First of all, please do not let anyone tell you that desktop apps are “legacy”—look around and you will see tons of enterprise workflows and productivity tools running on the desktop.

Desktop applications can be downloaded and installed on your device. They can work with and without internet access, and you can access the application through your desktop.

Some of the advantages of desktop apps are:

Visibility: once you installed a desktop application, it's right there on your desktop. That small icon is always in your taskbar, always visible and always accessible at a click. This makes desktop applications much easier to access than a non-native alternative.

Better system integration: a desktop application is likely to run more smoothly on your hardware.

Offline access: internet access is not needed while working with a desktop application, as it is installed in your computer and you can access it any time.

Optimized performance: If you compare the web and desktop apps based on speed, desktop applications always will be the dominant technology.

Cross-platform: desktop apps can be ran in all operating systems.

More privacy: desktop solutions are considered more secure, as overall data is stored on your machine. Therefore, you are the only authorized person to access, read, write and share it.

In this tutorial, you will learn how you can use Equo to easily convert an existing web application to a desktop app, with just a couple of clicks. You will learn how Equo automatically creates cross-platform installers and a landing page to download them.

Get your desktop app, for free

You can use Equo to easily convert your favorite website or web application to a desktop app, with just a couple of clicks. Impressively, once you enter the URL of your web app, Equo will automatically generate web-based branded installers for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Converting a web app to the desktop takes only a few minutes with Equo.

• 1. Go to Convert to desktop.

• 2. Enter the URL of the web app that you want to convert to a desktop app and click con Convert now.
• 3. If you are not signed in, our Dashboard will ask you to do so.
• 4. You will be redirected to the Build tab of the Equo Dashboard, and you will see how the releases and installers are being generated for your desktop application.

Once the Release build finishes you will see the installers for your desktop app ready to be downloaded in the Distribute tab along with a landing page.

Now that you have downloaded the specific installer for your operating system, you can install your app and start enjoying it!

Equo for Enterprises

If your are a company and want to distribute your existing web application as a desktop app, Equo offers the following features:

Code signing: sign your application for every platform, and certify that it was actually created by your company. This feature allows your users to frictionless install your application in their computers, avoiding annoying warning messages.

Auto updates: Ship live application updates, content changes, bug fixes, beta features, and more. Automatically deliver performance improvements and security patches.

Cross-platform branded web-based installers: Landing pages and installers with your company logo and branding.

Built-in workflow automation: Automate your distribution workflow with automation. When a git push is made, your app will be built, signed, and an installer will be generated for all platforms.

Contact us for premium features like the mentioned above and many others like push notifications, analytics, monitoring, logging, crash reporting, and CI/CD. With Equo, your company can automate the whole distribution strategy and ships applications at the pace of development.