The following guidelines are not required for submission to Flathub, but are best practices we recommend and consider for curation and promotion. These guidelines are designed to help your app and Flathub itself appear in the best light to users—they may change over time based on developer and user feedback.
I do think that as a store it should have some guidelines on quality, but not of the application icon’s styling
I like the guidelines. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind a few more. Other app stores have WAY more requirements for art assets and metadata.
The first time I made a mobile app (many years ago when I was basically an amateur), I was like, “What the hell? I have to make all these icon sizes?” But it was good for me to be forced to comply with professional standards. I don’t think Flathub should go the Apple route and require everything be just so but, as annoying as it may be at the time, it’s good practice and it’s good for the wider Linux desktop ecosystem.
Favoring modern design on the icons is good. It doesn’t state that it has to be flat, it just says that it should at least follow some modern design guidelines so that the app doesn’t send the impression of being an older, unmaintained thing.
If I find an app in Flathub that has an icon that looks like it was made 20 years ago I’m shocked when it ends up using modern frameworks. I think Inkscape and GIMP are the only examples that comes to mind.
People erroneously conflate modern and flat. Flat is used as a bogeyman.
Plenty of old icons are flat, and modern icons are moving away from flatness. The GNOME-y icon they showcase is clearly 3D, and multiple flat ones they show they state they disapprove of - 3/4 of these are flat and disapproved of.
Saying “ideally, app icons should give the impression that the app is actively maintained, not an abandoned mid-2000s project” doesn’t mean “make it flat or else”
I like the guidelines. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind a few more. Other app stores have WAY more requirements for art assets and metadata.
The first time I made a mobile app (many years ago when I was basically an amateur), I was like, “What the hell? I have to make all these icon sizes?” But it was good for me to be forced to comply with professional standards. I don’t think Flathub should go the Apple route and require everything be just so but, as annoying as it may be at the time, it’s good practice and it’s good for the wider Linux desktop ecosystem.
I don’t exactly mind guidelines! i just really dislike the styling ones, regarding favoriting flat design
Favoring modern design on the icons is good. It doesn’t state that it has to be flat, it just says that it should at least follow some modern design guidelines so that the app doesn’t send the impression of being an older, unmaintained thing.
If I find an app in Flathub that has an icon that looks like it was made 20 years ago I’m shocked when it ends up using modern frameworks. I think Inkscape and GIMP are the only examples that comes to mind.
People erroneously conflate modern and flat. Flat is used as a bogeyman.
Plenty of old icons are flat, and modern icons are moving away from flatness. The GNOME-y icon they showcase is clearly 3D, and multiple flat ones they show they state they disapprove of - 3/4 of these are flat and disapproved of.
Saying “ideally, app icons should give the impression that the app is actively maintained, not an abandoned mid-2000s project” doesn’t mean “make it flat or else”