Ubuntu’s App Center Now Finally Supports Installation of Local DEB Packages
When Canonical replaced the Ubuntu Software Center with the App Center application, which acts as a graphical interface to Canonical’s Snap Store, in the Ubuntu 23.10 release, it removed the ability to handle locally downloaded DEB packages.
Well, the wait is finally over and App Store now supports the installation of externally downloaded DEB packages. Of course, since this is not App Center’s default behavior, users will still need to right-click on a DEB package and choose to open it with the App Center application.
Linux Magazine:
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Ubuntu's App Center Finally Supports Local Inst... » Linux Magazine
It's been a long time coming (and frequently requested), but Ubuntu will now allow you to install local .deb packages from within the App Center. This new feature should already be installed via a recent update starting with version 23.10 and up (with a catch).
Before you get too excited, it's not as if the Ubuntu App Center allows you to locate a downloaded .deb file and install it from within the UI. Instead, what you have to do is right-click a downloaded .deb file, click Open With, select the App Center, and allow it to finish the job for you. There also is a catch. Currently, the feature is only available to the Snap Edge channel, which requires you to switch with the command sudo snap refresh snap-store --channel=latest/edge. After you've switched channels, you'll then be able to go through the right-click process.