--- title: Creating multi-purpose hardware with IoT app stores description: Canonical’s IoT app store offering facilitates this new age of IoT, allowing businesses to utilitse snaps, the containerised software packages. url: https://canonical.com/blog/creating-multi-purpose-hardware-with-iot-app-stores?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Alex Cattle](https://canonical.com/blog/author/cattleaej "More about Alex Cattle") 7 February 2019 # Creating multi-purpose hardware with IoT app stores [IoT](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/iot) [Ubuntu](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/ubuntu) [webinar](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/webinar) --- Share the article The traditional approach to IoT requires customised hardware and kernels with a monolithic software image being flashed at the manufacturing stage leaving devices static. This renders devices unable to evolve functionality and subject to unmitigated security risks. A new software defined IoT approach helps produce multi-purpose hardware with software that updates automatically helping to patch security and bug fixes. Canonical’s IoT app store offering facilitates this new age of IoT, allowing businesses to utilitse snaps, the containerised software packages which work on all major Linux distros. With IoT devices becoming more prevalent and hardware margins decreasing, the need for monetisation is increasingly sought outside the original sale of the device. IoT app stores help companies build a business beyond hardware and create new revenue streams. For businesses, the chance to create their own branded, private IoT app store opens up a wealth of opportunities for both themselves and their customers. IoT app stores enable businesses to have full control over the store content and set authorisations ensuring that their customers only receive a selected range of snaps which can be specific to the brand and certain devices. Brand stores provide businesses with their own curated repository where they can manage the updates which they push to their customers whilst also ensuring that only authenticated devices have access to the store. In the past, businesses have faced challenges when trying to target specific devices whilst maintaining control over what software is offered to a device. IoT app stores provide a solution to these issues without the need for costly and time consuming custom builds. On February 13th, Kyle Nitzsche, Solutions Architect at Canonical, will be hosting a live webinar – An introduction to IoT app stores – in which he will cover the different types of stores available, how software updates can be managed in a scheduled manner and the permissions set for different users. [Watch the webinar](https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/6793/346324?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=CY19_IOT_BrandStore_WBN_BrandStoreIntro) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/dataprivacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### Arduino® VENTUNO™ Q is available for pre-order with Ubuntu pre-installed](https://canonical.com/blog/arduino-ventuno-q-is-available-for-pre-order-with-ubuntu-pre-installed) London, UK – August 25, 2026 – Following our initial collaboration announcement in March 2026, Canonical and Arduino (a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.) are excited... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 25 August 2026 [### Advantech AOM-2721 is now Ubuntu Certified](https://canonical.com/blog/advantech-aom-2721-ubuntu-certified) Canonical announces that the Advantech AOM-2721 is officially joining the list of Ubuntu Certified Hardware. [Mikhail Khazov](https://canonical.com/blog/author/khazov-m) 13 August 2026 [### Canonical becomes Gold Sponsor of Trifecta Tech Foundation](https://canonical.com/blog/canonical-becomes-gold-sponsor-of-trifecta-tech-foundation) Canonical is pleased to announce it is now a Gold Sponsor of the Trifecta Tech Foundation, a non-profit that creates open source building blocks for critical infrastructure... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 30 June 2026 [### Ubuntu Summit 26.04: connected by open source](https://canonical.com/blog/ubuntu-summit-26-04-connected-by-open-source) What an incredible experience! Ubuntu Summit 26.04 has officially drawn to a close, but the energy from our global community is still buzzing – in the comments section, on... [ilvipero](https://canonical.com/blog/author/ilvipero) 22 June 2026