AppGlider v0.9.9

0.9.9 is the last release before 1.0.0. Please try it and report anything that goes wrong or feels unclear: bugs, confusing wording, apps that won't install or update. Anything reported now can still be fixed in 1.0.0.

New

• Run your own commands before and after installing (#10). Settings → Updates has a new Install commands panel. A command before installing runs on every download before it is used, for example clamscan --no-summary {file} to scan it for viruses. If the command fails, the install stops and the current version stays. A command after installing runs once the new version is in place; if it fails, you only see a warning. They run for installs, updates, Update all and AppImages added from a file, but not for Roll back. Both are empty until you fill them in.
• Choose whether an app stays in your library. Uninstall and Forget now ask whether to also remove the app from your library. The box starts unticked, so the app stays listed and can be installed again. Remove from library is offered only when nothing is installed.
• Add and install in one step. After looking up a repository, Add and install adds the app and installs it straight away. A file copy on the Add page can be cancelled.
• Roll back beside the previous copy. Roll back now sits next to the earlier copy under Versions and can hold that version, so the next update check doesn't offer the newer one again.

Fixes

• Readable in every theme. Hints, faint text, status chips and links are now easy to read in the light and dark themes with every accent colour.
• Update all skips apps that are open instead of stopping, names any app that failed, and says why it stopped when it hits GitHub's rate limit or goes offline. Cancelling keeps the summary of what was done.
• Clearer errors. Failures that need you to act open a dialog that names the app and the action, and full-disk and permission errors are explained in plain words. Moving AppGlider and rolling back ask before they start.
• Moving AppGlider into its folder replaces an older AppGlider file of the same name that is already there.
• Uninstalling no longer pauses for several seconds while it checks whether the app is running.
• Version numbers with a + in them work, and long app names no longer go over the file name limit.

Behind the scenes

• An AppImage you pick from your computer is never run just to read its details. AppGlider reads them from the file itself.
• Actions are blocked while another task is running, and the tray reports check results and finished tasks when the window is hidden.

If you run 0.9.0 or later, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.8...v0.9.9

AppGlider v0.9.8

New

• Add an AppImage you already have (#13). Add app now has a section for an AppImage file on your computer. AppGlider reads its name, version and icon from inside the file, and Add to library copies it into your install folder, leaving the original where it was. These apps show a Manual chip and are never checked for updates. Replace with a newer file swaps in a new version and keeps the old one so you can Roll back.
• Move AppGlider into its folder (#11). If AppGlider runs from somewhere else, such as Downloads, Settings → Storage offers Move AppGlider here. It copies itself into the install folder, restarts from the copy and removes the old file once it has closed.
• "(AppGlider)" only when needed (#12). Menu entries are now named just after the app. AppGlider adds "(AppGlider)" only when another menu entry has the same name, and checks again at start and on each update check.

Fixes

• Clearer launch errors. When an app quits with an error right after starting, the message shows the end of its log, and explains when FUSE is missing.
• Same AppImage under two names (#9). When a release attaches identical files under different names, AppGlider treats them as one build instead of asking you to choose.
• A repository that moved to a new address is recognised as already added, and AppGlider's own repository can no longer be added as an app (it updates itself).
• An asset named only .AppImage is refused.

Behind the scenes

• Safer handling of content from releases: app names and errors in dialogs are shown as plain text, release notes can no longer load images from your computer, and processing instructions are removed from SVG icons.

If you run 0.9.0 or later, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.7...v0.9.8

AppGlider v0.9.7

New

• Force close (#8). When an app freezes, ⋯ → Force close… on its row, or Force close under Manage on its page, closes it after asking. Both appear only while the app is running, however you started it. AppGlider asks the app to close first and stops it if it is still running two seconds later, including the extra processes it started. Only apps AppGlider installed are ever closed. When an update, roll back or uninstall cannot go ahead because the app is open, the message now offers Force close… too.
• Update all shows each app as it finishes. Rows used to change only once every app was done. Now the app being updated shows Updating…, the others Waiting, and each row turns ✓ Up to date and leaves the Updates page as soon as it is updated. Apps are updated in the order of your list.
• Portable apps keep their data. If you keep an app's settings in folders next to its AppImage (Name.AppImage.home and Name.AppImage.config, AppImage's portable mode), they now move along with updates and roll backs.

Behind the scenes

• The AppImage is about 3.5 MB smaller: parts of Python that AppGlider never uses (Tk, IDLE and SQLite) are no longer included.

If you run 0.9.0 or later, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.6...v0.9.7

AppGlider v0.9.6

Fixed

• Update checks no longer fail for apps with many files per release (#7). Some projects, such as VSCodium, attach about 180 files to every release. Installing them worked, but every update check afterwards showed Check failed: the list of recent releases was larger than AppGlider will read. AppGlider now asks GitHub for fewer releases at a time when that happens, so these apps are checked and updated like any other.

Behind the scenes

• The release build now uses a fixed version of the AppImage packaging tool (appimagetool 1.9.1), so a change upstream can no longer stop a release.

If you run 0.9.0 or later, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.5...v0.9.6

AppGlider v0.9.5

Offline is not an error

• No more "Check failed" on every app after you log in. With Start with my desktop on, AppGlider used to check for updates before your network was connected, and every app showed Check failed until the next scheduled check, hours later. It now tries again after 15 seconds, then 30 seconds, 1, 2 and 5 minutes, and stops as soon as a check gets through. The same happens after waking from suspend.
• Offline, rows keep what they knew. When GitHub can't be reached at all, rows keep their last known status (✓ Up to date, ↑ 1.4.0…) and the sidebar says GitHub: offline. Check failed is now kept for real problems, such as a repository that is gone.

Banners you can close

• The updates banner and the AppGlider banner each have a ×. A closed banner stays closed until there is something new: another update, or a newer AppGlider. The rows and the Updates count still show what is waiting, and the Updates page always keeps Update all. Check now under Settings → About brings the AppGlider banner back.

Renamed and moved repositories

• When a project renames its repository or moves it to another owner, AppGlider follows GitHub's redirect, switches the app to the new address and keeps its install, preferences and icon. Files are only accepted from the new address when the old one redirects there.

Smaller changes

• Release notes on an app's page open as a short preview with Show all notes, expanding in place.
• Settings → About links to the release notes of the version you are running.
• The Settings → GitHub section is gone. The sidebar status keeps those details in its tooltip, and clicking it opens Settings → Updates.

If you run 0.9.0 or later, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.4...v0.9.5

AppGlider v0.9.4

Apps that went missing

• Apps no longer seem to uninstall themselves. AppImageLauncher offers to "integrate" an AppImage the first time it runs, which moves the file into ~/Applications, out of AppGlider's folder. AppGlider now tells AppImageLauncher to leave its apps, and AppGlider itself, alone, both from Launch and from their menu entries. Existing menu entries are updated the first time 0.9.4 starts. (#6)
• ⚠ File missing. If an app's file is moved or deleted outside AppGlider anyway, its row says so, shows where the file used to be, and offers Reinstall. Forget missing copy… stops tracking it and keeps the app on your list.
• Remove from library works again for such apps. It used to refuse with "Uninstall this application's managed copy first", with no Uninstall button to press. (#5)
• Settings → Storage warns you if you pick AppImageLauncher's folder as AppGlider's install folder.

Clearer menus

• The ⋯ menu on each row, and the Manage and Preferences areas on an app's page, now show only what fits the app: no more greyed-out Launch, Hold, Roll back or Uninstall for an app that is not installed. An app that is not installed gets Remove from library… straight from its ⋯ menu.

Help

• A rewritten user guide with a quick start, a tour of the window and annotated screenshots, plus a new section on uninstalling, forgetting and removing.
• New issue forms on GitHub ask for what is needed to look into a problem, and questions can go to Discussions.

If you run 0.9.0 or later, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.3...v0.9.4

AppGlider v0.9.3

Licence

From this release AppGlider is GPL-3.0-or-later. Releases up to and including 0.9.2 were published under MIT and remain so. Settings → About now shows the licence, with a link to it.

Fixes

• AppGlider could appear completely unstyled. If the path to your cache folder contained a space or an apostrophe, Qt rejected the whole stylesheet. It now loads in every case.
• No more pauses when repairing a menu entry or saving launch options. Both ran a helper program on the main window, which could freeze it for several seconds. They now run in the background.
• A failed install keeps the current version's menu details. The new version's details were saved before the install finished; they are now saved only once it has.
• Launching an app that is already running no longer renames its log file before saying so.
• Update checks cope with a damaged cache file and with unusual GitHub errors, and the icon search falls back to another method instead of stopping.
• Faster update checks: the GitHub response cache is kept in memory instead of being read again for every request.

Also

• Website: AppGlider now has a home at appglider.org. Settings → About has a Visit appglider.org button.
• The source code was reorganised into folders. Nothing changes in how AppGlider behaves.

If you run 0.9.0 or later, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.2...v0.9.3

AppGlider v0.9.2

Fixes

• SVG icons from common editors are accepted. Many SVG files (from Inkscape and most other editors) start with the standard SVG 1.1 declaration line. AppGlider refused any SVG with that line, both in the automatic icon search and when you chose an icon yourself. That harmless line is now removed and the icon is accepted. SVGs that declare entities or load external files are still refused. (#4)
• Better first icon suggestions. The icon search now puts a project's own logo ahead of logos for its preview builds (folders or names such as insider, nightly or beta) and ahead of artwork that is far from square. For example, adding VSCodium now suggests its blue logo first.

Full Changelog: v0.9.1...v0.9.2

AppGlider v0.9.1

What's new

• Menu entries that fit each app. AppGlider's menu entries now use the details each app ships in its own .desktop file: its menu category, description, the file types it opens, search keywords, window class and any extra actions. Apps land in the right section of your menu instead of all under Graphics, show up in Open with… for their files (for example .stl and .3mf for slicers), handle their own links (such as sign-in links), and group with their menu icon in the taskbar. AppGlider reads that file once, after the download has been verified, and only for apps it installed. The name, command and icon are still AppGlider's own. Existing entries are updated the first time 0.9.1 starts; entries you or other programs made are never changed.
• Launch options. Each app's page has Arguments and Environment fields, for things like --ozone-platform=wayland, DRI_PRIME=1 or QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb. They apply to Launch, the tray and the app's menu entry. They are kept out of exported catalogs, since a variable can hold a password or token.

If you run 0.9.0, AppGlider offers this update itself.

Full Changelog: v0.9.0...v0.9.1

AppGlider v0.9.0

What's new

• AppGlider updates itself. When a new version is out, a banner offers Update AppGlider. It downloads the new AppImage next to the one you run, checks it the same way as any app install (published SHA-256, size and AppImage header), points your menu and login entries at it, and starts it when you press Restart now (or the next time you open AppGlider). The old file is removed once the new version runs. Settings → About shows whether you are up to date and has Check now. The check reads GitHub's release page, so it uses none of GitHub's request allowance. 0.9.0 is the first version that can do this, so this one download is still by hand.
• Space used. Settings → Storage shows how much space your apps take, split into the versions in use and the copies kept for roll back, with every installed app listed.
• A simpler Manage area. An app's page shows Uninstall while the app is installed and Remove from library once it is not, instead of both with one greyed out.
• NixOS. When NixOS has no AppImage support turned on, launching an app now explains which setting to add instead of failing silently.
• Works with other AppImage updaters. The AppImage carries update information and each release has a .zsync file, so tools such as AppImageUpdate and Gear Lever can update AppGlider too.
• The download is now named AppGlider-0.9.0-x86_64.AppImage (without "linux").

Under the hood

• Bundled Python updated to 3.13.17.
• The main window code was split into smaller modules, with no change in behaviour.

Full Changelog: v0.8.1...v0.9.0