Problems with flatpak version of Chrome

bigrammy

Hi,
I just removed the old third party Google Chrome and installed the Flatpak version via the discover centre to ensure I get the latest updates to Chrome.
Since the old software update isn't available anymore or at least via a GUi it made sense to move with the times and use Discover which is nice and slick and I kinda like.
Problem is the flatpak version still doesn't play nicely with Solus.
I can not get it to pin to the task bar as there is no Favourite Star when when you right click a running session in the task bar. Dragging and dropping also doesn't work it also won't create a desktop short cut for Chrome : (
I am not sure if this is the same for all Flatpak's or just Chrome.
All this may sound trivial but it's very annoying as I have my not so tech savvy 85 year old mother on Solus and for her to have to start searching to find chrome is a nightmare for ME as her tech support :-D
As anyone worked out a way to manually add shortcuts to either the desktop or task bar yet?
I am using Budgie BTW.

brent

bigrammy Problem is the flatpak version still doesn't play nicely with Solus.
I can not get it to pin to the task bar as there is no Favourite Star when when you right click a running session in the task bar. Dragging and dropping also doesn't work it also won't create a desktop short cut for Chrome : (
I am not sure if this is the same for all Flatpak's or just Chrome.

am running flatpak (ungoogled) chromium without these issue but I have plank.
found a solution here https://discuss.getsol.us/d/11685-any-way-of-pinning-flatpak-apps but it's above my pay grade.
I typed "flatpak taskbar" into search function

bigrammy

bigrammy
So I will answer my own question since I got forked to some obscure place.
I found were everything lives in the flatpak version of Chrome and created my own Desktop shortcuts.
The main chrome shortcut still will not pin to the task bar but all the other ones will which is strange but I can live with Chrome not being on the task bar.
My Findings:
This where the original desktop file lives.
/var/lib/flatpak/app/com.google.Chrome/x86_64/stable/active/export/share/applications/com.google.Chrome.desktop
You can copy this to your /home/user/Desktop folder check the permission to execute is set and you will then have a working shortcut on your desktop.

I did some more digging and if you want a shortcut for lets say Gmail for example I found a way to create that too. I will tell how to do this too if anyone is the least interested.

TraceyC

ℹ Moderator Note
I split this off to it's own topic.
We request that in Support, users stick to one topic per thread and create new threads for different issues.
This keeps questions and solutions clear, both for you and for other members of the forum. Thanks.

brent

bigrammy thing lives in the flatpak version of Chrome and created my own Desktop shortcut

that's what I discovered too. I had to manually use .desktop to change the icon the other day.

bigrammy main chrome shortcut still will not pin to the task bar but all the other ones will which is strange but I can live with Chrome not being on the task bar.

there is something in the .destop to edit for that, I forgot what.

bigrammy You can copy this to your /home/user/Desktop folder check the permission to execute is set and you will then have a working shortcut on your desktop.

this is how you got everything but chrome to pin to task bar? taking a file from /usr.share/application and copying it to the /desktop? Not getting this (abc.desktop's relation to /Desktop that is).
Congrats all the same....maybe /Desktop is not the right destination for chrome.desktop?

As for Chrome if it's not a weird edit in the .desktop then I wonder if you had a non-flatpak install at one time laying around? conflicting folders? something taking precedence? I'm thinking a duplicate something is behind this.

bigrammy

brent
Hi,
Whatever you place in the /home/yourusername/desktop folder appears on the Desktop so a shortcut to start chrome is exactly what I wanted to achieve so my Mother can see it without searching for it & simply click on it and open chrome.

So Chrome has hidden built in links or shortcuts whatever you want to call them for YouTube, Gmail, Google Drive, Chats, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Remote Desktop, etc

They all live HERE
/home/your-user-name-goes-here/.var/app/com.google.Chrome/config/google-chrome/Default/Web Applications/Manifest Resources/

aghbiahbpaijignceidepookljebhfak (this is Google Drive)
agimnkijcaahngcdmfeangaknmldooml (this is YouTube)
fmgjjmmmlfnkbppncabfkddbjimcfncm (this is Gmail)
kjbdgfilnfhdoflbpgamdcdgpehopbep (this is Google Calender)
etc, etc.
So the Gmail example below works as is just copy the text paste it into a new txt document and name it something like gmail.desktop give it the correct permissions

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Name=Gmail
Exec=/var/lib/flatpak/app/com.google.Chrome/current/a3cf46091052cca5aebac4676a76344b9de22de733592856a28dedc98e1057c2/files/extra/google-chrome "--profile-directory=Profile 1" --app-id=fmgjjmmmlfnkbppncabfkddbjimcfncm
Icon=chrome-fmgjjmmmlfnkbppncabfkddbjimcfncm-Profile_1
StartupWMClass=crx_fmgjjmmmlfnkbppncabfkddbjimcfncm

I will pin a few to the task bar to prove it works and take a screenshot but I can't pin them while doing this as chrome is running in front. If that makes sense

EDIT: OK so I pinned them to the task bar but they do not survive a restart 👎️ They disappear unlike the other pinned shortcuts. The desktop ones all still work though :-D

EbonJaeger

This is because Flatpak (or maybe just some individual flatpaks; I don't remember which) doesn't correctly expose all the information Budgie needs to be able to map an application to a .desktop file. If we can't get a .desktop file, then we can't pin it.

brent

EbonJaeger ) doesn't correctly expose all the information Budgie needs to be able to map an application to a .desktop file. If we can't get a .desktop file, then we can't pin it.

interesting info. I've noticed noticeably different info lines between apps, specifically flatpak librewolf and ungoogled. like more info/lines in libre, less in chromium. maybe that's that mapping, or ability to, you refer to.

When I time travel 6-7 years ago I remember some flatpaks unpinnable, hence going right to Plank.

EDIT: all other replies here right on the money as to my experience

pomon

Edit the Flatpak desktop file:

sudo nano /var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/com.google.Chrome.desktop

Add this line inside [Desktop Entry]: StartupWMClass=Google-chrome
Restart the panel: nohup budgie-panel --replace &
Now Chrome (Flatpak) can be pinned to the Budgie panel.

bigrammy

pomon
Hi Thanks for the suggestion I tried it but it hasn't worked even after a reboot.
Harvey
I left the original alone and simply copied it to the /home/user/desktop then edited that. I don't think updates would overwrite anything in my Desktop folder.
I have found some remnants of the previous chrome in that folder though but they have paths that don't exist which is maybe why they never showed up before. I may try fix the paths and see what happens.
brent
The flatpak Librewolf works perfect me certainly a much better integration with Solus than chrome.
I answered pomon's fix above but sadly it didn't work for me.

I will post updates If I find anything useful or interesting going forward.

Harvey

If you are going to edit .desktop files copy them to ~/.local/share/applications/ and edit them there otherwise they will be overwritten by updates.

bigrammy

pomon
Hi I tried it a couple of times but it still wouldn't work for me unless I did something wrong which is always a possibility as it was late on in the day and I was a bit delirious : )
So what did help most was what Harvey said here Harvey So when I checked that folder I found some remnants of the previous chrome I assume left behind due to the dates they were created but when I checked them they have paths that don't exist on Solus and no permission to execute which is maybe why they never showed up before.
Anyway I edited the paths to point to the flatpak "google-chrome" and set the correct permissions for those and added a copy of the actual chrome .desktop to the same folder and launched the apps from there and Bingo they now pin to the TASK BAR and survive rebooting so THANKS Harvey for pointing me to that folder.

Before I edited them the leftover files were all named something like this example
chrome-mpnpojknpmmopombnjdcgaaiekajbnjb-Profile_1.desktop

@brent
All is working as it should for now so thanks to all for the deep dive into the workings I enjoyed getting my hands a bit dirty as it's been a while now since I did anything like this.

brent

bigrammy Whatever you place in the /home/yourusername/desktop folder appears on the Desktop so a shortcut to start chrome is exactly what I wanted to achieve so my Mother can see it without searching for it & simply click on it and open chrome.

so long since I activated desktop icons I had a brain fart there. I never associated an app's icon as being its pure .desktop files---despite its name. It wasn't until I started to regularly edit them (for plank reasons) that I knew what to do with them. As long as your mom has full easy access that is all that matters.

let everyone know if @pomon 's fix works. I have had to edit/use StartupWMClass for other things over the years

pomon

Quick edit, it works for me 😀

brent

bigrammy All is working as it should for now so thanks to all for the deep dive into the workings I enjoyed getting my hands a bit dirty as it's been a while now since I did anything like this.

this is a great place for hands dirty--these peeps have always come thru for me too.
Congrats!

brent

https://discuss.getsol.us/d/9697-budgie-panel-question/12
I kept wondering why I was having a mega-interest in this thread...I in '23 I could not pin-the-flatpak-to-the-panel and solved myself as well.

this is posted by me only for posterity and anyone who found this topic in the search forum.

jimibananas

The Flatpak version of chrome is unverified. I wouldn't use any unverified Flatpaks or Snaps for that matter. Also, several problems have been reported regarding the chrome flatpak.... sandboxing, permissions and certs. This is a deal breaker for me so I installed nix package manager on budgie in vmware. I am retired after spending 30+ years in Infosec. After some tinkering with nix-env, $PATH and .profile I was able to get it to work and successfully installed Chrome from Nix. Seems to work fine. Waiting to test the next update from Google. That said... not sure this is worth the effort or not. I'm retired and don't want extra work :-). I like the direction Solus is taking and understand it but I miss being able to install apps like Chrome and Enpass from the old Third Party process.

AlphaElwedritsch

Brave or Vivaldi could be an good and verified (solus native package) alternative

jimibananas

AlphaElwedritsch Thank you! I use a lot of google services and want sync to work. Vivaldi would probably work...I'll try it out!

AlphaElwedritsch

I use Vivaldi and have no problems to sync through all of my devices. Settings, tabs, history, bookmarks, etc...