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Comment by hs86 | Hacker News Reader

1Password and the Tower git client were somewhat similar: They started on native Mac first and years later introduced a native Windows version that lacked behind in features and polish.

1Password for Windows slowly(!) caught up, and even after all this investment, they decided that going for a web-based UI across all desktop OSes is the better solution.

Tower did not change this: Their Windows version is still lacking, and I am still confused by their website about which features are Mac-only and which are also on Windows.

Are they in a better position now for sticking with native apps? I stopped using them and moved to GitKraken that has the same UI across OSes. It is not as pleasing as that mature macOS version of Tower, but it is still better than constantly switching between an awesome and a "meh" app.

Maybe cross-platform consistency is more important than having one main attraction and multiple sideshows.

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For a nice git client that’s fully native under both macOS and Windows, I strongly recommend Fork[1].

[1]: https://git-fork.com

I’ve been very happy with Fork on macOS. Paid for it a few years ago and never been asked to pay for a new version, even though I totally would at this point.

A couple of times when I’ve had support queries I’ve got quick email responses directly from the developer too.

Throwing my support in for Fork as well. I've been following it since it was a free beta and it's always been a great product.

As mentioned, the developer(s) are very responsive to e-mails and have been very nice when dealing with my stupid questions and suggestions.

Definitely recommended.

I’ve been really enjoying Sublime Merge as a replacement for Tower

Was the windows app native? I haven't used to to often, but when I did (end of 2020) it felt fairly clunky.

I think the whole idea behind Electron is that they've also put out a native Linux version. Which is much, much better than having to run an extension in the browser, and gets some system integration (unlock with yubikey).

From the screenshots, it would seem the Mac version is the same as the Linux version (currently version 8.1.1 on my machine). One big step back is if you have multiple vaults (say personal + company) you have to open each one individually. No more one password unlocks everything.

You mean a Linux desktop app. Electron apps aren't native.

1Password could afford a native Linux version.

> You mean a Linux desktop app.

Yes.

> 1Password could afford a native Linux version.

Especially since the "core" is written in a different language anyway, which can be common across platforms.

I've never really done actual GUI development, but the 1Password GUI is fairly limited in what you can do. It's basically a list you can filter and a bunch of text fields. Yeah, it shows an animated countdown on the OTP field, which consumes a ton of CPU. Can't say I see a lot of value in that. [0]

My point is that to someone whose job it is code, it shouldn't take to long to do a similar thing in QT / GTK. But I guess they'd still need more people than doing just Electron.

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[0] When the first versions came out on Linux, there was actually an FAQ entry about unusually high CPU usage. The solution given was to switch to a login without OTP or to close the main window.

Does GitKraken still require an account? I'm not sure if that's what bothered me about it when I tried it, but there was something that just got in my way. Was pretty decent at visualizing branches if I recall.

I have same exact problem. I enjoy Tower for Mac, but Tower for Windows is hot trash. How close is GitKraken to Tower for Mac?

I used GitKraken on Linux a few years ago and never liked it. It would chug and really struggle with even moderate sized repos—not sure if they’ve improved performance since.

It’s very out-of-place design wise compared to Tower too, being an Electron app.

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