Thank you for this, but I have one recommendation. It talks about how to contribute new/updated apps, but not about how to volunteer (or the requirements for, or the need of additional people) being a maintainer, which is what we were missing the last few weeks.
I found this post from Kris on GitHub which covers this topic from 2025
Welcome to TrueNAS Apps Developer Discussions! · truenas/apps · Discussion #1270
It appears the request for how to provide app maintenance help would be to engage on Github.
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You can, and it’s fairly easy actually.
For one, you can install apps with the “custom yaml” function: it opens an edit window and you can just enter the yaml code there.
Or you can install Dockhand, Dockge, or Portainer and install/maintain your docker-compose apps inside that.
I did both: I installed Dockhand with the custom yaml function, then all my other apps are managed inside that. The only real downside to this is that you can’t manage all your apps from within the TrueNAS UI, and need to keep a 2nd browser tab open for the apps.
Third option is descriped here, but tldr is: save your yaml locally on your pool and only paste in the path to the yaml in the editor and truenas will deploy the app
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This is the way. Get involved on Github. As you work with us (And Stavros directly) we’ll build some trust along the way, and that is the fastest path towards getting your name put forward as deserving of commit access to help approve app updates. Pretty standard open source fare TBH 
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I actually just submitted my first two community apps from open request on GitHub and both got approved. I am extremely new to all of this but I was already running the apps as custom apps and just followed the guide for submitting. Then put the same guide into Codex to run the test against them and make corrections where needed. Then I had it explain along the way what it was doing so I can understand it better. For anyone who is afraid to jump in I say go for it and start with something your know works on your system. The worst they are going to do is say no at first and then assist you with getting it approved.
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This is great!
And what happens when you go on holiday? 
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“Many hands make light work”. Ideally we have several folks step up so there is nice community coverage for when any particular person needs to go on vacation.
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Interesting, this forced my hand to install Arcane and then move all my containers over to it, thereby removing all the builtin apps.
No more messages about Jellyfin being unhealthy, and also massive drop in CPU usage, so win/win.
Interesting, this forced my hand to install Arcane and then move all my containers over to it, thereby removing all the builtin apps.
Yep, I think you did the right thing. I switched away from the community apps last year because of various issues like this, though I’m using Dockhand now for app management.
No more messages about Jellyfin being unhealthy, and also massive drop in CPU usage, so win/win.
Now that’s odd. I wonder why you saw a big drop in CPU usage. The community apps are bad, but not usually for this reason: they’re really just a front-end for docker-compose, using the form values to create a docker-compose yaml file which the user doesn’t get to see unless they do that “convert to yaml” function. So they shouldn’t, in theory, result in extra CPU usage by the containers. I wonder if one of yours was being set up in some really bad way by the community app. That’s one of the problems with these community apps: you’re trusting some person’s code to generate good yaml and to set up the app in a good way, instead of just writing your own yaml (usually just using the example yaml provided by the upstream project). Why bother dealing with a middleman when you can just do things the way recommended by the project leaders?
I agree, and wound add that this is not a PTO/vacation issue - it’s more than that. Eventually the employee is going to get promoted, or resign to go to another company, or retire, or get sick, or have an accident that prevents coming to work for some time, or permanently. As such, taking a more sustainable approach would be better for the company and the users.
Didn’t the TrueNAS software used to allow/support apps that came through a separately maintained catalog / organization? And that is no longer an option? Or, am i mis-remembering?
Yes, it did–until 24.04, TrueNAS allowed you to add other app catalogs. AFAIK, only one was ever published–TrueCharts, who were very polarizing to put it mildly–but the option was there. When iX threw out the Kubernetes-based apps system in favor of Docker in 24.10, they also removed the ability to use other apps catalogs.
False:
“Ultimately there are positives and negatives for converting to a custom app (or starting there, for that matter), including the inability to convert back without removing and reinstalling the application”.
You may not be able to figure out how to use/copy the data, but it is possible to “convert” a custom app, to a native or even dockge, dockhand app!
Please explain how to convert a custom app back to a native TrueNAS app.
I’ll just give you clues: (not near my servers now).
What is a docker app? A yaml file and data, correct?
For a custom app, you have the compose file already, so all you really needed is the data, which is stored under the ix-systems hidden dataset.
All you need is to be able to copy that data. You probably need to change the dataset options so you can mount it etc, but bottom line: The data is there! (figure out how to get it!).
I did something similar a couple months ago so can’t remember exactly, but if I was able to figure out, anybody else can too.
Ultimately my point is there is a “convert” to custom app button on the UI now. Once you do that there’s no “convert” that puts it back.
You asked how it was possible. It is
Next time ask: How can the lazy, non able ones can do it with one click!
Answer: Those that cannot make do, or figure out, will stay behind!
So you “convert” it by reinstalling it. No, that isn’t a conversion–Daroz was correct, and you were not.
Well Docker data is persistent, so yes you could go back and forth between custom and truenas apps.
As someone who just spent the week changing every truenas app over to arcane (custom), I have no doubt I could put them back. The real question becomes why would you?