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React native is pretty cool, but I do wish they would add support for desktop apps, not just ios and android. Proton native exists and seems stable-ish, but the

React native is pretty cool, but I do wish they would add support for desktop apps, not just ios and android. Proton native exists and seems stable-ish, but the underlying cross platform UI library (libui) still says it's only at an alpha level.

joshuagross 8y ago
Have you seen React Native Windows (https://github.com/Microsoft/react-native-windows https://github.com/Microsoft/react-native-windows) and react-native-macos (https://github.com/ptmt/react-native-macos https://github.com/ptmt/react-native-macos)? I haven't used either, but they both look very popular, 5k-10k stars on Github.
- Octoth0rpe 8y ago
  I was aware, but I don't recall those projects being very active. Additionally, IIRC they're both implementing their UI widgets differently rather than trying to build a common API that is desktop agnostic. There also is this project: https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop which seems somewhat more active, and also supports linux (which is much more important to me than windows support).
- saagarjha 8y ago
  I downloaded the macOS UI Explorer, and it seems to not be using vibrancy correctly.
Jedi72 8y ago
React is competing with web components which is a much better way of achieving what you're talking about https://www.webcomponents.org https://www.webcomponents.org
- Octoth0rpe 8y ago
  Correct me if I'm wrong, but using webcomponents as an alternative to a hypothetical version of react native for desktop apps would require loading said web components into a webview, say via Electron; am I correct in that? If so, then I'd d strongly disagree that that is a better way of doing things. While I'm not an electron hater like many around here, react native's approach seems far superior.
s_y_n_t_a_x 8y ago
ReactXP is the most mature mobile/desktop RN project and being used to develop the new Skype. It provides common components to glue react-windows, react-macos, and react-native together. The downside is you have to roll most of the components yourself due to a lack of UI lib, but it has all of the core components, and imo that's better. The really cool thing about react-windows is it builds UWP apps so you can target Xbox, W10, and Windows Mixed Reality natively. MacOS support is experimental but the core is there. Linux support can be achieved with Electron (I know, not native, but maybe someone will make a react-qt project) https://microsoft.github.io/reactxp/ https://microsoft.github.io/reactxp/
- Octoth0rpe 8y ago
  According to their documentation, the _only_ desktop platform they support natively (that is, without something like electron) is windows 10: > Other platforms such as Windows 7 & 8, MacOS, and Linux can be targeted using a web wrapper solution like Electron. That's interesting, but Macos/linux support are a hard requirement for what I work on professionally / side projects though. Windows support isn't.
  - s_y_n_t_a_x 8y ago
    They support UWP which includes all modern Windows environments (Windows 10, Xbox One, Windows Mixed Reality) There is experimental support for MacOS, but it's actually very far along, close to being usable for production if not already. Linux support isn't very widespread for many cross-platform technologies in the first place, so Electron is the best bet there. Maybe someone will make a react-qt project.
    - ckcheng 8y ago
      > Maybe someone will make a react-qt project. There's https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop It'd be nice to have a React Native for GTK though. There's https://github.com/Place1/react-native-gtk https://github.com/Place1/react-native-gtk but it's abandoned. React Native for GTK might get ReactXP natively onto Linux: https://github.com/Microsoft/reactxp/issues/41 https://github.com/Microsoft/reactxp/issues/41

joshuagross 8y ago

Have you seen React Native Windows (https://github.com/Microsoft/react-native-windows https://github.com/Microsoft/react-native-windows) and react-native-macos (https://github.com/ptmt/react-native-macos https://github.com/ptmt/react-native-macos)? I haven't used either, but they both look very popular, 5k-10k stars on Github.

Octoth0rpe 8y ago
I was aware, but I don't recall those projects being very active. Additionally, IIRC they're both implementing their UI widgets differently rather than trying to build a common API that is desktop agnostic. There also is this project: https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop which seems somewhat more active, and also supports linux (which is much more important to me than windows support).
saagarjha 8y ago
I downloaded the macOS UI Explorer, and it seems to not be using vibrancy correctly.

Jedi72 8y ago

React is competing with web components which is a much better way of achieving what you're talking about https://www.webcomponents.org https://www.webcomponents.org

Octoth0rpe 8y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but using webcomponents as an alternative to a hypothetical version of react native for desktop apps would require loading said web components into a webview, say via Electron; am I correct in that? If so, then I'd d strongly disagree that that is a better way of doing things. While I'm not an electron hater like many around here, react native's approach seems far superior.

s_y_n_t_a_x 8y ago

ReactXP is the most mature mobile/desktop RN project and being used to develop the new Skype. It provides common components to glue react-windows, react-macos, and react-native together. The downside is you have to roll most of the components yourself due to a lack of UI lib, but it has all of the core components, and imo that's better. The really cool thing about react-windows is it builds UWP apps so you can target Xbox, W10, and Windows Mixed Reality natively. MacOS support is experimental but the core is there. Linux support can be achieved with Electron (I know, not native, but maybe someone will make a react-qt project) https://microsoft.github.io/reactxp/ https://microsoft.github.io/reactxp/

Octoth0rpe 8y ago
According to their documentation, the _only_ desktop platform they support natively (that is, without something like electron) is windows 10: > Other platforms such as Windows 7 & 8, MacOS, and Linux can be targeted using a web wrapper solution like Electron. That's interesting, but Macos/linux support are a hard requirement for what I work on professionally / side projects though. Windows support isn't.
- s_y_n_t_a_x 8y ago
  They support UWP which includes all modern Windows environments (Windows 10, Xbox One, Windows Mixed Reality) There is experimental support for MacOS, but it's actually very far along, close to being usable for production if not already. Linux support isn't very widespread for many cross-platform technologies in the first place, so Electron is the best bet there. Maybe someone will make a react-qt project.
  - ckcheng 8y ago
    > Maybe someone will make a react-qt project. There's https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop https://github.com/status-im/react-native-desktop It'd be nice to have a React Native for GTK though. There's https://github.com/Place1/react-native-gtk https://github.com/Place1/react-native-gtk but it's abandoned. React Native for GTK might get ReactXP natively onto Linux: https://github.com/Microsoft/reactxp/issues/41 https://github.com/Microsoft/reactxp/issues/41