Last time we built the desktop client, in 2015, NW.js was called
node-webkit.
Since then:
- NW.js has added NaCl and some other things, ballooning the installer
from 30 MB to 120 MB. (The NaCl stuff on Windows seems to be
deletable, helping keep its installed size slightly smaller.)
(If anyone wants to make a custom build without NaCl, that'd help me
a lot)
- NW.js also has a lot more files, and NSIS makes adding/removing files
annoying enough that I wrote a script to automate it for me.
- Apple has made Gatekeeper requirements a lot stricter, requiring
setting up entitlements, Hardened Runtime, notarization, and
stapling, (in addition to just signing in 2015). I documented the
process because there are zero online guides for it right now.
But on the other hand, this update hopefully fixes the crashes that
the old desktop client has. It also fixes:
- the Chrome bold emoji bug is gone
- MP3 is no longer under patent, allowing us to have only MP3 files for
everything
- honestly I don't think we use any other Chrome feature added in the
last four years
