How to install the App Outlet app store on Linux
Have you ever wished you could install Snap packages, Flatpak apps, and AppImage programs all in one place on Linux? With App Outlet, you can. It’s a beautiful GUI app store that makes getting your favorite Snaps, Flatpaks, and AppImages easier than ever! Here’s how to get it going on your system.
Getting App Outlet
Before we go over how to use App Outlet on your Linux PC to install Flatpaks, Snap packages, and AppImage files, we must demonstrate how to install the App Outlet program on Linux.
To start the installation, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, follow the installation commands below that correspond with your Linux operating system.
Ubuntu instructions
The developers of App Outlet distribute a DEB package on their GitHub page, ensuring that Ubuntu Linux users have an easy time getting the program working. To get your hands on the DEB package for App Outlet, use the wget download command below.
wget https://appoutlet.herokuapp.com/download/deb -O app-outlet.deb
Once you’ve downloaded the DEB package on your Ubuntu PC, you can load up the package by running the dpkg command.
sudo dpkg -i app-outlet.deb
Following the installation of the App Outlet DEB package, you may see errors in the terminal prompt. To fix this issue, read our guide on how to correct Ubuntu dependency errors.
Debian instructions
There’s a DEB package available for App Outlet, so Debian Linux users will have an easy time getting the store up and running. To get the DEB package on your Debian system, use the following wget download command below.
wget https://appoutlet.herokuapp.com/download/deb -O app-outlet.deb
When the DEB package is done downloading on your Debian Linux PC, you can install it with the dpkg command.
sudo dpkg -i app-outlet.deb
Once the App Outlet DEB package is installed, you may notice some errors in the terminal prompt. To fix this issue, please follow our guide on correcting Debian dependency errors.
Snap package instructions
There’s a Snap version of App Outlet out there, which is perfect for most Linux operating systems. To start the Snap installation, ensure you have the Snapd runtime set up. Then, use the command below to install App Outlet.
sudo snap install app-outlet
AppImage instructions
It is possible to run the App Outlet store on any Linux distribution via an AppImage. This method is great for those who need to get App Outlet working, but cannot run DEB packages or Snaps. To get your hands on the AppImage version of App Outlet, use the wget download command below.
wget https://appoutlet.herokuapp.com/download/appimage -O app-outlet.AppImage
After downloading the AppImage file, use the chmod command to update the permissions of App Outlet.
sudo chmod +x app-outlet.AppImage
Finally, start-up App Outlet by running:
./app-outlet.AppImage
Source code
The source code for App Outlet is available online for Linux users who prefer to compile software from scratch. To install it, head over to the App Outlet GitHub page, and install the various dependencies it requires to run (Git, and NodeJS).
After installing the dependencies required to build App Outlet on your Linux PC, use the git clone command to download the source code.
git clone https://github.com/app-outlet/app-outlet.git
Once the source code is done downloading, use the CD command to move the terminal session into the “app-outlet” directory.
cd app-outlet
From here, you can install the project’s dependency files with the npm command.
npm install
Finally, compile the source code for App Outlet. Keep in mind that the building process may take a bit of time to complete.
npm run electron:linux
How to use App Outlet to download software
Installing software with App Outlet works almost identical to any other software store on Linux (Gnome Software, Elementary AppCenter, KDE Discover, and so on.) If you’d like to install software from it, launch the program on your Linux PC. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to install apps!
Step 1: Locate the “search box” in App Outlet, and click on it with the mouse to enter into search mode.
Step 2: Start typing out the name of the app you’d like to install (like Spotify, for example). Then, press the Enter key to tell App Outlet to run a search.
Step 3: Look through the search results for the app you want to install. Want to install via Snap package? Select the “Snap” button. Or, choose Flatpak or AppImage to choose apps for those.
Step 4: After selecting the app you want to install in the search results, you will go to its app page. On that page, locate the “Install” button, and click it with the mouse.
Step 5: Enter your password (if prompted) and allow App Outlet to install the software you selected. Be sure to repeat this process to install as many apps as you want from Flatpak, Snap, and AppImage on Linux!
