Ubuntu 26.04 Software Installation and Maintenance Best Practice Update: From Chrome Memory Surge to Discharge Pits to Deprecated Flatpak

In the previous ‘Ubuntu 26.04 software installation and maintenance best practices: take WeChat as an example‘In the article, I discussed the installation and daily management of software. However, in the recent practical use, I have encountered serious abnormal memory usage.

1. Trailer Pit Records: The Nightmare of Chrome High Memory Occupancy

The thing is due to the extremely outrageous memory consumption of Chrome under Ubuntu. In ‘Chrome high memory usage optimization full record under Ubuntu 26.04‘In the article, I recorded this phenomenon: when the same 60 tabs are opened, the memory usage under Win10 is only about 7GB, but under Ubuntu, it has soared to 20GB.

Although I have done a number of system-level optimizations, I found that Chrome’s resource usage is still too powerful after optimization, far exceeding the normal level. In order to completely solve this problem, I had to continue to analyze and investigate, and finally put my eyes on the installation format of the application.

2. The real culprit emerges: the resource disaster brought by the Flatpak sandbox

During the investigation, I found that there is a serious memory overhead in the Flatpak format application previously installed through Gnome Software by default. Take the Flatpak version as an example:

As shown in the figure above, the memory usage of WeChat is as high as 2.01 GB (1.5%); and when only one tab is turned on, the memory usage of Google Chrome has reached 2.96 GB (1.0%). In comparison, Firefox, which also only has one tab enabled, has only 1.89 GB of memory usage. Although Flatpak’s sandbox isolation mechanism improves security, it has become an extremely heavy operating burden for heavy applications such as Chrome and WeChat.

3. Convenient data cleaning: the uninstall advantages of Gnome Software

No matter how the software is installed, it will basically prompt whether to delete data when uninstalling. It is recommended that users uninstall the application directly through the graphical interface of Gnome Software:

As shown in the figure above, for ‘Apply settings and data’, you can select ‘Delete (D)’ in the unload pop-up window, and the data will be permanently deleted to save disk space. In this way, the relevant user data can be completely deleted by the way, and the system can be kept clean.

4. Validation and Reversal: Return to the Native Deb Package

To verify the conclusion, I use native instead .deb package, reinstall via the terminal command:

sudo apt install ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./WeChatLinux_x86_64.deb

After reinstalling, the memory usage has a cliff-like drop:

As shown in the figure above, the memory usage of WeChat has dropped to 227.41 MB (0.0%); when only one tab is turned on, the memory usage of Google Chrome has also dropped to 1.90 GB (0.0%), similar to the usage of Firefox. At this point, it has completely confirmed that Flatpak is the core reason for the skyrocketing memory of heavy applications.

5. Re-recognize the value of GNOME Software

After it is clear that Flatpak is not suitable for heavy applications, GNOME Software still has an irreplaceable role in Ubuntu 26.04:

1. Format support comprehensive: It supports 3 installation formats of Deb, Flatpak, and Snap, which gives users a great choice of space.
2. Graphical installation of specific software is preferred: For example, wechat, the ‘application center’ that comes with Ubuntu 26.04 cannot be searched. If you want to install it through a graphical interface, only Gnome Software can be searched and installed.
3. Automatic update convenience: GNOME Software can uniformly manage the automatic update of various format applications, which provides great convenience for later system maintenance.

6. New best practices for Ubuntu 26.04 software installation and maintenance

Based on the complete verification of the disaster of the Flatpak resource disaster from the swelling of Chrome memory to the disaster of the Flatpak resource disaster, the following updates and adjustments are made to the ‘Ubuntu 26.04 Software Installation and Maintenance Best Practice’, and the follow-up operations will also be strictly implemented here:

1. Severe application resolutely discard Flatpak: For applications with high-frequency and heavily dependent resources such as Chrome and WeChat, the Flatpak format must be discarded, and the priority is given to the official website to download the native website. .deb Package use sudo apt install Install to avoid several times the memory loss caused by the sandbox.
2. Make good use of GNOME Software to install light or exclusive apps: For applications with low resource usage, or for scenarios like WeChat that need to search for installation in the graphical interface, you can use Gnome Software to install. After the installation is complete, if there is an official DEB package, consider the replacement.
3. Standardize the uninstall process: When uninstalling the application, use GNOME Software to operate uniformly, and check the ‘Delete’ application data to complete the cleaning of the program and residual data in one stop.
4. Take advantage of automatic updates: In daily maintenance, the automatic update function that relies on GNOME Software keeps the system and applications in the latest security state.