The store is a bit temperamental. Sometimes it loads apps quickly, sometimes it takes a while.
From your pictures, it appears you don’t have a very strong wifi signal (or it changes intermittently), so that might be part of the problem. If you’re connecting to 5 Ghz wifi, then you might try a 2.5 Ghz connection instead.
I see that your mobile signal isn’t connecting yet, either.
If you open the Terminal and execute the command flatpak list, you’ll see a list of any installed flatpaks.
Once the store populates, the installed app list should also show them.
Also remember, you can search beyond the curated list in those screen default categories. Use the magnifying glass icon to search by name or type. Not all will be adaptable to the small screen (or even work properly), but many will be usable (unofficially, if you will).
No problem. They should still be installable from the store. Check the Preferences in the store’s menu to make sure they’re being displayed as available.
For you and many others, yes; it’s a known bug that will hopefully be improved. But the store app works fine for me most of the time, and I suspect for a lot of other users as well. Incidentally, the “store” (repository) on my computer running Linux Mint take a while to load as well, even with its 8Gb of RAM. (Librem 5 has 3Gb of RAM.) It has to fetch the updated list; that’s just how it is.
Because this is not how Linux distributions operate, and because flatpaks are only one kind of package that the Librem 5 makes available for installation.
Removing the link to the PureOS repository (i.e. the store app) would necessitate downloading directly from websites, which could lead to security compromises if one isn’t careful, or else using only the Terminal - for installing, uninstalling, listing what’s already installed - and discovering new apps would be more difficult because users might not know any part of the name of an app they want, and would not be able to simply browse a “catalog” out of interest, at least not easily, and especially if they’re unfamiliar with Linux systems.
Flatpaks can be installed independently of the store app, after (I think) flathub is installed from https://flathub.org/… but that can eat up a lot of space on the drive.
Plus, there’s no guarantee that these other options will get you applications that are adapted to small-screen, touch-based mobile usage. That’s why the store app displays an initial set of apps that are officially adapted by their developers, although there are plenty more to discover.
Yes, I noticed it and still have to get used to it. Not a big issue for the moment. I’m new to Librem5 and PureOS. Have had good experience with Ubuntu 12 for years until now Ubuntu 24.04 running on laptop and desktop.
For people who may be new to Linux in general, I highly recommend avoiding the App Store as it is slow and crashy. Here is what I do to find and install new software:
Install non-flathub-packages as follows: sudo apt install “XXX” (the XXX is the name of your package, see number 1, above, if you have any questions. Better yet, go here, to read about APT https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-use-apt-command/)
Install flathub packages following the instructions on Flathub. Uninstall in a similar fashion.
Done. That is it. It is really quite simple. I even disabled the App-Store because I don’t use it and it takes up a little memory on the Librem 5.
Ok. I said what I had to say. To each their own if you do not like my method.
I spent the morning reading some novels, in order to understand APT (as suggested) and guessing the “package name”
When ever I think I am getting close, and ready to install, I get a screen that says “Loading” at the top and midway down and centred it says “Loading application details” … and nothing else happens - not even the snake trying to eat it’s tail.
I Also tried the other methods with the same end results.
It could be I have no idea where the file is saved until I looked to the screen to the left and swiped it over. It’s the PureOS Store. No wonder nothing works, they point to the dead end store PWF (Please Wait Forever!
Done. That is it. It is really quite simple. I even disabled the App-Store because I don’t use it and it takes up a little memory on the Librem 5.
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Things I have to know before figuring out what the is wrong.
What is “pureos landing”
Why does the install look for “E:”? That’s not where I dload things. I may be noob, but I think Downloads is a good place to down load things to.
There should be a option to save anywhere (it has - I know) but when Install runs, it still can’t find “E”.
I appreciate your work. I bet it all works as described. But in micro-tiny words, I see:
You need to have an appstream:// handler, e.g., GNOME Software or KDE Discover, installed and the app needs to be available in a configured software repository, more details.
and that isn’t really quite simple - not to me anyway and I never wanted to become a coder Again in any sense of the word. Need just to understand what the it actually means.
I found that if I click on the 'available in X distros , I can see " PureOS landing" and once already to install, I see:
" You need to have an `appstream://` handler, e.g., GNOME Software or KDE Discover, installed and the app needs to be available in a configured software repository, [more details.](https://linuxphoneapps.org/docs/help/faq/#what-do-i-need-to-install-apps-via-the-install-button)