Guides and tutorials
By Tw93. Choose a web app tool, set up separate accounts, customize your apps, and build with Pake CLI.
Build an app
Turn a website or local page into an installable app on Mac, Windows or Linux.
Turn a website into a desktop app: which approach fits?To turn a website into a desktop app on Mac, Windows or Linux, try the browser's built-in web app feature first, because it takes a minute and costs nothing. Move to the Pake desktop app when you want settings you can edit, reuse and export, and to Pake CLI when the build has to be repeatable, run on Linux, or package local files. · 6 min read
Turn a website into a Mac app with Safari or PakeOn macOS Sonoma 14 or later, Safari's File › Add to Dock gives a website its own window and Dock icon in about a minute. Use Pake instead when you want to pick the window size, keep the settings in one place, or reuse them on another Mac. · 6 min read
Make a Windows app from a websiteIn Edge, choose Settings and more … › More tools › Apps › Install this site as an app and the site gets its own window. Choose Pake instead when you want to set the window size and icon, decide what closing the window does, or keep several web apps in one editable list. · 6 min read
Package local HTML or a static site with Pake CLIRun your production build, then point Pake CLI at the output folder with pake ./dist --name my-tool. The folder needs an index.html at its root, and its files are packaged into the app, so it opens without a server. The desktop app takes websites only, so local files are a CLI job. · 6 min read
Build a website app with Pake on GitHub ActionsFork tw93/Pake, open Actions, run Build App With Pake CLI with your website address and an app name, then download the app from the run's Artifacts section. You need no local Rust toolchain. Download it within three days, because this workflow keeps its artifacts only that long. · 6 min read
Move your Pake app settings to another computerExport your settings from Pake to a .pake file, install Pake on the new Mac or Windows PC, import the file, and create each app again. The file carries names, addresses, window options and icons. It does not carry sign-ins, so every site asks you to log in once on the new computer. · 5 min read
Pin a website to the Windows 11 taskbarInstall the site as an app first, then right-click its icon and choose Pin to taskbar. In Edge the pin is also under Details at edge://apps. Edge, Chrome and Pake all work this way, and they differ in what the icon stays tied to when you later update, sync or uninstall. · 5 min read
Window and behavior
Change how a wrapped site looks, signs in and stays on screen.
Customize a web app's window, icon and page stylesA Pake app has three layers you can change separately: the window frame, the icon, and the page inside, which belongs to the website. Change the frame first, because it never touches the site, and use injected CSS or JavaScript only when the page itself is the problem. · 6 min read
Keep a web app always on top on Mac and WindowsTo keep one website in front of every other window, make it a Pake app and turn on Always on top in its Window options, then give it a small size. The pin applies to that one site, not a whole browser, and works the same on Mac and Windows. · 5 min read
Put a website in the Mac menu bar or the Windows trayA Pake app can keep a website running after you close its window and show an icon in the Mac menu bar or Windows tray. Turn on Hide on close for the first and Menu bar icon or Tray icon for the second, but the icon opens a normal window, not a popover. · 6 min read
Use two accounts on the same website with PakeTo stay signed in to two accounts on one website, make two Pake apps. Add Another Account in the ⋯ menu of My Apps copies the first app's settings and icon under a new name, and the copy starts signed out, because each app has its own identity. · 5 min read
"Your browser is not supported": checking the user agentWhen a site shows an unsupported-browser page inside a Pake app, check whether it is rejecting the user agent string. You can try a string from a browser the site accepts in User agent under Advanced. This changes how the app identifies itself, not its web engine or capabilities. · 6 min read
Google sign-in fails in a web app: what to checkA site can load fine in a Pake app while sign-in fails, for three look-alike reasons: the provider refuses embedded browsers, a pop-up opened in the wrong place, or a session was not kept. Read the error first, because Google's embedded browser refusal has no Pake setting that fixes it. · 6 min read
Inject CSS and JavaScript into a web appPake CLI takes --inject with one or more local .css or .js files and bakes them into the app, so they run on every page it opens; the desktop app has the same thing under Advanced as Inject CSS and Inject JavaScript. CSS is the safe tool for hiding a banner or enlarging text, JavaScript can do more but breaks sooner, and you should only inject code you wrote or have read. · 6 min read
Website notifications in a desktop web appA Pake app answers a page's notification request itself, reports permission as already granted and hands the alert to the operating system. The page asks through the standard Notification API, so what you see depends on the system's notification settings, Focus or Do Not Disturb, and not on a browser prompt. If nothing appears, check those settings first, then whether the site uses plain Notification calls at all. · 7 min read
Popular sites
Step-by-step builds for sites people most often turn into apps.
DeepSeek desktop app: using chat.deepseek.com in its own windowDeepSeek's own desktop download is DeepSeek Harness, an open-source agent app in public preview, while the everyday chat lives at chat.deepseek.com and in the phone apps. A Pake app gives that chat site its own window and Dock or Start menu icon; the whole job is one address, a few window options and one sign-in. · 6 min read
ChatGPT and Claude on Linux as desktop appsOpenAI and Anthropic now ship Linux desktop apps, each for a short list of distributions. On other distributions, or for a second signed-in copy, Pake CLI can put chatgpt.com or claude.ai in a window of its own, running on the system's WebKitGTK; the catch is that you build it yourself and a bot check may stop the page. · 6 min read
Gemini on the desktop: official options and a standalone appGoogle now ships Gemini as a Mac app, a Windows app, a website and a feature inside Chrome. A Pake app puts gemini.google.com in its own window, which helps mainly where the official apps do not fit, and Google's sign-in rules decide whether it works at all, so test the sign-in first. · 6 min read
Perplexity desktop app for Mac, Windows, and a window for the sitePerplexity's own desktop app is Personal Computer, for a Mac on macOS 15 or later and for Windows 10 version 1809 or later. It can use folders on the computer, and on a Mac it can hand browser work to the Comet browser. A Pake window only loads https://www.perplexity.ai/, which is what you want on Linux, or when you want the website in its own window without handing over your files. · 7 min read
Grok desktop app for Mac and WindowsxAI lists the Grok chat on the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, and its desktop download, Grok Bot, is a separate agent product. A Pake app puts grok.com in its own window with a Dock or Start menu icon, for when you want the chat itself on your computer. Check sign-in before relying on it. · 6 min read
Notion desktop app or a Pake app: which to useNotion ships its own desktop app for Mac and Windows, and for most people that is the one to install. A Pake app is for narrower cases: one page as its own app, a second account kept in a separate app, a notes window that stays on top, or a Linux desktop. · 6 min read
WeRead on Mac and Windows as a desktop appWeRead does not offer a dedicated desktop download for Mac or Windows. On a computer, you read at weread.qq.com, run the iPad app on an Apple silicon Mac, or run the phone app through Tencent's app store. A Pake app puts the web reader in its own window with a Dock or Start menu icon, and a handful of settings make it comfortable for long reading. · 6 min read
An X (Twitter) desktop app for Mac and WindowsX's download page offers its app for iPhone, iPad and Android, and on a computer you use the website. A Pake app keeps x.com in a window of its own, with a Dock or Start menu icon, apart from your browser tabs, and the settings below decide how well it behaves as a daily window. · 6 min read
Xiaohongshu (RedNote) on the desktopOn a computer, Xiaohongshu is a website for browsing plus a separate creator platform for posting, and its iPad app only installs on Apple silicon Macs. A Pake app gives each of the two a window of its own on Mac and Windows. You can also open both sites directly in your browser. · 6 min read
YouTube Music as a desktop app on Mac and WindowsGoogle documents YouTube Music on computers as a website in Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, with no Mac or Windows download. A Pake app gives it its own icon and can keep running after you close the window, but Google may refuse its sign-in inside an app window, so test that first. · 7 min read
WhatsApp on Linux as a desktop appWhatsApp's download page offers apps for Mac and Windows and lists none for Linux, so on Linux the usual route is WhatsApp Web in a browser tab. Pake CLI can wrap web.whatsapp.com in a window of its own with a tray icon and desktop alerts: one build command, then you link it to your phone by QR code. It is the same web client as in a browser, running on the system WebKitGTK, so you test it before relying on it. · 6 min read
Gmail desktop app: your options on Mac and WindowsGoogle's Gmail help sends computer users to the Gmail website and offers the Gmail app for Android, iPhone and iPad, so on a Mac or Windows PC a "Gmail app" is one of three things: a website installed as an app from your browser, a mail program that talks to Gmail over IMAP, or a wrapper built around mail.google.com. For most people the browser-installed app is the right answer, because Google's sign-in is built for browsers. A wrapper made with Pake is possible, but Google may refuse the sign-in inside it. · 7 min read
Google Calendar desktop app: what exists and what worksGoogle does not make a Google Calendar app for computers, so the real options are an installed web app from Chrome or Safari, the Calendar app that comes with the Mac, or a Pake window around calendar.google.com. The Pake window has one serious problem: Google refuses its sign-in inside embedded web views, and Calendar needs a Google sign-in, so test that before building anything else. · 6 min read
Instagram on a computer: the website, and a window of its ownInstagram on a computer means instagram.com in a browser, and a Mac App Store search on 2026-10-19 showed no Instagram app for Mac. A Pake window around the website is a reasonable way to get a separate Instagram window, with a Dock or taskbar icon of its own. It is the same website with the same limits, and Instagram decides what the web version can do, not Pake. · 6 min read
Microsoft Teams on Linux: web app, PWA or a Pake windowMicrosoft's system requirements list no native Teams client for Linux, and say Linux users have Teams for web and Teams as a progressive web app (PWA). Install the PWA from Edge or Chrome if you join calls. A Pake build of the Teams website gives you a plain chat window with a tray icon, but it runs on WebKitGTK, which is not on Microsoft's browser list, and on Linux nothing in Pake answers the camera and microphone requests that WebKitGTK denies by default. · 6 min read
Twitch desktop app: what happened to it and what to use nowPress reports say Twitch shut down its Windows and Mac app on 30 April 2022, so on a computer you watch at twitch.tv. A Pake app keeps that same website in a window of its own, and the two settings that matter for streams are a small always-on-top size and a separate app for chat. · 6 min read
Ferdium alternatives for several accounts: one app per siteFerdium, Franz, Rambox and Wavebox put many web services in one window with a sidebar, and they can run several accounts of the same service. Pake takes the opposite route: one small desktop app per site, each with its own icon, window and sign-in. If you want one place for every chat and inbox, keep Ferdium. If you mostly want a few sites to behave like separate apps, Pake fits, with limits covered below. · 6 min read
How it works
The engines behind wrapped apps and how Pake compares with other tools.
Tauri vs Electron for wrapping a websiteElectron ships its own copy of Chromium and Node.js inside every app, while Tauri uses the web view the operating system already has. For a wrapped site, that decides who keeps the engine up to date and whether the page behaves the same on every computer. · 7 min read
How Pake works: from a URL to a desktop appPake does not rewrite a website. The pake command copies a prebuilt Tauri app template, writes your options into its config, compiles it with Rust, and bundles it as an installer that opens your URL in the web view your operating system already has. The app is small because that engine is not inside it, and the same fact explains most of its limits. · 7 min read
What is Microsoft Edge WebView2, and do you need it?Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is the shared Windows component that lets apps show web pages inside their own windows. It is not the Edge browser, and apps that rely on it, including apps you make with Pake on Windows, need it installed. Windows 11 includes it already. · 7 min read
Moving a Nativefier web app to PakeNativefier was archived on September 29, 2023, and its maintainers favor a browser's own install feature for most people. If you want a separate app anyway, rebuild it in Pake from the start URL and settings as a new app, because options and sign-ins do not carry over. · 5 min read
WebCatalog, Unite, Coherence X and Pake: turning sites into apps comparedWebCatalog, Unite, Coherence X and Pake all give a website its own window and icon. They differ in the systems they run on, the engine that draws the page, and extras such as sync, extensions or ad blocking. Facts about the other tools come from their own pages, checked on 18 October 2026. · 6 min read
PWA or desktop app: which one fits a website you use every dayA PWA is the site's own installable version, while a wrapper app such as Pake puts any address in a native window around the system web view. Choose the PWA when the site ships one and you want its offline mode and push alerts, and choose a wrapper when the site has no PWA or you want window and shell controls the site cannot give you. Neither is a native app in the Swift or C++ sense. · 8 min read
Electron alternatives: Tauri, Wails, Neutralinojs, Flutter and nativeIf you want to leave Electron, the closest swap is a framework that keeps your HTML, CSS and JavaScript but uses the web view the operating system already has: Tauri, Wails or Neutralinojs. If you would rather drop the web stack, Flutter, .NET MAUI or a fully native app are the other routes. If you only want a website in its own window, you do not need a framework at all, and a wrapper such as Pake does that without writing code. · 6 min read
WKWebView explained: Apple's web view and how it differs from SafariWKWebView is the view Apple's WebKit framework provides for showing web content inside a Mac or iOS app, and it runs the same WebKit engine Safari is built on. What it lacks is the browser around the engine: no tabs, extensions, bookmarks or Safari's settings, and its storage, user agent and inspector are whatever the app chooses. A Pake app on macOS is a native window around one WKWebView, so these choices decide how your site behaves in it. · 7 min read