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Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
11–20 of 42 posts
Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#12Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#13Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#14How does this compare to the below? google-chrome --app= https://example.com firefox --ssb= https://example.com
84.4MB AppImage, probably yet another electron wrapper. At least this one provides single runtime image for all apps.
Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
This works for non-PWA's. 'Install as app' is only present for PWA's right? You also do the 'add to home screen' instead of using this app.
"Install as app" works for any page.
Is the wording 'Install as app' on all pages on edge? Other browsers show 'Install as app' only for PWA and 'add to home screen' for normal websites.
Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#16How does this compare to the below? google-chrome --app= https://example.com firefox --ssb= https://example.com
Hi everyone, it's Quang from WebCatalog,
Certainly, if the built-in "install-as-app" of major browsers work well for you, then it's great.
WebCatalog tries to make the concept simpler and more accessible to average users. Most people are familiar with the concepts of apps and app stores so our vision is to build an app store for web apps that gives users easy access to desktop apps (many not available elsewhere). A user doesn't need to know what is difference between a website or an app, they just need to open WebCatalog and install the apps they want like they usually do on their phone. For a power user, this might sound unnecessary, but this is proven wrong as there are plenty of apps like "X for Gmail" or "Y for Netflix" on Mac App Store and Microsoft Store. It is also the reason why companies like Notion and Slack build web-wrapper desktop apps.
One more point, we're not only letting users install chromeless window apps. If you give it a try, for example, with the Gmail app on WebCatalog [1], you can switch between multiple accounts using workspaces, set the app as the default email client, attach it to the menu bar or taskbar, etc. They're real apps with executables, not just bash scripts. And we're trying to integrate the web apps with your system and make it feel native-like as much as possible. And we're going to add many more features soon. In other words, we're trying to bring the experience that web-wrapper apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Notions offer to every web app.
I've been bootstrapping WebCatalog since 2017. I and many people around the world use it every day. It's a well-tested idea. It's only now that we decide to launch the product widely.
Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#17How does this compare to the below? google-chrome --app= https://example.com firefox --ssb= https://example.com
84.4MB AppImage, probably yet another electron wrapper. At least this one provides single runtime image for all apps.
Yes, it's built with Electron. But I don't think there's anything wrong with the framework. Plenty of amazing apps are built with Electron, and they're fast and snappy. Without Electron, we'd never be able to bring WebCatalog to all major desktop platforms.
Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#18How does this compare to the below? google-chrome --app= https://example.com firefox --ssb= https://example.com
Is there a way to do this on Mac where you can open several app windows and use ALT+tab to switch between them? I know you can use CMD+` to swap between Chrome windows but this is a productivity killer if you have to first ALT+tab to Chrome and then use CMD+` to get the window you want.
Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#19Lots of comments that this provides standard browser builtin features for a fee but I see at least a few features that could be nice and I wouldn't know how to do so easily in standard browsers. (Attach to menubar, sync between devices, pick engine, for example)
Effectively its a paid for browser which, considering Mozilla owes of recent, maybe it's not a bad idea.
Re: Show HN: WebCatalog – turn websites into desktop apps
#20How does this compare to the below? google-chrome --app= https://example.com firefox --ssb= https://example.com
Is there a way to do this on Mac where you can open several app windows and use ALT+tab to switch between them? I know you can use CMD+` to swap between Chrome windows but this is a productivity killer if you have to first ALT+tab to Chrome and then use CMD+` to get the window you want.
Thank you for bring this up. This is exactly what WebCatalog is built for. Every app you install through WebCatalog works just like a Mac app so you can switch between them using Alt+Tab.
For each app, if you need to, you can divide the app into workspaces (similar to how Slack workspaces) which you can switch between using Cmd+1, Cmd+2, etc.