Desktop Apps

While I haven’t ever shipped a desktop app to production, I’ve been fiddling with the different options and tech for building cross-platform desktop apps. Electron is huge in the Node JS and frontend world, so I try to follow the latest in this space.

• Electron - the incumbent “best practice”
• Deskgap - like electron, but uses native system browser
• Electrino
• Quark
• Appify - Super simple way to wrap an executable in a macOS desktop app.
• Similar script as application approach - kind of sketchy.
• graffiti
• NW.js
• revery - not necessarily using frontend tech/Javascript, but is designed to be easy for JS devs to use. Super performant next-gen shit.
• Tauri - Uses rust.
• sciter - no idea how it works, but is extremely lightweight when compared with electron. example app
• Neutralino - also uses system browser.
• Svelte Node GUI
• Grader
• wails
• webviews
• gluon - deno + webview
• todesktop - bit more managed instant electron apps.
• gpui.rs - rust-based framework for desktop apps. from the creators of zed editor.

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Side note: guide to distributing mac apps outside the app store - link.

Maybe useful:

• Electron React Boilerplate
• create-dmg - useful tool from sindresorhus for generating a nice-looking dmg
• benchmarks of web-to-desktop frameworks
• “How to make absolutely any app look like a macos app”