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https://github.com/jiahaog/nativefier

Make any web page a desktop application
https://github.com/jiahaog/nativefier

desktop-application electron linux macos nodejs windows

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Make any web page a desktop application

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README 

        
Note: Nativefier is unmaintained, please see https://github.com/nativefier/nativefier/issues/1577.



# Nativefier



![Example of Nativefier app in the macOS dock](.github/dock-screenshot.png)



You want to make a native-looking wrapper for WhatsApp Web (or any web page).



```bash

nativefier 'web.whatsapp.com'

```



![Walkthrough animation](.github/nativefier-walkthrough.gif)



You're done.



## Introduction



Nativefier is a command-line tool to easily create a “desktop app” for any web site

with minimal fuss. Apps are wrapped by [Electron](https://www.electronjs.org/)

(which uses Chromium under the hood) in an OS executable (`.app`, `.exe`, etc)

usable on Windows, macOS and Linux.



I built this because I grew tired of having to Alt-Tab to my browser and then search

through numerous open tabs when using Messenger or

Whatsapp Web ([HN thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10930718)). Nativefier features:



- Automatically retrieval of app icon / name

- Injection of custom JS & CSS

- Many more, see the [API docs](API.md) or `nativefier --help`



## Installation



Install Nativefier globally with `npm install -g nativefier` . Requirements:



- macOS 10.13+ / Windows / Linux

- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) ≥ 16.9 and npm ≥ 7.10



Optional dependencies:



- [ImageMagick](http://www.imagemagick.org/) or [GraphicsMagick](http://www.graphicsmagick.org/) to convert icons.

  Be sure `convert` + `identify` or `gm` are in your `$PATH`.

- [Wine](https://www.winehq.org/) to build Windows apps from non-Windows platforms.

  Be sure `wine` is in your `$PATH`.



  Or install with Docker (click to expand)



  - Pull the image from [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/nativefier/nativefier): `docker pull nativefier/nativefier`

  - ... or build it yourself: `docker build -t local/nativefier .`

    (in this case, replace `nativefier/` in the below examples with `local/`)



  By default, `nativefier --help` will be executed.

  To build e.g. a Gmail app into `~/nativefier-apps`,



  ```bash

  docker run --rm -v ~/nativefier-apps:/target/ nativefier/nativefier https://mail.google.com/ /target/

  ```



  You can pass Nativefier flags, and mount volumes to pass local files. E.g. to use an icon,



  ```bash

  docker run --rm -v ~/my-icons-folder/:/src -v $TARGET-PATH:/target nativefier/nativefier --icon /src/icon.png --name whatsApp -p linux -a x64 https://web.whatsapp.com/ /target/

  ```



  Or install with Snap & AUR (click to expand)



  These repos are *not* managed by Nativefier maintainers; use at your own risk.

  If using them, for your security, please inspect the build script.



  - [Snap](https://snapcraft.io/nativefier)

  - [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nodejs-nativefier)



## Usage



To create an app for medium.com, simply `nativefier 'medium.com'`



Nativefier will try to determine the app name, and well as other options that you

can override. For example, to override the name, `nativefier --name 'My Medium App' 'medium.com'`



**Read the [API docs](API.md) or run `nativefier --help`**

to learn about command-line flags and configure your app.



## Troubleshooting



**See [CATALOG.md](CATALOG.md) for site-specific ideas & workarounds contributed by the community**.



If this doesn’t help, go look at our [issue tracker](https://github.com/nativefier/nativefier/issues).



## Development



Help welcome on [bugs](https://github.com/nativefier/nativefier/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Abug) and

[feature requests](https://github.com/nativefier/nativefier/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Afeature-request)!



Docs: [Developer / build / hacking](HACKING.md), [API / flags](API.md),

[Changelog](CHANGELOG.md).



License: [MIT](LICENSE.md).