The DEVAE web app runs in any modern browser. The desktop app exists for the things a browser will not let us do well: native screen capture, the terminal bridge for live rooms, and system notifications that survive a closed tab.
One codebase
The desktop app wraps the same Next.js app in Electron. Nothing is forked: the web build is packaged with a small native layer that exposes screen capture, a pseudo-terminal and a local collaboration server to the page through a bridge. If a feature works on the web, it works in the app; the app just has more permissions.
Three installers
- macOS: a signed .dmg.
- Windows: an installer .exe.
- Linux: an AppImage.
Builds run in CI on GitHub runners for all three at once, and the Android app is built in the same workflow. Installers are published to the download page and served directly from our own server, so downloads do not depend on a third-party CDN.
What is next for desktop
Auto-update, a menu-bar presence indicator, and a "join room" deep link that opens straight into a room from a shared URL. If you hit a rough edge on your platform, the feedback page takes a platform field for exactly this reason.
