How do I add an AppImage application to favorites in GNOME shell?

Question

I have an application (an AppImage) that I start with ./KDevelop.AppImage &

When it starts there is an icon in my favorites bar (Ubuntu Dock), but when I right click on that there is no option to "add to favorites".

How can I add this to favorites?

Answer 1

You need to add the StartupWMClass to the .desktop file of the launcher of the AppImage. otherwise your running instance will not get associated with the .desktop launcher and Add to Favourites option will not be there.

for example ~/.local/share/application/inkscape.desktop file should look like

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Inkscape
Exec=/opt/inkscape/Inkscape.AppImage
Icon=/opt/inkscape/inkscape-logo.svg
Comment=Draw Freely
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Categories=Utility;
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=org.inkscape.Inkscape

To find the StartupWMClass entry of your application use

1. for wayland use looking-glass
2. for xorg run xprop | grep WM_CLASS in terminal and click on your application's window

Answer 2

If you are in Ubuntu 18.04: When you run the appimage it asks you if it should integrate it into the system. If you choose yes then you can search it on the shell and right-clicking on it (before running) will give you the option to add to Favorites.

Here is an example:

Answer 3

In the first run of APPImage,you may miss the "integrate and run" button and choose the "run" button like

If you don't mind install again, I'm sure you know what to do. But if you can't, AppImageLauncher may help. https://github.com/TheAssassin/AppImageLauncher for details.