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Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

withcapsule.app

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Re: Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

#121

Post by p2detar »

gadders wrote: post #12

>>Capsule packs your entire app — UI, data, and everything — into a single portable .capsule file. I'm having Lotus Notes flashbacks.

Indeed. But Lotus Notes actually had the design and data stored independent of one another and you had database templates. You could update your design without breaking the data, or even have entirely different design that works with the existing data model.

This capsule thing seems to store the design itself within the database, which is odd to me. I guess I don't get it at 100%.

Re: Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

#123

Post by Watchtrail »

rglover wrote: post #58
thesurlydev wrote: post #48

With the battle of AI versus human agency raging I have a prediction that local-first desktop apps are going to make a comeback. It's nice to see something like this make it easier.

I agree and would love to see a shift back to what we had circa ~2009-2010: high quality, desktop and platform-specific apps that you could just pay for once (the best variant for everyone being an app that works indefinitely, but only receives updates if you renew your license every year). The whole shift to SaaS has decimated software quality and has made most tasks a nightmare to complete (or at best, an obstacle…

[flagged]

Re: Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

#124

Post by francislavoie »

I've been doing this with bun lately, single file app with built in SQLite. JS runtime which serves the app with SSR, websockets, and all that good stuff. The binary size is not that small, but that's usually worth the convenience.

Re: Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

#126

Post by lateatdesk »

jawns wrote: post #26

My take: If your app needs to update and preserve state (using SQLite or any other DB), it is probably not something you want to pass around as a bundled file. Or at least, it's extremely limiting, compared with hosting it somewhere on the web, which is not that hard to do these days. Think of the workflow: Any time the state changes, you need to email a new Capsule file to whoever else is using the app. And one woul…

Or the copies can go their own way. I could send someone an itinerary and they could change the dates or drop half the stops and add their own notes without needing to send an updated copy. Getting them to install another app just to open it might be a problem, especially if they only want to use it once.

Re: Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

#127

Post by andix »

I really like the idea. It's so easy to create small tools with AI now, but hard to install them as local apps or share them.

But I'm missing a few relevant features:

1. syncing data and apps (capsules) between my devices. not necessarily over a single SaaS, but maybe p2p or some existing service

2. I think data and apps should be separated, I might want to share an app with someone else without sharing the data

3. Apps should support updates, install the same app again and just replace the code for the existing app, but keep the data. Also share updates either as a file or publish apps to a repo (just a folder of files on a public http server or github repo)

Both keeping data in sync between devices and providing offline capabilities is hard, I know.

Re: Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

#129

Post by krapp »

thesurlydev wrote: post #48

With the battle of AI versus human agency raging I have a prediction that local-first desktop apps are going to make a comeback. It's nice to see something like this make it easier.

It's depressing that everyone decided Electron was the final form of all applications and that native apps were dead until AI came along, and if native apps come back it will only be as vibe-coded slop. It's like we've just moved from once circle of hell into another.

Also Show HN is supposed to be for posting code that the community can discuss and play with. Plain advertisements and landing pages aren't allowed.

Re: Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite

#130

Post by krapp »

fallinditch wrote: post #84
derpyzza wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

couldn't you just embed the js directly into the html file though? that would sidestep the CORS error. and since most of the people using a program like this are likely to be using AI to generate their ( likely throwaway ) applets anyway, readability and maintainability for the source doesn't matter as much as it would with human authors so having a separate js file doesn't bring that many advantages anyway.

Sharing HTML files with embedded Javascript is problematic: iOS users can't open the files directly, and have to save the file and then 'open with ... '.

Sounds like iOS is problematic.
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