olafkfreund/gnome-quick-web-apps

★ 18RustAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What It Does
      Turn sites into desktop apps
      Per-app notifications
      Background mode
    Features
      Ad tracker blocker
      Custom CSS injection
      Shared login profiles
      Force dark light mode
    Templates
      Gmail Teams WhatsApp
      Notion Figma and more
      50 plus services
    Tech Stack
      Rust
      GTK4 libadwaita
      CEF browser engine
    Limits
      No DRM streaming

mindmap root((repo)) What It Does Turn sites into desktop apps Per-app notifications Background mode Features Ad tracker blocker Custom CSS injection Shared login profiles Force dark light mode Templates Gmail Teams WhatsApp Notion Figma and more 50 plus services Tech Stack Rust GTK4 libadwaita CEF browser engine Limits No DRM streaming

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Install Gmail, Slack, or Notion as a proper Linux desktop app with its own window and Alt-Tab entry, without keeping a browser tab open.

USE CASE 2

Add a per-app ad and tracker blocker and inject custom CSS to remove distracting UI elements from your daily web tools.

USE CASE 3

Group multiple work apps under one shared login profile so they all share a signed-in session without logging in to each one separately.

USE CASE 4

Use the one-click templates to install popular services like WhatsApp or Figma as desktop apps with icons already configured.

Tech stack

RustGTK4libadwaitaCEF

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires the Chromium Embedded Framework runtime on Linux, DRM-protected services like Netflix will not play by design.

In plain English

GNOME Quick Web Apps is a Rust application for the Linux GNOME desktop that lets you turn any website into a standalone desktop app. You paste a URL, and the tool automatically reads the site's web app manifest to fill in the name, icon, and theme, then adds a launcher to your GNOME app grid. Each installed web app runs in its own window with its own taskbar identity, so you can switch between them with Alt-Tab just like native desktop programs. Under the hood, each web app uses a Chromium-based rendering engine called CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework), which means modern websites, video playback on YouTube or Twitch, and audio services work without extra setup. The one significant limitation is DRM-protected streaming: Netflix, Spotify, Disney+, and similar services will not play because they require a specific cryptographic certification that embedded browser engines cannot obtain. The README explains this in detail and notes it is a platform-wide constraint, not a bug. The manager interface gives you per-app controls beyond basic browsing: shared login profiles so you can group work apps on one signed-in session, a built-in ad and tracker blocker, the ability to force light or dark mode per app independently of your system theme, custom CSS injection, and a user agent spoof for sites that behave differently on Linux. Notifications carry the individual app's icon and name into your desktop notification list, and a background mode keeps an app running after you close its window. Templates for more than 50 popular services including Gmail, Teams, WhatsApp, Notion, and Figma let you add well-known apps in a single click with icons already filled in. The project is written in Rust and targets GTK4 with the libadwaita styling library for a native GNOME look.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I use GNOME Quick Web Apps. How do I add a web app for a site that has no web app manifest and manually set the name, icon, and theme color?

Prompt 2

In GNOME Quick Web Apps, how do I write custom CSS to hide the top navigation bar in a specific installed web app without affecting others?

Prompt 3

How do I configure shared login profiles in GNOME Quick Web Apps so three work apps all share the same signed-in browser session?

Prompt 4

Explain why Netflix and Spotify will not play in GNOME Quick Web Apps and what the technical reason is for the DRM limitation.

Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

← olafkfreund on gitmyhub — every repo by this author, as a profile.

Verify against the repo before relying on details.