WINDOWS + LINUX

A website as a Windows or Linux app.

URL to App wraps an HTTPS site in a small Tauri shell. The URL, app name and icon are data, so the browser can assemble a per-site package without compiling a new binary.

What you get

• Windows: a per-app Setup.exe with a current-user or all-users install, and a portable .zip.
• Linux: a .tar.gz and an AppImage, with x86_64 and aarch64 builds.
• AppImage variants: a small system-WebKit build and a larger bundled-WebKit build.
• Isolation: each app gets its own window title, shortcut, icon and WebView profile.

How the browser assembles it

The Windows portable build patches the PE icon and version resources. The installer appends a config payload to the NSIS setup. The AppImage uses a small Rust/WASM repacker to replace the embedded desktop entry and icon, then appends the same config trailer. The tar and zip are written with the right file modes.

The shell binaries are built once in CI and published as versioned static assets. The browser fetches the selected base, verifies its SHA-256 digest, patches it and downloads the result. Nothing is compiled for your site.

Install it

1. Open the builder and choose Windows or Linux.
2. Pick the architecture and package type.
3. Generate the package. The shell is downloaded on demand.
4. On Windows, run Setup and clear the SmartScreen warning. On Linux, chmod +x the AppImage or extract the tarball.

What it is not

• Desktop packages are unsigned and will trigger SmartScreen on Windows.
• There is no auto-update. Regenerating the app is the update path for now.
• Linux AppImages still need FUSE; the tarball and --appimage-extract-and-run are the fallbacks.
• macOS is not supported yet.
• The app loads the live URL and has no offline copy.

If you want a compile-time Tauri or Electron build with your own plugins and updater, use Tauri CLI or Electron Forge directly. URL to App is for wrapping a live site with no toolchain and no per-site compiler run.

Build a desktop app