Applicationize is a Node.js/Koa web application that converts web apps into standalone desktop apps by generating Chrome packaged extensions (CRX files). Users input a URL, and the service fetches the web app to extract its title and favicon, then creates a custom Chrome extension that embeds the URL in a webview with native app-like behavior (e.g., keyboard shortcuts for fullscreen, zoom, and dialog handling). The extension is packaged and served as a ZIP file for download to avoid Chrome's CRX_REQUIRED_PROOF_MISSING error. The architecture consists of a server-rendered web interface built with Bootstrap 3 and jQuery, and a backend that handles extension generation via two main routes: one for serving the applicationizer form and another for processing the generation request. The generation process involves fetching the target URL, parsing HTML with Cheerio, generating a self-signed certificate, customizing extension template files (manifest, background script, embed HTML), and packing the extension using the crx and adm-zip modules. Although the code demonstrates clear separation of concerns and includes reusable Koa middleware for HTTPS redirection and error handling, the core functionality is now obsolete due to Google's deprecation of Chrome packaged apps. The project relies on outdated dependencies (including the deprecated request library) and generates extensions using manifest v2 and chrome.app.runtime APIs, which are no longer supported in modern Chrome versions. The README explicitly directs users to alternatives like native application shortcuts or Nativefier, indicating the project is effectively abandoned.
This repository is a comparative benchmark of web-to-desktop application frameworks (Electron, Tauri, NW.js, Wails, NodeGui, Neutralino, Flutter, .NET MAUI). It provides automated benchmarking infrastructure that builds empty apps for each framework, measures build size, build time, memory usage, and startup duration across multiple operating systems, and presents the results in formatted README tables and Mermaid graphs. The repository also tracks GitHub stars and forks over time. The codebase is primarily a data collection and presentation project, with the runner scripts orchestrating the benchmarks and generating the comparison documents. The benchmark apps themselves are minimal template applications. The project is actively maintained with recent commits and automated CI workflows, but the runner code contains several technical issues (undefined functions, deprecated patterns) indicating high technical drift. The data is bundled in the repository, making results immediately accessible without running benchmarks.