AppManager

AppManager is a GTK/Libadwaita developed desktop utility in Vala that makes installing and uninstalling AppImages on Linux desktop painless. 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.

Features

• Drag-and-drop installer: Mimics the familiar macOS Applications install flow.
• Smart install modes: Can choose between portable (move the AppImage) and extracted (unpack to ~/Applications/.installed/AppRun) while letting you override it.
• Desktop integration: Extracts the bundled .desktop file via 7z or dwarfs, rewrites Exec and Icon, and stores it in ~/.local/share/applications.
• Simple uninstall: Right click in app drawer and choose Move to Trash, can uninstall in AppManager or simply delete from ~/Applications folder.
• Install registry + preferences: Main window lists installed apps, default mode, and cleanup behaviors, all stored with GSettings.
• Auto update apps: Automaticaly update apps from github, gitlab or from direct links. Simply add download URL.
• Background update checks: Optional automatic update checks with configurable interval (daily, weekly, monthly) and notifications when updates are found.

Requirements

• valac, meson, ninja
• Libraries: libadwaita-1 (>= 1.5), gtk4, gio-2.0, glib-2.0, json-glib-1.0, gee-0.8, libsoup-3.0
• Runtime tools: 7z/p7zip-full, dwarfs, dwarfsextract

Install

Simply download latest app version, enable execute and double click to install it.

Build

Install development dependencies

(click to open)

Install the development packages required to build AppManager on each distribution:

• Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt install valac meson ninja-build pkg-config libadwaita-1-dev libgtk-4-dev libglib2.0-dev libjson-glib-dev libgee-0.8-dev libgirepository1.0-dev libsoup-3.0-dev p7zip-full

• Fedora:

sudo dnf install vala meson ninja-build gtk4-devel libadwaita-devel glib2-devel json-glib-devel libgee-devel libsoup3-devel p7zip p7zip-plugins

• Arch Linux / Manjaro:

sudo pacman -S vala meson ninja gtk4 libadwaita glib2 json-glib gee libsoup p7zip

Default setup

meson setup build

Or if you prefer user Home install

meson setup build --prefix=$HOME/.local

Build and install

meson compile -C build
meson install -C build

CLI helpers

• Install an AppImage: app-manager --install /path/to/app.AppImage
• Uninstall by path or checksum: app-manager --uninstall /path/or/checksum
• Check if installed: app-manager --is-installed /path/to/app.AppImage
• Run a background update check: app-manager --background-update
• Show version or help: app-manager --version / app-manager --help

License

GPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.