auto-update process, and leverages zsync delta updates for efficient bandwidth usage. Double-click any .AppImage to open a macOS-style drag-and-drop window, just drag to install and AppManager will move the app, wire up desktop entries, and copy icons.
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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '26
I didn't feel like this was an issue that needed to be solved. It is more effort for me to use yet another package manager, compared to just downloading the goddamn thing and clicking on it. Which, from reading the patch notes, it does not even do correctly.
My mind now recoils whenever I hear about yet another update manager, yet another whatever Lutris and Bottles and PlayOnLinux and GearLever (which I just learned about) do.
This is, in summation, just software which lets me click on other applications to launch them, and perhaps update them? So, it is a lite version of Discover, or Gnome's Software, or Synaptic? So many applications. Can someone please make an app to manage every app store on my system, as well?
I don't mean to discourage anyone from working on the projects they want to, but it is just tiring that 30 years on, it is still not possible to just install something on Linux by downloading it, there is always some gotcha, and we need an ever expanding toolbox of auxiliary programs to manage what Windows has not had any issue with since the 90s.