Linux: Flatpaks on the rise

Flathub, the most important app store for Linux applications in Flatpak format, has published its 2025 Year in Review. For 2025, the app repository reports almost 440 million downloads, an increase of over 20 percent compared to 2024. The number of apps offered increased by 446 to 3,249. In total, apps were updated via Flathub 727 million times in 2025. The top downloads are Firefox (2.7 million downloads), Chrome (2.4 million downloads), and Discord (2.1 million downloads).

The biggest advantage of the Flatpak format is its distribution independence: one and the same Flatpak can be installed and run on almost any Linux distribution, as Flatpaks already contain the required libraries and other dependencies of the application. Program packages therefore do not have to be adapted and created specifically for each distribution, as is the case with the classic Debian (.deb) and RPM package formats – this makes life easier for software providers. Programs in Flatpak format run isolated in a sandbox with restricted permissions for file, network, and device access, which is intended to limit damage from compromised apps.

Flatpak, which originally stems from the Gnome world, is one of three common image formats in the Linux world. Canonical uses the Snap format by default in Ubuntu and operates its proprietary Snap Store as a package source. AppImages bundle an application with its dependencies in an executable file, but unlike Flatpak and Snap, they do not use a sandbox for application isolation.

(odi)