diff --git a/hosts/by-name/desko/default.nix b/hosts/by-name/desko/default.nix
index a212dd4c..ef694ae3 100644
--- a/hosts/by-name/desko/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/by-name/desko/default.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 
   sane.gui.sway.enable = true;
 
+  sane.programs.guiApps.suggestedPrograms = [ "desktopGuiApps" ];
+
   boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = false;
   sane.image.extraBootFiles = [ pkgs.bootpart-uefi-x86_64 ];
 
diff --git a/hosts/by-name/lappy/default.nix b/hosts/by-name/lappy/default.nix
index c0e71e8a..9d618455 100644
--- a/hosts/by-name/lappy/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/by-name/lappy/default.nix
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
   boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = false;
   sane.image.extraBootFiles = [ pkgs.bootpart-uefi-x86_64 ];
 
+  sane.programs.guiApps.suggestedPrograms = [ "desktopGuiApps" ];
+
   sops.secrets.colin-passwd = {
     sopsFile = ../../../secrets/lappy.yaml;
     neededForUsers = true;
diff --git a/hosts/common/programs.nix b/hosts/common/programs.nix
index a1aebfdf..a1dae05a 100644
--- a/hosts/common/programs.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/programs.nix
@@ -4,11 +4,23 @@ let
   inherit (builtins) attrNames concatLists;
   inherit (lib) mapAttrs mapAttrsToList mkDefault mkMerge optional;
 
+  flattenedPkgs = pkgs // (with pkgs; {
+    # XXX can't `inherit` a nested attr, so we move them to the toplevel
+    "cacert.unbundled" = pkgs.cacert.unbundled;
+    "gnome.cheese" = gnome.cheese;
+    "gnome.dconf-editor" = gnome.dconf-editor;
+    "gnome.file-roller" = gnome.file-roller;
+    "gnome.gnome-disk-utility" = gnome.gnome-disk-utility;
+    "gnome.gnome-maps" = gnome.gnome-maps;
+    "gnome.nautilus" = gnome.nautilus;
+    "gnome.gnome-system-monitor" = gnome.gnome-system-monitor;
+    "gnome.gnome-terminal" = gnome.gnome-terminal;
+    "gnome.gnome-weather" = gnome.gnome-weather;
+    "libsForQt5.plasmatube" = libsForQt5.plasmatube;
+  });
+
   sysadminPkgs = {
-    inherit (pkgs // {
-      # XXX can't `inherit` a nested attr, so we move them to the toplevel
-      "cacert.unbundled" = pkgs.cacert.unbundled;
-    })
+    inherit (flattenedPkgs)
       btrfs-progs
       "cacert.unbundled"  # some services require unbundled /etc/ssl/certs
       cryptsetup
@@ -55,6 +67,7 @@ let
   # - transcoders (ffmpeg, imagemagick) only wanted on desko/lappy
   consolePkgs = {
     inherit (pkgs)
+      aerc  # email client
       # backblaze-b2  # TODO: put into the same package set as duplicity
       cdrtools
       dmidecode
@@ -102,41 +115,22 @@ let
       visidata
       w3m
       wireguard-tools
+      xdg-utils  # for xdg-open
       # youtube-dl
       yt-dlp
     ;
   };
 
   guiPkgs = {
-    inherit (pkgs // (with pkgs; {
-      # XXX can't `inherit` a nested attr, so we move them to the toplevel
-      # TODO: could use some "flatten attrs" helper instead
-      "gnome.cheese" = gnome.cheese;
-      "gnome.dconf-editor" = gnome.dconf-editor;
-      "gnome.file-roller" = gnome.file-roller;
-      "gnome.gnome-disk-utility" = gnome.gnome-disk-utility;
-      "gnome.gnome-maps" = gnome.gnome-maps;
-      "gnome.nautilus" = gnome.nautilus;
-      "gnome.gnome-system-monitor" = gnome.gnome-system-monitor;
-      "gnome.gnome-terminal" = gnome.gnome-terminal;
-      "gnome.gnome-weather" = gnome.gnome-weather;
-      "libsForQt5.plasmatube" = libsForQt5.plasmatube;
-    }))
-      aerc  # email client
-      audacity
+    inherit (flattenedPkgs)
       celluloid  # mpv frontend
-      chromium
       clinfo
-      dino
-      electrum
-      element-desktop
       emote
       evince  # works on phosh
 
       # { pkg = fluffychat-moby; dir = [ ".local/share/chat.fluffy.fluffychat" ]; }  # TODO: ship normal fluffychat on non-moby?
 
-      foliate  # e-book reader
-      font-manager
+      # foliate  # e-book reader
 
       # XXX by default fractal stores its state in ~/.local/share/<UUID>.
       # after logging in, manually change ~/.local/share/keyrings/... to point it to some predictable subdir.
@@ -144,14 +138,11 @@ let
       # { pkg = fractal-latest; private = [ ".local/share/fractal" ]; }
       # { pkg = fractal-next; private = [ ".local/share/fractal" ]; }
 
-      gajim  # XMPP client
-      gimp  # broken on phosh
-      "gnome.cheese"
+      # "gnome.cheese"
       "gnome.dconf-editor"
       gnome-feeds  # RSS reader (with claimed mobile support)
       "gnome.file-roller"
-      "gnome.gnome-disk-utility"
-      "gnome.gnome-maps"  # works on phosh
+      # "gnome.gnome-maps"  # works on phosh
       "gnome.nautilus"
       # gnome-podcasts
       "gnome.gnome-system-monitor"
@@ -159,21 +150,15 @@ let
       "gnome.gnome-weather"
       gpodder-configured
       gthumb
-      inkscape
-      kdenlive
-      kid3  # audio tagging
-      krita
-      libreoffice-fresh  # XXX colin: maybe don't want this on mobile
-      lollypop
+      # lollypop
       mpv
       networkmanagerapplet
-      newsflash
+      # newsflash
       nheko
-      obsidian
       pavucontrol
       # picard  # music tagging
       playerctl
-      "libsForQt5.plasmatube"  # Youtube player
+      # "libsForQt5.plasmatube"  # Youtube player
       soundconverter
       # sublime music persists any downloaded albums here.
       # it doesn't obey a conventional ~/Music/{Artist}/{Album}/{Track} notation, so no symlinking
@@ -181,15 +166,33 @@ let
       #   possible to pass config as a CLI arg (sublime-music -c config.json)
       # { pkg = sublime-music; dir = [ ".local/share/sublime-music" ]; }
       sublime-music-mobile
-      tdesktop  # broken on phosh
-      tokodon
+      # tdesktop  # broken on phosh
+      # tokodon
       vlc
       # pleroma client (Electron). input is broken on phosh. TODO(2023/02/02): fix electron19 input (insecure)
       # whalebird
-      xdg-utils  # for xdg-open
       xterm  # broken on phosh
     ;
   };
+  desktopGuiPkgs = {
+    inherit (flattenedPkgs)
+      audacity
+      chromium
+      dino
+      electrum
+      element-desktop
+      font-manager
+      gajim  # XMPP client
+      gimp  # broken on phosh
+      "gnome.gnome-disk-utility"
+      inkscape
+      kdenlive
+      kid3  # audio tagging
+      krita
+      libreoffice-fresh  # XXX colin: maybe don't want this on mobile
+      obsidian
+    ;
+  };
   x86GuiPkgs = {
     inherit (pkgs)
       discord
@@ -224,6 +227,7 @@ in
       (declarePkgs sysadminPkgs)
       (declarePkgs consolePkgs)
       (declarePkgs guiPkgs)
+      (declarePkgs desktopGuiPkgs)
       (declarePkgs x86GuiPkgs)
       {
         # link the various package sets into their own meta packages
@@ -240,6 +244,10 @@ in
           suggestedPrograms = (attrNames guiPkgs)
             ++ optional (pkgs.system == "x86_64-linux") "x86GuiApps";
         };
+        desktopGuiApps = {
+          package = null;
+          suggestedPrograms = attrNames desktopGuiPkgs;
+        };
         x86GuiApps = {
           package = null;
           suggestedPrograms = attrNames x86GuiPkgs;