When you run a remote application, from an Incus / LXC container or through SSH, GNOME shows it as a generic icon. Even if you have a desktop file for it or / and same application is installed on the host.
See the discussion here https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/7818
And the commit here https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/commit/8aeadcdf9a78e13b46c4f0ac3a5a8cc7443d79d6
Previously we were trying to match up remote windows with local .desktop files, which is definitely wrong. This patch simply falls back to the app-from-window case for this; better handling would need design.
Well, still no better handling :) (not blaming GNOME guys, they have enough work to do), so this extension tries to fix that.
Screencast.From.2025-03-18.20-14-20.mp4
You still have to have a corresponding desktop file on the host. The simplest way is to install the same application.
But this may leave you with a useless application on the host. So a better way is to create a desktop file with the same name and icon, but with a different Exec line.
~/.local/share/applications/leafpad.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Leafpad
# Exec=leafpad %f
Exec=incus exec container-with-my-working-environment -- sudo -u user-inside-container --login leafpad %f
Icon=leafpad
Terminal=false
Type=Application
MimeType=text/plainthen update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications
You can also install the application, copy the desktop file from /usr/share/applications into ~/.local/share/applications,
then uninstall the application and modify the desktop file.
I plan to submit this extension to the GNOME extensions site, but for now you can install it manually.
git clone \
https://github.com/Phaengris/fix-remote-window-icons.git \
~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/fix-remote-window-icons@com.github.phaengrisThen restart GNOME Shell with Alt+F2, r, Enter (for Xorg) or login / logout (for Wayland).
rm -rf ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/fix-remote-window-icons@com.github.phaengrisThen restart etc
It should just work. Make sure you have the corresponding desktop file on the host and it matches the window class of the remote application.
This extension is provided as is. I did my best to make it work and I still use it, so some support is guaranteed. But I can't guarantee it will work for you or fit your needs in the same way as it fits mine.
Feel free to report issues on https://github.com/Phaengris/fix-remote-window-icons/issues