App Center (formerly Ubuntu Software and Software Center) is the program for Ubuntu users to install applications and manage them on Ubuntu computer and laptop. It is an official application of Ubuntu that makes it different to other GNU/Linux systems. We write this article as an explanation to the first item listed in our published compilation List of Ubuntu Default Applications and Their Purposes. We hope this helps everyone including you Ubuntu beginners. Now let's start sharing Free Software together once again!
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a) Explore category: found here featured applications in general.
b) Featured category: found here apps recommended by The Ubuntu Project and Canonical.
c) Productivity category: found here apps for work and production such as web browsers, office suites, printing and emailing among many others.
d) Development category: found here apps and tools for software engineering aka programming such as language compilers/interpreters, IDEs, database editors, API development environments, etc.
e) Games category: found here games such as real-time strategies, first-person shooters, role-playing games, racing, etc.
Description
App Center (formerly Ubuntu Software Center) is the central for Ubuntu users to manage, search, install and updates both desktop and server applications in the system. App Center is an official application, that means, coming from The Ubuntu Project and Canonical and made as a crucial part of Ubuntu to distinguish it from third-party apps like Firefox made by Mozilla.
Purposes
App Center serves Ubuntu users the following purposes:
- Makes it easy
- To search
- To install
- To remove
- To update
- Software applications and games
- In both DEB package as well as SNAP package formats
- From both traditional/regular Ubuntu DEBs repository as well as Snapcraft.io repository
Pro Tip!
Want to learn about Snap? Please read our Snap Guide Made Easy that includes explanation as well as step by step practices you can follow. Good luck!
Example of Use
Take example for searching and installing FreeCAD a libre parametric computer-aided design software similar to AutoCAD:
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a) Searching: finding a desired application for example "freecad" will show FreeCAD as well as other applications related to it.
b) Search results: here you can filter out packages "freecad" from Snap repository or freecad from DEB repository. You can select which to install. Example here show only one package freecad from DEB repository.
c) Search results: example of when Snap category selected will show FreeCAD packages available from Snapcraft.io repository instead.
d) The actual application: once you select an application, this page will show it. For example, this page shows FreeCAD with the green button "Install" visible and other info.
e) More information: scroll down the page to see pictures/screenshots and more details about the application such as size, versions, publisher/developer, as well as official website and licensing.
f) Version selector: click the version drop-down to see and select a version of available versions (if any). Thanks to Snap technology, Ubuntu users can install and run multiple/different versions of an application without breaking each others.
Location on Screen
On Ubuntu 24.04 "Noble Numbat", it is located the sixth (6th) from the top of the Dash. It is placed between Writer and Help. See illustration below.
How To Run the Program
1. Regular way: Click Ubuntu button -> type "app center" -> click App Center (orange logo) -> App Center runs.
2. Terminal way: run Terminal -> type "snap-store" followed by Enter -> App Center runs.
3. Alternative way: press Alt+F2 -> type snap-store followed by Enter -> App Center runs.
Tutorials on App Center
We have published tutorials and articles about using Ubuntu App Store you can read:
1. How To Search, Install, Remove Apps and Games on Ubuntu
2. List of Package Management System Tutorials on Ubuntu
Contributing to App Center
App Center is a Free/Libre and Open Source Software developed in public by a community of people. It is written in Dart with Flutter framework and licensed under GNU GPL v3 license. Everyone is invited to join the development and that would be a great contribution to the society in general and the Ubuntu community in particular. You can join the project to better improve and advance App Center by helping writing code, drawing artworks, translating languages, testing bugs and fixing them, and many more including educating people to use Free Software like it. Visit their official websites at GitHub as well as Ubuntu Developer Forum.
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