The redesign of the Flathub app store for Linux is now live, bringing with it a refreshed look along with showing verified developers and their apps. A much needed change that really does look a whole lot better.
With the new launch everything just looks a lot cleaner, and having a proper verification system in place means you will know if you're downloading something maintained by the creators and not a third-party. There's even a category just for verified apps.
Pictured above is an example of the Games category which features not just games but launchers, emulators and more, everything related to gaming. You can see the blue ticks to clearly show verified apps.
While the front-page isn't massively different, the biggest visual change is to individual app pages. There's quite a bit more detail included on them like install size, download size, how many people have installed it, direct links to the website and documentation for help, a graph of installs over time, a collapsible changelog of the most recent update and more.
On Mastodon, the Flathub maintainer Bartłomiej Piotrowski mentioned "A redesign of #Flathub is live! Drop by https://flathub.org to see all the shiny new things, such as developer verification and download graphs. There's more under the hood, including the long awaited subsets to enable only verified or FLOSS apps. Stay tuned for more updates!".
Flathub has quickly become my go-to place first to find downloads for any apps on Linux now. Especially with it being the main way to install extra apps on the Steam Deck too (through Discover), it's nice to have things the same across different systems.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Last edited by Avikarr on 22 April 2023 at 10:36 am UTC
Schattenspiegel Apr 22, 2023
Quoting: SchattenspiegelWow... that is a study in how not to design a webpage.
This is why we can't have nice things. Imagine if you're the developer who put hours of work in to that site and then somebody just turns up and says it blows. If you don't like something at least have the good manners to be constructive in your criticism.
Last edited by Duckeenie on 22 April 2023 at 12:33 pm UTC
Schattenspiegel Apr 22, 2023
Quoting: DuckeenieQuoting: SchattenspiegelWow... that is a study in how not to design a webpage.
This is why we can't have nice things. Be constructive man.
Sorry, just a bit of frustration over the state of the world in general venting and indeed a bit unhelpful I'll admit. ;-)
What I meant was priority of information on the app pages - what is really important to identify and install the app should be immediately accessible without having to scroll through neat, but low priority data.
Screen-space could also be used more efficiently so scrolling in general is kept to a minimum.
Look at the size of the screenshot area compared to the size of actual screenshots for example or the wastefulness of the enormous 'more'-button in the change-log-section - the hidden information could have already been displayed in the empty wasteland on the upper parts of the page while still looking more tidy and neat.
Advertisers tend to waste space like that a lot these days in order to show off their products, but from a user perspective, these sites are always quite annoying and fatiguing to use. And an App-store with free to use software should probably prioritize user-experience(fast delivery of relevant information and low user workload) first and then worry about making it look appealing as the cherry on top.
Quoting: SchattenspiegelQuoting: DuckeenieQuoting: SchattenspiegelWow... that is a study in how not to design a webpage.
This is why we can't have nice things. Be constructive man.
Sorry, just a bit of frustration over the state of the world in general venting and indeed a bit unhelpful I'll admit. ;-)
What I meant was priority of information on the app pages - what is really important to identify and install the app should be immediately accessible without having to scroll through neat, but low priority data.
Screen-space could also be used more efficiently so scrolling in general is kept to a minimum.
Look at the size of the screenshot area compared to the size of actual screenshots for example or the wastefulness of the enormous 'more'-button in the change-log-section - the hidden information could have already been displayed in the empty wasteland on the upper parts of the page while still looking more tidy and neat.
Advertisers tend to waste space like that a lot these days in order to show off their products, but from a user perspective, these sites are always quite annoying and fatiguing to use. And an App-store with free to use software should probably prioritize user-experience(fast delivery of relevant information and low user workload) first and then worry about making it look appealing as the cherry on top.
As the one that implemented those changes, please post your design docs somewhere where I can evaluate them.
Keep in mind, descriptions can be multiple pages long or not.
Screenshots can exist or not. They will also be big or small, sometimes on the same apps.
Please also make sure it works on widescreens and phones.
CyborgZeta Apr 22, 2023
Quoting: AvikarrTo be honest, Flatpak is awesome, but in the same time I hate it :P It updates almost every day, especially "org.Freedesktop.Platform", and files for nvidia driver etc. And it is aroud 400-800Mb every time. Daaamn. It's so frustrating, because I have to use the internet which has limited data usage. I know, I don't have to update this, but...So, uh, change your notification settings? Make it only check weekly or bi-weekly.
Of course, I'm the guy that has 0 email notifications enabled at work. Why? I'll check it when I have a good moment to switch cognitive context, which is often enough. I also have all system update notifications disabled at home because I'm so addicted to routine, you can guarantee I'll keep it updated on a regular cadence.
You do you... just a tip.
pentarctagon Apr 22, 2023
Quoting: GuestMaybe they tried that and saw that nvidia drivers binary file change too much between updates, I dont know.
Flathub doesn't host the nvidia driver so it downloads from nvidia.com every time.
This should change in the future: https://github.com/flathub/org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia/pull/167
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