I just upgraded from 19.04 to 19.10, and all the snaps that I removed gnome-calculator, gnome-characters, etc are back. which I very much prefer from the main repo, since apps like calculators are not things I want to wait around… As a power user, I expect them to open the moment I have pressed enter, and snaps will fast with the recent upgrades, still has an overhead which I don’t want to pay.
It’s becoming incredibly inconvenient that each ubuntu upgrade today forces the reinstallation of these snaps. I end up with 2 calculators and characters. While I’m opening this topic focused on upgrades, on a side note, I also believe having 2 sets of applications on a regular install isn’t productive, only more confusing - though that’s likely a larger discussion since that involves Ubuntu Core.
In general, I don’t think this a good strategy for exposing users to snaps. Users will discover snaps when they come across apps anyway, and IMO 2 sets of apps only causes more confusion among basic users, and for power users who just want the repo based app, forcing a reinstallation while one has specifically removed them is a rather inconvenient.
Would love it if the team could explore alternative strategies here without disrupting the user experience.