GNOME Software is a utility for installing applications and updates on Linux. It is part of the GNOME Core Applications, and was introduced in GNOME 3.10.[3]
It also supports fwupd for servicing of system firmware.[6]
GNOME Software supports automatic updates for Flatpak applications, but not for system packages or updates. This was introduced in GNOME 3.30 released in 2018. Users can control whether Flatpak updates are automatically downloaded and installed[7]
GNOME Software removed Snap support in July 2019, due to code quality issues, lack of integration (specifically, the user can't tell what snap is doing after they click "install" and that it generally ignores GNOME's settings), and the fact that it competes with the GNOME-supported Flatpak standard.[8]
Features
The goals and use cases that GNOME Software targets as of November 2020:[9]
Primary goals
Allow people to find apps by browsing or search:
a specific app that they're looking for, or
apps in a particular category, or with particular functionality that they require
Allow people to effectively inspect and appraise apps before they install them (screenshots, descriptions, ratings, comments, metadata)
Allow people to view which apps are installed and remove them
Present a positive view of the app ecosystem
Reinforce the sense that there are lots of high quality apps
Encourage people to engage with that ecosystem, both as users and as contributors
When browsing, present and promote the best apps that are available
Facilitate accidental discovery of great apps
Handle software updates. Make software updates as little work for users as possible. To include: apps, OS updates (PackageKit, eos, rpm-ostree), firmware
Support multiple software repositories, defined by both the distributor and users.
Show which repos are configured. Allow them to be added/removed.
Handle cases where the same app can be installed from multiple sources.
Secondary goals
OS upgrades
Hardware driver installation
Input method installation
Respond to application queries for software (apps, codecs, languages)
Offline and metered connections
OS updates end of life
App end of life
Non-goals
Not a package manager front-end
Not all repos are equal
Not all apps are equal
See also
gnome-packagekit – another GTK-based front-end for PackageKit, which unlike GNOME Software can handle packages, not just applications, and has some advanced features that are missing in GNOME Software