What would you use to build a small, cross-platform app with a GUI in 2024? Ideally, I want it to be usable on Mac, Windows, and Linux. I usually use Python but my experience has been that it’s really hard to distribute Python GUI apps. I have heard that Electron is good for this situation. Are there any new frameworks or platforms that you would recommend?
Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
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Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#2C# and Avalonia are getting better as time goes on.
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#3I haven't personally used it. However, I did watch a guy build from scratch his desktop client for his VPN using wails (https://wails.io/) + Golang. It actually went pretty smoothly and quickly. And he did it for mac, windows, and linux. Here's a link to his project since it's open source: https://github.com/tunnels-is/nicelandvpn-desktop
When I did build a production app with Electron (a few years ago granted) I ran into distribution difficulties as well. It's doable, but it was a pain. Specifically what was a pain was auto-update.
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#4I haven't personally used it. However, I did watch a guy build from scratch his desktop client for his VPN using wails ( https://wails.io/ ) + Golang. It actually went pretty smoothly and quickly. And he did it for mac, windows, and linux. Here's a link to his project since it's open source: https://github.com/tunnels-is/nicelandvpn-desktop When I did build a production app with Electron (a few years ago granted) I r…
It looks interesting and similar concept to Tauri in using the system webview. It has to instead of rust for the backend.
I’m surprised why Electron hasn’t used the webview approach, wouldn’t that remove the dependency on chromium and reduce the app size?
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#5I haven't personally used it. However, I did watch a guy build from scratch his desktop client for his VPN using wails ( https://wails.io/ ) + Golang. It actually went pretty smoothly and quickly. And he did it for mac, windows, and linux. Here's a link to his project since it's open source: https://github.com/tunnels-is/nicelandvpn-desktop When I did build a production app with Electron (a few years ago granted) I r…
Thank you. This looks really promising and I’ve been wanting to check out Golang again
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#6Flutter if you don't need multi-window support. Examples:
Ubuntu AppCenter: https://github.com/ubuntu/app-center
Android Nearby Share (Windows): https://www.android.com/better-together/nearby-share-app/
Google OneVPN: https://one.google.com/about/vpn
Rows.com (spreadsheets): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdQXBUPYOE
Superlist (project management): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihpcubpQHA0
Supernova (collab. design): https://flutter.dev/showcase/supernova
Rive studio (animation): https://flutter.dev/showcase/rive
APIDash (Postman alt): https://github.com/foss42/apidash
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#7I just learned of Flet (https://flet.dev) which seems interesting for Python. I may try this as well.
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#8WxPython & WxWidgets are worth a look. I personally like that it uses the platform's native API rather than emulating the GUI and the license seems ok.
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#9what about Qt and wxWidgets all the c++ fast frameworks ? dead ?
Only js rule the world ?
Re: Ask HN: Cross-platform GUI apps in 2024
#10WxPython & WxWidgets are worth a look. I personally like that it uses the platform's native API rather than emulating the GUI and the license seems ok.
Does Wxpython require python interpreter to be bundled with the installer ?