If you a fan of AppImages and want a ‘centralised’ way to find, download, and update them, check out AppImage Pool.

This open source app is built using Dart and Flutter (now Ubuntu’s toolkit of choice) and it’s kind of like a one-shop app store for finding and downloading App Images on Linux.

I say kind of because AppImage Pool is a well-made frontend to the AppImage Hub. While that hub is a popular end-point for many AppImages, the packaging format’s free-roaming nature means distribution isn’t exclusive to any one place (so not every app every released as an AppImage is going to be on it).

Also, I’m not going inflict any proselytising about which app format(s) you should or shouldn’t use. That’s never been my style; use what vibes for you and ignore whatever doesn’t. If you only like to use AppImages? Have at it!

But back to this app.

a screenshot of AppImage Pool running on Ubuntu 21.10
An eye-catching carousel greets you

AppImage Pool is pitched by its creators as a “simple, modern AppImageHub Client, powered by Flutter”. It boasts the following feature set:

  • Homepage with featured apps carousel
  • Browse based on categories
  • Search
  • Upgrade and Downgrade appimages
  • Version History and multi-dowload support

The decision to create this app in Flutter is an interesting choice. Outside of Ubuntu’s new installer (and a few hokey demo apps) this is the first real-world example of a Flutter app being made specifically for Linux (rather than other Ones and happens to also run on Linux).

I have reservations about how “native” Flutter apps on Linux can be. While AppImage Pool does an excellent job of looking like it fits there are areas where the rawness of Flutter on Linux is apparent.

But none of that detracts from this being a tool that does what it sets out to. It is a great way to explore the variety of apps available in the app image format.

a screenshot of AppImages running on Ubuntu 21.10
Managing apps is easy

Want to try it out? You can install AppImage Pool from Flathub, or download it as (naturally) a standalone AppImage from Github (which is how I tried it).

If you chose the standalone root do remember that, once the download is complete, you will need to give the file permission to run before it does anything.

Let me know what you think of this app, and the amiable AppImage format in general, down in the comments!

appimages flutter