The State of AppCenter

Six months, major updates, and over 50 quality apps!

This past May we released the major update to elementary OS that debuted the new pay-what-you-want app experience in AppCenter. In those past six months, we’ve seen over 50 apps released by developers.

AppCenter as of elementary OS 0.4.1 Loki

These quality apps were built by developers specifically for elementary OS; every single one is GTK+, HiDPI-ready, and a fully native experience. Each app has also gone through both automated and human testing and review. In many cases we’ve found small issues or improvements for the apps while reviewing them, and we file those along with any release-blocking issues.

App Updates and the Feedback Loop

Something we’re really proud of is that apps published to AppCenter have received regular updates that include not just bugfixes, but great new features as well.

Daniel Foré put it well:

It’s been cool to see a really tight feedback loop between users and developers. It’s also been satisfying to watch apps that started off very simple that are quickly growing into more featureful apps. For example, off the top of my head: Notejot has added multiple color selection, Spice-Up added templates and shapes, and Sequeler was updated with a decent redesign shortly after its first release.

These updates and features were driven largely by user feedback on the projects’ GitHub Issues tracker. We’re excited to see this feedback loop and hope to see even more apps push out great updates according to the developers’ own schedules.

AppCenter Spotlight

One of my favorite parts of AppCenter has been being able to dive into some of the best apps and interview their developers in the monthly AppCenter Spotlight series. Here’s a quick recap of the series so far, but also keep in mind that there are many, many more great apps available in AppCenter.

Agenda

Get things done with Dane Henson’s lightweight task tracker, available on AppCenter for the suggested price of just $1. Get to know Dane a little better, plus learn why this app is so simple! Read more.

Quilter

Focus on your writing with this distraction-free writing app from Lains, available on AppCenter for the suggested price of just $2. Discover Lains’ inspiration for Quilter as well as his experiences building apps for elementary OS. Read more.

Harvey

The hero that Gotham needs right now! Check color contrast compliance with this app from Daniel Foré, available on AppCenter for the suggested price of just $3. Learn more about its name and Dan’s reason for building this handy app. Read more.

Spice-Up

Take a deep dive into Felipe Escoto’s presentation app Spice-Up, available on AppCenter for free. Find out about the origin of the app, read about its recent major feature updates, and get to know Felipe a bit better. Read more.

Torrential

Download torrents in style with Torrential from David Hewitt, available on AppCenter for the recommended price of just $1. Read the story behind Torrential, David’s future plans, and his experience building on open libraries. Read more.

AppCenter Updates