Why can I not update Gnome to version 3.34

Since updating to gnome 3.32 on ubuntu 18.04 a few weeks ago, every time I reboot I now get a notification to update to gnome 3.34. Clicking on the link to do just this produces, after about 30 seconds of waiting, the message "Unable to update gnome application platform version 3.34". All other updates proceed without problem.

Type in a console/terminal:

flatpak update

helped in my case. No need to do anything guiverc suggested.

This updated the following packages:

$ flatpak update 
Looking for updates…


        ID                                                  Arch          Branch        Op       Remote        Download
 1. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale                     x86_64        18.08         u        flathub         1.0 kB / 316.0 MB
 3. [✓] org.freedesktop.Sdk.Locale                          x86_64        18.08         u        flathub         1.0 kB / 319.4 MB
 4. [✓] org.gnome.Platform.Locale                           x86_64        3.28          u        flathub         1.0 kB / 188.9 MB
 5. [✓] org.gnome.Platform.Locale                           x86_64        3.30          u        flathub         1.0 kB / 320.2 MB
 7. [✓] org.gnome.Platform                                  x86_64        3.34          u        flathub         1.0 kB / 318.4 MB
 9. [✓] org.gnome.Sdk                                       x86_64        3.34          u        flathub         1.0 kB / 658.5 MB
10. [✓] org.gnome.Sdk.Locale                                x86_64        3.34          u        flathub         1.0 kB / 326.3 MB
11. [✗] org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264                   x86_64        19.08         i        flathub       593.6 kB / 593.4 kB

Warning: org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264 not installed
Changes complete.


        ID                                               Arch              Branch            Remote            Download
 1. [✓] org.gnome.Sdk.Locale                             x86_64            3.32              flathub           17.4 kB / 323.2 MB
 2. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.html5-codecs            x86_64            18.08             flathub            2.9 MB / 3.3 MB
 3. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.VAAPI.Intel             x86_64            18.08             flathub            1.8 MB / 1.8 MB

Installation complete.

A recipe that worked for me after a few false starts:

# flatpak update
This gave: Warning: Failed to install org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264/x86_64/19.08: Error deploying: While trying to apply extra data: runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/19.08 not installed

flatpak repair
flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/19.08
flatpak update

I believe that's done the update so clicking on the clock no longer brings up the 'update to install' notification.

I had this issue, and none of the above worked.

What seems to have worked is first I ran the command to remove unused flatpacks (seemingly mainly old ones)

flatpak uninstall --unused

As it removed unused packages, it listed them, including org.gnome.Platform Here below I show my output:

        ID                                              Branch          Op
 1. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.html5-codecs           18.08           r
 2. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform                        18.08           r
 3. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale                 18.08           r
 4. [-] org.gnome.Platform                              3.32            r
 5. [-] org.gnome.Platform.Locale                       3.32            r
 6. [-] org.gnome.Platform                              3.34            r
 7. [-] org.gnome.Platform.Locale                       3.34            r
 8. [-] org.kde.Sdk                                     5.12            r
 9. [-] org.kde.Sdk.Locale                              5.12            r
10. [-] org.kde.Sdk                                     5.13            r
11. [-] org.kde.Sdk.Locale                              5.13            r

Then I ran flatpak repair. This needs sudo privileges.

sudo flatpak repair

It removed non-deployed packages. See output below:

Verifying flathub:runtime/org.kde.Sdk/x86_64/5.14…
Verifying deploy/runtime/org.gnome.Platform.Locale/x86_64/3.36…
Removing non-deployed ref flathub:runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264/x86_64/19.08…
Verifying flathub:runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264/x86_64/2.0…
Verifying deploy/runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default/x86_64/19.08…

Now I'm no longer getting the message to update Gnome.

This message was sporadic - and evidently it comes from Flatpak updater.

It looks like something installed the freedom.desktopwhatever flatpak to begin with in error, and it's happening a lot, and noone is posting the correct solution, anywhere. One forum got off on a tangent about whether we are allowed to run proprietary codec freedom.desktopwhatever. If we're not, it's not our fault it's erroneously getting installed on our systems! Believe me, I never knowingly installed the Gnome desktop runtime using Flatpak, I do not think so! What a thoroughly stupid, idiotic idea.

Evidently one cannot install three of the most popular desktop environments for Ubuntu, including Gnome, without using Flatpak. What a recipe for disaster. Ubuntu needs to stop forcing people to use Flatpak. And that snapwhatever as well. It smacks of Windows 10's disasters!