Dolphin now maintains official Flatpak repositories, making it far easier for Linux gamers to install and run the latest versions of the Dolphin emulator.

Like many other apps, Dolphin has struggled to maintain new and up-to-date releases for Linux distros. This is primarily due to the differing package formats, library versions, and kernels utilized by Linux distros—an app package that’s compatible with one Linux distro may not be compatible with another. This problem extends to the release versions of individual distros, too. Dolphin tried to provide official app packages for Ubuntu some years ago, but it struggled to keep up with each version of the Ubuntu operating system.

Without official support from the Dolphin team, distros are left to produce their own Dolphin builds. The problem is that these unofficial builds are never up to date. When Dolphin adds a feature like achievements, for example, Linux gamers are forced to either compile the update themselves or wait for a new unofficial build. The slow, incongruent update cycle on Linux also poses a challenge for Dolphin’s Netplay online multiplayer feature, which only works when all gamers are on the same Dolphin version.

The solution, as many app developers have learned, is to distribute apps through a universal package management system like Flatpak, Snap, or AppImage. An application that’s wrapped for one of these systems will install and run on any Linux distro (so long as the distro can install the associated package management system). Community members have already developed unofficial Dolphin Flatpak repositories, but the Dolphin team now says that it will use Flatpack to distribute official releases in a more timely manner.

“But why are we choosing to make Flatpak builds over all of the other competing solutions? The answer lies in the Steam Deck. Valve has adopted Flatpak as the official way to install non-Steam apps on SteamOS. When a user wants to install something that isn’t available on the Steam Store, all they have to do is switch to Desktop Mode and open the Discover Software Center. There, they can find a plethora of software available for download in the Flatpak format, including many emulators!”

Flatpak is the largest universal package management system available to Linux enthusiasts today. It runs apps in a secure sandbox, provides automatic app updates, and is supported by most major distros. Plus, it’s bolstered by the Flathub “app store,” a massive app repository that’s both user-friendly and supported by most major Linux distributions.

Of course, Flatpak also happens to be the official method for installing non-Steam apps on SteamOS. The Steam Deck is the most mainstream Linux device to date, and it’s thepremiere Linux gaming product, so Dolphin’s decision to choose Flatpak over AppImage makes sense. (Snap is owned by Canonical, the company that makes Ubuntu, so Snap support seems unlikely. That said, Dolphin plans to provide an AppImage repo in the future.)

The first Dolphin version available to get an official Flatpak release, version 2412, offers improved Wii and Gamecube emulation performance with fewer opcode errors, graphical bugs, and audio bugs. NVIDIA GPU compatibility in Linux, which could be problematic in previous releases, has also been improved.

The Dolphin team now maintains two Flatpak repositories of its own, the first for stable releases and the latter for dev builds:

https://flatpak.dolphin-emu.org/releases.flatpakrepo

https://flatpak.dolphin-emu.org/dev.flatpakrepo

You can manually follow these repos with Flatpak, or wait for the Flathub listing to be migrated and given the official label. Dolphin says that will happen soon, it’s just waiting on “some pending changes to our infrastructure and various important people being away on vacation.” Note that Flatpak does not come preinstalled on all distros, though it works on most major distros. For additional download options, see the Dolphin downloads page.

Source: Dolphin