Turn web apps into lightweight native apps, no electron

github.com

33 points·SiDevesh··8 comments

So, this is just a link to a webview without any chrome (UI chrome, not the browser backend)? Does this or does it not include a chromium runtime? If it does, it's incredibly wasteful, just like electron. If it doesn't, congratulations, you've invented the desktop link.

It also doesn't solve any of the real problems with electron, since it doesn't actually give you any native software of any kind. Electron apps are annoying because they're wasteful, but also because they don't use my native UI elements. They don't conform with my expectations. And this doesn't solve that either.

So what DOES this do? For whom is it?

It's a wrapper for carlo, it's using the webview provided by the locally installed google chrome.

op here and the creator here, this doesn't include the chrome runtime so is much more lightweight than electron, and yes, obviously this won't solve the UI inconsistencies that electron apps have since this is also using web for rendering part but the apps created with this are more than just a web link. They integrate with the system launcher and open any external links in a separate chrome window, plus this has its own notification system polyfilling the web notification API.

> If it doesn't, congratulations, you've invented the desktop link.

This is currently insanely difficult with Firefox. You need a custom profile for every website, with matching userChrome.css.

OP, calling them "native" apps is misleading here. "Standalone" may be what you mean.

Nice work! Tested it and it looks promising for simple web apps that require minimal native APIs. What happens if the user does not have Chrome installed?

In that case Carlo just shows a error saying chrome isn't installed

Thanks

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