Nativefier
Dev tools
desktop app packager
SHOW HN2016
How HN took it
9 positive, 19 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 14 critical, out of 45 comments about the project. Thread score -0.08.
Idea: 5 for, 7 againstExecution: 4 for, 2 againstPerformance: 0 for, 4 againstDesign: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Easy one-command install and build that works as advertised
From 3 comments
I just tried it, skeptical that it would be that easy. Well, one command to install and one to build. Worked exactly as I advertised. Nice!
nixy on HNThis is amazing. I work in digital publishing at an art museum, and we are creating digital books as static HTML/CSS/JS files which rely on client-side interactivity for most…
katabasis on HNVery cool -- I wrapped my first app and it worked great. Sadly, when I gave to copy to a less technical coworker (ie, without node.js installed) and it open with a blank window.…
sanj on HN
Opens external links in the default browser
From 1 comment
Hey, cool, it opens external links in my default browser. That's all I've ever wanted in a web-page-to-app tool. It's surprising no one has gotten this right before. Both…
rcthompson on HN
Useful for keeping web apps in separate windows
From 2 comments
When I am working on projects, I would often have hundreds of tabs open (figuratively speaking) with reference material and whatnot, and my browser tab bar would end up being a…
skewedlines on HNIMO for web apps that you have open all the time (maybe Asana, Google Docs), native OS navigation and window management is significantly better than tab navigation. Of course it…
djacobs on HN
Objections
Bundles Chromium/Electron, adding bloat to each app
From 2 comments
This trend of a hundred desktop applications all bundling their own copy of Chromium really bothers me. I know the situation sucks on Windows, but on Mac, why not use the system…
mwcampbell on HNI do agree with you on that, and there should be some form of Chromium that can be shared across applications to reduce the bloat of such packaged apps. Perhaps this is an issue…
skewedlines on HN
Not truly native; just a stripped browser instance
From 2 comments
I'm not convinced that this process qualifies as making a web page "native". After all, this just seems to spawn a new browser instance with some UI stripped away. None of the…
woodruffw on HNI'd say if your GUI layer is based on the HTML DOM then you're certainly not "native", for any useful definition of "native". Except maybe on ChromeOS, I suppose.
ashark on HN
Missing favicon/icon and back button on Linux
From 2 comments
I liked it. Reading Medium posts on your app was better than in a chrome browser. Congratulations. Side note: on Ubuntu there is no icon when I open the app. If it could get the…
andersonmvd on HNI like this, but wish it would automatically convert to the correct icon (it's defaulting to the electron icon). I see that there are commands in the docs to do this, will try it…
antoniuschan99 on HN
Does not create offline copies of web apps
From 1 comment
This doesn't seem to create offline copies of the webapps, at least assuming by the examples given (maps.google.com and medium.com), which would be quite useless as static apps.
icebraining on HN
Requests
Installer packages (.dmg/.exe) for non-technical users
From 1 comment
This is amazing. I work in digital publishing at an art museum, and we are creating digital books as static HTML/CSS/JS files which rely on client-side interactivity for most…
katabasis on HN
HTTP authentication support
From 1 comment
Hey, cool, it opens external links in my default browser. That's all I've ever wanted in a web-page-to-app tool. It's surprising no one has gotten this right before. Both…
rcthompson on HN
Proxy support
From 1 comment
This could be great for office users who are mostly using desktop applications. Acceptance for web apps is sometimes still hard to get. However, I haven't seen anything…
jbi on HN
Automatic icon conversion from favicon
From 2 comments
I like this, but wish it would automatically convert to the correct icon (it's defaulting to the electron icon). I see that there are commands in the docs to do this, will try it…
antoniuschan99 on HNI liked it. Reading Medium posts on your app was better than in a chrome browser. Congratulations. Side note: on Ubuntu there is no icon when I open the app. If it could get the…
andersonmvd on HN
Chromium flags support
From 1 comment
Really useful! I actually started to build a similar utility as a side project with NW.js, but I never finished it because of lack of time... You should also add the ability to…
joeyspn on HN
Questions
Whether apps work on other machines of the same OS
From 1 comment
Looks great, thanks for this. Wonder if the executable file will work in other systems. For example if I create an app for google.com and move that app to another system, will it…
dieg0 on HN
Whether Flash is supported
From 1 comment
Does it support flash yet?
Fudgel on HN
Alternatives named
Fluid
From 2 comments
There's also Fluid (http://fluidapp.com) of which I've been a happy user for years.
c17r on HNI use Fluid (http://fluidapp.com) for a similar purpose as Nativfier... it's because my brain is hard-wired from years of use to equate Cmd-Tab (or Alt-Tab) with "task switch."…
mosburger on HN
Electron-based MacPin and WebShell
From 1 comment
I tried doing the same thing using Electron. CPU usage isn't ideal, context menus wouldn't work, keyboard focus was an issue. Eventually I dropped it and have been using…
mikewhy on HN
Chrome --app mode and app shortcuts
From 2 comments
My main driver is Firefox, but Google Docs etc. won't work properly in it. I also wouldn't want it to use the same cookies (home vs. multiple work Google accounts, etc.).…
creshal on HNHonest question: Are Chrome apps "File->Create Application Shortcuts" not available on Mac OS X? Because on Linux you can create such apps very easily with this Chrome feature,…
_droptable_ on HN
ManifoldJS and Crosswalk
From 2 comments
http://www.manifoldjs.com/ "manifoldJS helps you reach more users than ever by packaging your web experience as native apps across Android, iOS, and Windows."
T-A on HNIf you want a framework to turn a web application into a mobile app, try Crosswalk: https://crosswalk-project.org/
JoshTriplett on HN