Application Review Process

A key goal in the Ubuntu community is to deliver secure and reliable software to our users. As part of this goal we have developed a process designed for application authors in which you can request an application to be reviewed by our community Application Review Board. The board will review the application, and if it meets our quality expectations, the application will appear in the Ubuntu Software Center.

How It Works

The process works like this (each of these is explained in detail below):

1. Prepare Your App - package your application.
2. Request Review - send your application to the board for review.
3. Respond to Feedback - answer questions or make changes the board requests.
4. Review Vote - the board votes on your app.
5. Publish - your app is approved and published.

What to Expect

The App Review Board publishes lightweight open source applications. See the review guidelines for full details on the kinds of apps we're looking for.

When an application is approved as part of this process, Ubuntu developers may make changes or improvements to a package before publishing it.

You are responsible to resolve any security bugs or problems with your app, but the ARB and Ubuntu Developers may change or remove a package if there are sufficient security concerns.

How To Submit An App For Review

Step 1: Prepare Your App

In this stage you should package your application and upload it to your Personal Package Archive. See this page for help on how to create a package and this page for how to upload to a PPA. If your application is written with Quickly, run quickly tutorial for details of how to release to your PPA with a single command.

When packaging please follow these guidelines:

• The application and its files should be packaged under /opt.

• Make sure your package doesn't use root privileges (by sudo, gksu, pkexec, suid/sgid, etc.) or custom maintainer scripts (maintainer scripts that are automatically generated by debhelper and similar tools are fine).

At the end of this process you should have your application packaged and available in your PPA.

Step 2: Request Review

You should now submit your application for review to the developer portal. You can follow along through the step-by-step instructions, but if you've submitted before, the most important things to remember are:

• Select "Free" for the Price and choose an open source license. (If your app is paid or proprietary, it will go through a different review process for commercial apps.)

• Don't upload any package files or code with your submission, just submit a simple text file named ppa-info.txt that includes links to your PPA and source code.

• We need at least one PNG icon image and a screenshot with your submission.

Step 3: Respond to Feedback

When you have filed your application the Application Review Board will assess the application and provide feedback through the developer portal or by emailing you directly. The feedback may be simple questions for more information, or it may be requests for changes to the code or packaging to meet the ARB requirements. The reviewers will apply the following general checklist:

• The application is well packaged using the Debian packaging system
• All correct dependencies are met
• Application installs cleanly
• Application is removed cleanly
• Includes suitable copyright and licensing content
• Application integrates into the Dash and Launcher
• Application runs correctly
• Major features operate as expected
• Does not perform any malicious actions
• Content is suitable under the terms of the Ubuntu Code Of Conduct

For more details, see the review guidelines.

Step 4: Review Vote

After you've made all requested changes, one of the reviewers will send a call for vote to the ARB members. If you get at least 3 positive votes, it will be approved for publishing.

Step 5: Publish

Once your app is approved, it will be published in the Software Center. One of the reviewers will notify you when this is complete. At the moment, there is a bug in the developer portal so your app will continue to appear as "Pending QA" even after it is published.