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Electron Web Application Wrapper

Transform any web page to standalone native application

This project provides a script to create a web wrapper application using Electron. It's designed to encapsulate a web address into a standalone desktop application, enhancing usability and integration with desktop environments.

Usage

Use the script to build your Electron app with the desired web address and app name.

./e-webapp --webaddress "https://example.com" --appname "ExampleApp" --install

Replace https://example.com with the web address you want to wrap and "ExampleApp" with your desired application name.

Features

  • Web to Desktop Conversion: Easily convert any web address into a desktop application.
  • Custom User Agent: Choose between Chrome, Edge, and Safari user agents for web requests.
  • Ad Blocker: Integrate an ad blocker to improve browsing experience within the app.
  • Native notifications: Supports native desktop notifications.
  • Custom CSS/JS Injection: Ability to inject custom CSS and JavaScript for personalized app appearances and functionality.
  • Tray Icon: Option to add a tray icon for easy access and control.
  • Single Instance Enforcement: Ensure only a single instance of the application runs at a time.
  • Desktop Integration: Automatically generates .desktop file for Linux desktop environments, including an optional uninstall action if uninstall_appimage binary is found in the $PATH.

Prerequisites

  • Python3
  • Node.js and npm
  • cairosvg (for icon conversion)
  • bs4 (beautiful soup)

Setup and Installation

Clone the Repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd <repository-name>

Install Dependencies

npm
cairosvg
bs4

Command Line Arguments

The script supports various command line arguments to customize the application build:

  • -w, --webaddress: Required. The web address to wrap into a desktop application.
  • -n, --appname: Required. The name of the application.
  • -i, --icon: Path to the application icon (PNG only).
  • -t, --trayicon: Path to the tray icon (PNG only, optional).
  • -u, --user-agent: User agent for the web requests (options: firefox, chrome, edge, safari, honest; default: chrome).
  • --inject-css: Inject custom CSS (boolean, optional).
  • --inject-js: Inject custom JavaScript (boolean, optional).
  • -b, --adblocker: Enable the ad blocker (default: disabled).
  • -m, --main-menu: Hide the main app menu, can be unhidden with Alt (default: visible).
  • -c, --context-menu: Disable the context menu (default: enabled).
  • -s, --single-instance: Enable single instance mode (boolean, optional).
  • e, --electron-version: Specify the Electron version to install (default: latest)
  • --wayland: Force Wayland window rendering.
  • --install-appimage: Build and install the AppImage and desktop file (Linux only).
  • --install: Install the app and desktop file.
  • --debug: Keep the build directory for debugging.

For more detailed information on each argument, type --help when running the script.

Building the AppImage

After running the script with the --install-appimage flag, an AppImage and a .desktop file for your application will be generated. You can find these in the ~/Applications and ~/.local/share/applications/ directories, respectively.

Debugging

Pass the --debug flag to keep the build directory for debugging purposes.

Known Bugs and Issues

  • screen sharing does not work (would appreciate if someone can help me with this)
  • some web site notifications won't work due to custom implementation, like outlook.com or icloud.com
  • new windows from links open with default menus that action main menu, like quit will quit entire app not just new window
  • no proper internal url handling

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and submit a pull request with your improvements or suggestions.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.