AppManager is a GTK/Libadwaita developed desktop utility in Vala that makes installing and uninstalling AppImages on Linux desktop painless. It supports both SquashFS and DwarFS AppImage formats, features a seamless background auto-update process, and leverages zsync delta updates for efficient bandwidth usage. 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.

This AppImage bundles everything and it should work on any Linux distro, including old and musl-based ones.

It also doesn't require FUSE to run, thanks to the uruntime

• 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.
• Background app updates: Optional automatic update checks with configurable interval (daily, weekly, monthly) and notifications when updates are found.

• valac, meson, ninja
• Libraries: libadwaita-1 (>= 1.6), gtk4, gio-2.0, glib-2.0, json-glib-1.0, gee-0.8, libsoup-3.0
• Runtime tools: 7z/p7zip-full, dwarfs, dwarfsextract

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

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 cmake desktop-file-utils jq

sudo dnf install vala meson ninja-build gtk4-devel libadwaita-devel glib2-devel json-glib-devel libgee-devel libsoup3-devel p7zip p7zip-plugins cmake desktop-file-utils jq

sudo pacman -S vala meson ninja gtk4 libadwaita glib2 json-glib libgee libsoup p7zip cmake desktop-file-utils jq

Default setup

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

Build and install

meson compile -C build
meson install -C build

• 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

AppManager supports multiple languages. Want to help translate to your language? See the translation guide for instructions.

Currently supported: German, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Latvian, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazil), Swedish, Chinese (Simplified).

GPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.