I've previously asked on this forum about missing app icon after I moved an app from ~/Downloads to ~/Applications and that was solved by editing the ~/.local/share/applications/tutanota-desktop.desktop.
But I now have two more AppImages: Joplin and LM Studio which both are missing an app icon, they get the default "gear icon". I moved them to ~/Applications before running them the first time, so its not that their "meta data" was created for the wrong location. Is there anything can be done about this?
Thanks for the reply. Yes I ran them several times and I checked that folder, but there's nothing there. What I do notice is that I get the same message every time, as if I had never run them. Also they stay listed as files and not as apps when I use the Zorin menu.
An Appimage is a standalone program. It is surprising that the Tutanota appimage created a desktop file, most appimages don't do that.
Using the Tutanota .desktop file as a template, you can create files for the other appimages, if you want.
Hello.
First, remember to grant permissions to the appimage:
Right-click the AppImage file.
Select Properties.
Go to the Permissions tab.
Check the box labeled "Allow executing file as program" (or similar).
Furthermore, a desktop file and an icon should be included in the appimage!
Launch the appimage and leaving it running. Go to the /tmp folder and find a .mount folder with the program name and the lock. Open this folder and copy the icon and place it in your home directory. Copy the .desktop file and place it in yourhome/.local/share/applications. In this file, you'll need to change the paths of the executable and icon to the correct ones (If these files are not included in the package, you can still create them manually).
I am not sure what the basis of this assertion is.
Appimages are not installed files. They are standalone software.
There are some appimages that include an "Integration helper" and these will run when you launch the appimage and ask if you would like "desktop integration". These can add a .desktop file to ~/.local/share/applications
Gear Lever would be a good Choice when using several AppImages. It informs about Updates, it can update the AppImages and it can create Desktop entries as far as I know.
Thanks for all the replies. It seems this will require some time to look into and potentially handrolling files. I'll have a look at the weekend and get back with a report.
This doesn't mean those files will be copied to the system, but they should be present in the package. Otherwise, how would some external tools (like the mentioned gear lever ) manage it ?
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This script also generates an icon but installs Joplin in a separate .joplin folder in your home directory.
But with a manual install you're more flexible where to save the appimage. I usually put the appimage somewhere, then I copy the file and go to the menu editor (right-click on the Zorin icon). There I create a new entry and as command I paste the downloaded appimage file. Then I search for an icon and select it (click on the folder on the left side of the launcher creator). You can download one or look if you find the icon with Aravisians method.
I see, I created a misunderstanding based on how I selected a portion to quote from your post.
I was addressing that appimages are not installed to the system, and do not generally add a .desktop file in the way installed packages do. A user cannot expect them to do so.
Some reading comprehension and slowing down on my part - would have helped...
Yes, this (GearLever) worked, I can now run my currently 4 appImages and they get an icon when they're shown in Zorin search (super key + typing the name + enter), which is how I'm accustomed to launching apps. The icon is also correct in the dock (dash?).
But what's weird is that GearLever only displays two of the four in gearlever GUI.
Initially
Tuta and pCloud worked without additional help/tweaking.
Joplin and LM Studio never got the icon.
After using GearLever
LM Studio and Joplin also has their icons. But somehow the apps were duplicated and I had to clean up/delete the extra app added by GearLever. The end result is that GearLever shows LM Studio and Tuta in it's list, but leaves out pCloud and Joplin.
Probably you had another joplin desktop file on ~/.local/share/applications
When you click on Move to the app menu, it creates a desktop file on this folder.
Indeed that made a difference. Now I have Joplin, Tuta and LM Studio visible in the GearLever list of apps. pCloud still isn't there, but I never added it to GearLever, so I guess that's why.
It seemed to me that when you "add" an app to GearLever it copies the app. If one decides to manage all AppImage-apps through GearLever, should one then just download them to ~/Downloads and then from there add them to GearLever (which copies them to the Apolication folder) and then you delete the "original" from the ~/Downloads folder once you're done?
I tested this gnome-extension this morning because I don't use flatpaks:
You can set up the path to the directory where you save your appimages, e.g. Downloads folder or ~/Applications (that is set as default) and when you save a new appimage in this folder, the app is automatically added to the start menu and app grid. I tested it with a few appimages, mostly the app icons were set correctly, but for Joplin not.
The desktop loads significantly slower and the original Gnome top bar is visible at the top of the screen first until the Zorin taskbar loads at the bottom and the Gnome top bar disappears. There seem to be some conflicts with the Zorin extensions, even though I only have the Zorin menu and the Zorin taskbar enabled beside the AppimageManager.
Therefore, I cannot recommend this alternative AppImage Manager.
Yes, GearLever works quite well from my experience so far, so I hope that project has a long a propserous life span. From my point of view it could have been integrated into the OS. It solves everything painlessly. I'm not sure it could be made intuitive for non-tech users. Maybe the OS can identify *.appImage and launch a dialogue?
This looks like an App Image, would you like to install it using Zorin AppImage handler?
[Yes][No]
I'm a bit sorry to see that Linux/Zorin still has some gaps to become completely non-techie friendly and this is one of them. That there is no solid way of installing apps. AppImage is a very promising concept reminiscent of how apps are installed in MacOS.
AppImages are portable executables that, like Windows, don't require installation. Of course, Windows allows you to easily add anything to the menu, while the various Linux DEs have different approaches to do this.
There are external programs that create the launcher using the files contained in the package, or appimages that "install" themselves with their own functions, but expect the program to be in a specific folder and not moved, because appimages have a boot path that changes every time!
For one of my applications (Drawish on appimagehub), I adopted another method, which is more user-friendly and faster, and doesn't require external tools, while maintaining the program's portability.
I've included (like others) a menu with an installation option, but its job is to internally call the "top" command to find the appimage's original source. This means that if you move the package elsewhere, just run the auto-installer again and everything will work with a single click.
Indeed that made a difference. Now I have Joplin, Tuta and LM Studio visible in the GearLever list of apps. pCloud still isn't there, but I never added it to GearLever, so I guess that's why.