External storage, SD cards, USB keys, portable gaming and Flatpaks

[SteamAutomata]

As a 64GB Steam Deck owner with SteamOS, and considering installing Bazzite on it, it's difficult to deal with the storage constraint of my handheld. I often searched for AppImages instead of Flatpaks so I can save as much internal storage as possible. This gets all the obvious drawback, along the fact that I also looked for unofficial AppImages for pieces of software originally distributed through Flatpaks and system packages.

So, I looked how to install flatpaks on a SD card and found this page. But it's not user-friendly, especially on a handheld with a virtual keyboard. Most app stores like Dolphin and Bazzite doesn't seem to support adding external storage or choosing where to install the application.

On Steam, it's straightforward, you choose in which drive you install your game, and it automatically creates a directory for the games you install if it's not there already.

So this is why I made this discussion post, hoping to see if this sparkle a discussion about the following topics:

• If Bazaar benefits from an option for users to "choose" the drive to install specific software on
• If Bazaar should be able to manage custom installation directories
• If any maintainers or users are interested in the above features and probably share the same problem as me
• If including the above features in Bazaar a good idea, while still being friendly toward GNOME design principles

[kevATin]

On Steam, it's straightforward, you choose in which drive you install your game, and it automatically creates a directory for the games you install if it's not there already.

If Bazaar benefits from an option for users to "choose" the drive to install specific software on

I'm quite sure that's not directly up to bazaar because steam is both the store and the runtime, while bazaar is just the store.
I don't think bazaar could overwrite the (system-level) flatpak directory, but i also don't know for sure.
But I believe if bazaar supported user-level flatpak installs, then adding and removing install locations on the fly might be possible too.
While i don't have use for apps on removable media, I would personally very much like using only user-level apps.
Here's the issue regarding that: #267