How to Install Flatpak and Snap App Store on Linux on Chromebook [GUI]

While Linux support on the Chromebook is a welcome improvement, it doesn’t mean much to general consumers. One of the reasons is the lack of a graphical user interface (GUI) for the Linux App Store, which prevents people from discovering and using Linux apps on the Chromebook. However, there is a way to install a GUI App Store on Linux and here I will show you how to get it. In this article, we provide a detailed guide on how to install Flatpak and Snap App Store on Linux on Chromebook. Both of these app stores are very popular in the Linux ecosystem, so you will have access to a large number of popular Linux apps on Chrome OS. Having said all that, let’s learn how to set up a GUI app store in Linux on Chromebook.

• Install Flatpak on Linux on Chromebook

Although Flatpak has a significantly small app store, It’s officially supported on Chromebooks and the apps work pretty well.. That’s why we mentioned Flatpak at the beginning of this article. Other than that, Flatpak comes with its own library of core packages and sandbox tools, which is great. Now, let’s install Flatpak on Linux on Chromebook.

1. Open terminal and run the following commands one by one. Flatpak will install in a few minutes.

sudo apt install flatpak
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

In case 2, Your Chromebook shows some errors or displays “Permission Denied” then run sudo su First to get root access. Equivalent to gaining Administrator Privilege on Windows PCs. Following that, execute the other commands one by one. Finally, Flatpak will be installed on your Chromebook.

sudo su
sudo apt install flatpak
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

3. Now that you have successfully installed Flatpak, let’s install a GUI application so you can easily discover, install, and manage Linux apps on Chrome OS. Run the commands below and it will install the GUI app store.

sudo su
sudo apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak

4. After installation, you will find an application named “Software” inside the Linux folder in the App Drawer. Turn it on and there you go. A GUI store for Linux apps on Chromebook. This is great, isn’t it? you can here Explore and search a range of Linux apps and install them with just one click. All apps will be installed from Flatpak repository.

5. While the GUI app store is great, sometimes it doesn’t work properly. Here are command line instructions to help you install Linux apps on your Chromebook via Terminal. To find the apps you want to install flathub Explore your browser and Linux applications.

6. Now, Open the app you want to install and scroll down. Here you will find the command to install the application via Terminal. Copy and run the command in Terminal to install the application. For example, here is how you can install Spotify via Flatpak.

Note: Again and again, run sudo su First to get root access. Following that, execute flatpak commands.

sudo flatpak install flathub com.spotify.Client

7. Once installed, you will find the program in your app drawer Under Linux folder. Alternatively, you can run it via Terminal using the command below.

sudo flatpak run com.spotify.Client

8. Here some important Flatpak commands this can help you when dealing with Linux apps on Chrome OS.

• Search for apps inside terminal:

sudo flatpak search <search_query>

• List all Flatpak Installed Applications:

sudo flatpak list

• Uninstall an app installed via Flatpak:

sudo flatpak uninstall <app_name>

• Update all apps:

sudo flatpak update

• Install Snap Store on Linux on Chromebook

Snap Store is very popular in the Linux community and many people prefer it to other app packaging platforms because of its huge app store. So here I will show you how to set up Snap Store on Linux on Chromebook. After saying this, I was able to install most of the apps during my tests, but they didn’t work very well. You can still try Snap Store on your Chromebook and see if it works for you.

1. Open the Linux Terminal and execute the following commands one by one. It will install the Snap Store on your Chromebook.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install snapd

2. At any stage, if you get any errorto run sudo su first and then continue with other commands.

sudo su
sudo apt update
sudo apt install snapd

3. Now, to install any app, to go Snap Store on the web and find your app selection. Also, click on the install button in the top right corner and you will get the command to install the app. Copy it and run the command in Terminal. In a few minutes the application will be installed. For example, here is the command to install VLC.

sudo snap install vlc

4. After installation, using the following command run the application.

sudo snap run vlc

5. If you want Search for Linux apps directly in Terminal then you can do it with the following command. After that, you can install the app in step 3 based on its regular name or package name.

sudo snap find <search_query>

6. Also, here few important Snap commands You’ll need it when dealing with the terminal.

• List all Snap Installed Apps:

sudo snap list

• Uninstall an app installed via Snap:

sudo snap remove <app_name>

• Update all apps:

sudo snap refresh

7. You can also: Install the GUI version of Snap Store with the following command. It will be much easier for you to discover and install Linux apps on a Chromebook. However, I was unable to install the apps due to a login error in my tests. Still, you can try and see if it works on your Chromebook. After installation, you will find Snap Store in App Drawer under Linux folder.

sudo apt-get install gnome-software-plugin-snap

Enjoy GUI App Store on Linux on Chromebook

So we looked at the two most popular app stores and how to install Flatpak on Linux and Snap App Store on Chromebook. While both app stores are great and reliable, I think Flatpak works better on Chromebook. It installed apps without errors and we were able to run them directly from the App Drawer. So go ahead and install the app store you find interesting and reliable. Anyway, that’s it for us. If you liked the article, comment below and let us know. Also, you can now enable GPU acceleration, which will make the use of Linux apps on a Chromebook much smoother and faster.

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