I’m developing a desktop app for a client and want to use web tech for the UI. I’m thinking of bundling a stripped-down browser engine with my software. Just the rendering part, no extras like tabs or menus. What’s the simplest way to do this that works on different platforms? I know there were some old projects for this, but they’re outdated now. Any current solutions or tips?
have u looked into electron? its pretty popular for desktop apps w/ web UIs. easy to use & works cross-platform. another option is tauri, which is more lightweight. both let u use HTML/CSS/JS for UI w/o needing to bundle a whole browser. worth checking out!
As someone who’s built several desktop apps with web-based UIs, I’d recommend looking into CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework). It’s a mature project that gives you a lot of control over the browser component. You can strip it down to just the rendering engine, which sounds like what you’re after. It’s cross-platform and has bindings for various languages.
Another option worth considering is WebView2. If your app is Windows-focused, it leverages the Edge browser already installed on most systems, reducing your app’s footprint. For cross-platform, you might combine WebView2 for Windows with WKWebView for macOS.
Both options require more setup than Electron, but they’re more lightweight and give you finer control over the browser component.
I’ve been in your shoes before, and I can tell you from experience that Neutralino is worth checking out. It’s a lightweight alternative to Electron that lets you build cross-platform desktop apps using web technologies. The big advantage is it doesn’t bundle a full browser, instead using the system’s native webview. This means smaller app sizes and better performance.
I used it for a recent project and was impressed with how easy it was to set up and how well it performed across Windows, Mac, and Linux. The documentation is solid, and there’s a growing community for support. Just keep in mind that since it’s newer, it might not have all the features of more established frameworks. But for a stripped-down browser experience, it could be exactly what you’re looking for.