Ubuntu App Center keeps saying 'something went wrong, we don't know what' — and it's not a joke

Users of Ubuntu frequently encounter a puzzling error message in the App Center (snap-store), the default graphical software management tool for the distribution. The dialog box reads: "Something went wrong. We're sorry, but we're not sure what the error is." The author of the report, who recently came across this message again, notes that software is expected to know the cause of a failure, not to admit ignorance.

The issues with App Center go beyond this error. The application, written in Flutter, is styled to look like a native GTK app, but behaves differently: buttons are placed too far from their labels, resizing the window does not reflow elements properly, there is a lot of wasted space, inconsistent font sizes, and unorthodox spinners. Additionally, depending on the hardware, users encounter glitches, upside-down windows, and strange colors.

Compared to Flathub and desktop Flatpak managers like the excellent Bazaar, the App Center's homepage has the curated enthusiasm of an automated chain email. The author points out that if App Center were a rarely-used utility hidden in the System folder, these quirks could be excused. However, it is the main graphical interface that Canonical promotes as the standard way to manage applications in Ubuntu.

The App Center has had a general sense of awkwardness since its introduction in 2023. Despite being a critical component of the user experience, it continues to suffer from usability issues and a lack of polish. The error message that admits no knowledge of the problem is the most visible symptom of deeper design and implementation flaws that Canonical has yet to address. For a distribution that prides itself on user-friendliness, such a broken default tool undermines the overall experience and raises questions about the development priorities behind Ubuntu's software management.