{"slug": "flathub", "name": "Flathub", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 12, "warners": 5, "score": -0.334, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2026-01-02", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "https://flathub.org is generally the main app store for Linux containerized phone apps.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 5}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "https://flathub.org is generally the main app store for Linux containerized phone apps.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "flathub.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://flathub.org/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Flathub"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 779052369, "item_id": 48690773, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48690773", "by": "seba_dos1", "date": "2026-06-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Checking Flathub should give you some idea", "excerpt": "Checking Flathub should give you some idea: https://flathub.org/en/apps/collection/mobile/1 There are more, not every application that works fine has metadata filled up (and not everything is on Flathub either). I do use some webapps, but with Epiphany rather than Firefox.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Jolla Phone, Over 13 500 units sold"}, {"id": 752532144, "item_id": 47033259, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033259", "by": "linmob", "date": "2026-02-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "is the better link IMHO", "excerpt": "Nitpick regarding apps: https://flathub.org/en/apps/collection/mobile/1 is the better link IMHO, even if not all apps in it do actually perform great on mobile [0], and some apps that work well on Mobile are not part of the collection due to lacking some bits in app metadata [1]. Help with sorting this out is very much welcome :-) [0]: https://framagit.org/linuxphoneapps/linuxphoneapps.frama.io/-/issues/94 [1]: https", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux app store", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pocketblue - Fedora Atomic for Mobile Devices"}, {"id": 752484417, "item_id": 47030276, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030276", "by": "nikodunk", "date": "2026-02-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "https://flathub.org is generally the main app store for Linux containerized phone apps.", "excerpt": "It's a new-ish project FYI. But to answer your questions: - Apps: It's Linux (like desktop or server), but \"image-based\" so you install apps in containers like iOS or Android do (and therefore OS updates basically-never break). https://flathub.org is generally the main app store for Linux containerized phone apps. - Screenshots: It'll look the same as other Linux-on-phones, so like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postm", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pocketblue - Fedora Atomic for Mobile Devices"}, {"id": 743543089, "item_id": 46471443, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471443", "by": "Alupis", "date": "2026-01-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Flathub[3] is the primary place to get GUI apps", "excerpt": "GUI apps often come in Flatpak[1] these days - which are sandboxed[2] like you are expecting. Flathub[3] is the primary place to get GUI apps, but many distros also have their own app store too. Flatseal[4] is a GUI that allows you to mange the sandboxes/permissions. You can also manage them via cli if you prefer. For CLI apps, you can use distrobox[5] or toolbx[6]. [1] https://flatpak.org/ [2] https://docs.flatpak.o", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 804311265, "item_id": 50269454, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50269454", "by": "phasephantasm", "date": "2026-10-28", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "don't perform basic Flathub developer verification", "excerpt": "(2/3) Flatpak is very far from a sufficient sandbox when app developers define their app's permissions, users either need to interact with the `flatpak` CLI, install a third party app or be KDE Plasma users in order to edit app permissions, many permissions are granted superfluously and users who mean to revoke them really have no way of knowing what is necessary for an app's correct operation, nor do apps themselves", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux app store", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Advantages of Mobile Linux over AOSP (LineageOS, CrDroid, GrapheneOS, etc.)"}, {"id": 775016912, "item_id": 48438557, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48438557", "by": "josteink", "date": "2026-06-07", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Flathub has banned any software developed using AI or which is \u00abethically questionable\u00bb.", "excerpt": "Flathub has banned any software developed using AI or which is \u00abethically questionable\u00bb. I\u2019m pretty sure that excludes Claude Desktop. https://www.techtimes.com/articles/317463/20260531/flathub-ai-ban-blocks-every-submission-type-flatpak-repos-enforcement-hits-open-source-hardest.htm", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Anthropic, please ship an official Claude Desktop for Linux"}, {"id": 773425440, "item_id": 48339090, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48339090", "by": "nextaccountic", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "The policy as it stands is contradictory with flathub practice", "excerpt": "It's weird because I am sure that a large number of established apps in flathub, such as.. Chromium https://flathub.org/en/apps/org.chromium.Chromium has AI-assisted code, and this bans all AI-assisted code The policy as it stands is contradictory with flathub practice, unless it specifies that already accepted apps are grandfathered or something like that.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Flathub prohibits AI-generated code"}, {"id": 763035953, "item_id": 47689747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47689747", "by": "cguess", "date": "2026-04-08", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Flatpak and Flathub still break all the time", "excerpt": "I've run Linux as a daily driver recently Flatpak and Flathub still break all the time. Not to mention the last time I bumped my Nvidia drivers nothing decided to open anymore. Any OS that requires even once going to the command line is unusable for 99% of the population (and for me I just shouldn't ever have to).", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Veracrypt Project Update"}]}], "who": [{"by": "vyskocilm", "context": "former sysadmin", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464865", "date": "2026-01-02"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["linux app store", "installing apps"], "compared": [{"slug": "flatpak", "name": "Flatpak", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47025085", "title": "Pocketblue - Fedora Atomic for Mobile Devices", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50263847", "title": "The Advantages of Mobile Linux over AOSP (LineageOS, CrDroid, GrapheneOS, etc.)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270764", "title": "I hate packaging my software for Linux", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48687272", "title": "Jolla Phone, Over 13 500 units sold", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48434436", "title": "Anthropic, please ship an official Claude Desktop for Linux", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48321326", "title": "Flathub prohibits AI-generated code", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1}, "2026-04": {"warn": 1}, "2026-05": {"warn": 1}, "2026-06": {"warn": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"warn": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "quotes": [{"id": 804311265, "item_id": 50269454, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50269454", "by": "phasephantasm", "date": "2026-10-28", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "don't perform basic Flathub developer verification", "excerpt": "(2/3) Flatpak is very far from a sufficient sandbox when app developers define their app's permissions, users either need to interact with the `flatpak` CLI, install a third party app or be KDE Plasma users in order to edit app permissions, many permissions are granted superfluously and users who mean to revoke them really have no way of knowing what is necessary for an app's correct operation, nor do apps themselves", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux app store", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Advantages of Mobile Linux over AOSP (LineageOS, CrDroid, GrapheneOS, etc.)"}, {"id": 788354464, "item_id": 49272154, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49272154", "by": "_sinelaw_", "date": "2026-08-12", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "makes it clear they don't welcome these types of submissions", "excerpt": "Flathub (not sure if these are the same people behind Flatpak) makes it clear they don't welcome these types of submissions: https://docs.flathub.org/docs/for-app-authors/requirements", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I hate packaging my software for Linux"}, {"id": 779052369, "item_id": 48690773, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48690773", "by": "seba_dos1", "date": "2026-06-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Checking Flathub should give you some idea", "excerpt": "Checking Flathub should give you some idea: https://flathub.org/en/apps/collection/mobile/1 There are more, not every application that works fine has metadata filled up (and not everything is on Flathub either). I do use some webapps, but with Epiphany rather than Firefox.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Jolla Phone, Over 13 500 units sold"}, {"id": 775016912, "item_id": 48438557, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48438557", "by": "josteink", "date": "2026-06-07", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Flathub has banned any software developed using AI or which is \u00abethically questionable\u00bb.", "excerpt": "Flathub has banned any software developed using AI or which is \u00abethically questionable\u00bb. I\u2019m pretty sure that excludes Claude Desktop. https://www.techtimes.com/articles/317463/20260531/flathub-ai-ban-blocks-every-submission-type-flatpak-repos-enforcement-hits-open-source-hardest.htm", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Anthropic, please ship an official Claude Desktop for Linux"}, {"id": 773425440, "item_id": 48339090, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48339090", "by": "nextaccountic", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "The policy as it stands is contradictory with flathub practice", "excerpt": "It's weird because I am sure that a large number of established apps in flathub, such as.. Chromium https://flathub.org/en/apps/org.chromium.Chromium has AI-assisted code, and this bans all AI-assisted code The policy as it stands is contradictory with flathub practice, unless it specifies that already accepted apps are grandfathered or something like that.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Flathub prohibits AI-generated code"}, {"id": 763035953, "item_id": 47689747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47689747", "by": "cguess", "date": "2026-04-08", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Flatpak and Flathub still break all the time", "excerpt": "I've run Linux as a daily driver recently Flatpak and Flathub still break all the time. Not to mention the last time I bumped my Nvidia drivers nothing decided to open anymore. Any OS that requires even once going to the command line is unusable for 99% of the population (and for me I just shouldn't ever have to).", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Veracrypt Project Update"}, {"id": 759769298, "item_id": 47485581, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47485581", "by": "et1337", "date": "2026-03-22", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Flathub is pretty sparse", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve been driving Bluefin DX for a year or two. On the plus side, it works absolutely flawlessly. This is the longest I\u2019ve ever run a Linux distro without a Nvidia driver update causing the whole thing to explode. It truly is the year of Linux on the desktop. But I can\u2019t say I recommend it for dev work. It wants you to do everything inside devcontainers, which I like in theory but in practice come with so many annoya", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I love NixOS"}, {"id": 752532144, "item_id": 47033259, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033259", "by": "linmob", "date": "2026-02-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "is the better link IMHO", "excerpt": "Nitpick regarding apps: https://flathub.org/en/apps/collection/mobile/1 is the better link IMHO, even if not all apps in it do actually perform great on mobile [0], and some apps that work well on Mobile are not part of the collection due to lacking some bits in app metadata [1]. Help with sorting this out is very much welcome :-) [0]: https://framagit.org/linuxphoneapps/linuxphoneapps.frama.io/-/issues/94 [1]: https", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux app store", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pocketblue - Fedora Atomic for Mobile Devices"}, {"id": 752484417, "item_id": 47030276, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030276", "by": "nikodunk", "date": "2026-02-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "https://flathub.org is generally the main app store for Linux containerized phone apps.", "excerpt": "It's a new-ish project FYI. But to answer your questions: - Apps: It's Linux (like desktop or server), but \"image-based\" so you install apps in containers like iOS or Android do (and therefore OS updates basically-never break). https://flathub.org is generally the main app store for Linux containerized phone apps. - Screenshots: It'll look the same as other Linux-on-phones, so like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postm", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pocketblue - Fedora Atomic for Mobile Devices"}, {"id": 743977441, "item_id": 46498590, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498590", "by": "coffeeaddict1", "date": "2026-01-05", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Flathub [0] had an initiative in this direction, but not sure what happened to that.", "excerpt": "This works for Blender because they're a big fish and receive money from big corporations. The vast majority of good open source projects are underfunded or unpaid. Linux distros need a way to streamline payments to open source apps. As I mentioned above, Flathub [0] had an initiative in this direction, but not sure what happened to that. [0] https://itsfoss.com/news/flathub-paid-apps", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why Microsoft Store Discontinued Support for Office Apps"}, {"id": 743543089, "item_id": 46471443, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471443", "by": "Alupis", "date": "2026-01-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Flathub[3] is the primary place to get GUI apps", "excerpt": "GUI apps often come in Flatpak[1] these days - which are sandboxed[2] like you are expecting. Flathub[3] is the primary place to get GUI apps, but many distros also have their own app store too. Flatseal[4] is a GUI that allows you to mange the sandboxes/permissions. You can also manage them via cli if you prefer. For CLI apps, you can use distrobox[5] or toolbx[6]. [1] https://flatpak.org/ [2] https://docs.flatpak.o", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop"}, {"id": 743437843, "item_id": 46464865, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464865", "by": "vyskocilm", "date": "2026-01-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Everything is installed from Flathub.", "excerpt": "> I don\u2019t feel like a consumer, but a janitor. I don\u2019t want this. I think it was Jorge Castro, the creator of Universal Blue, who called it the sysadmin culture. Most Linux distros are made by sysadmins for sysadmins, and you're expected to change and configure your system. I was a sysadmin myself for a long time. I used Slackware; switched from the 2.4 kernel to 2.6; tweaked CFLAGS on Gentoo; replaced SysV init with", "context": "former sysadmin", "use_case": "installing apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}]}