Desktop apps that keep working when the internet doesn’t
We build desktop software that installs on a computer, for work that belongs offline, close to the files, or on a machine a browser can’t fully reach. One of ours, windowsweep, ships today as a Windows installer from a public repository. Your brief gets its own written estimate.
The problem
Some work outgrows a browser tab.
It reads folders on the machine, keeps running when the internet drops, or sits in the system tray all day. Building that means installers, updates and operating-system rules, including the security warning Windows and macOS show before running an installer they don’t recognize.
What you get
- The app, packaged as an installer your users run on their own computer
- An update path, so a fix reaches people who already installed it
- Install and uninstall tested on a clean machine
- Testing inside every milestone, on Windows, Linux or macOS, whichever your brief names
- The code repository, where all your source code lives, in your name
macOS needs one more step. Apple asks for a signed and notarized build before a Mac will open an app downloaded from outside its store, so your estimate names how that’s arranged for your project.
How it runs
The brief.
Who installs it, on which computers, and what it must do without a connection.
Plan and price.
You’ll see the plan, the price and the first milestone before we write a line of code.
Milestones.
Each one ends with an installer. Run it on your own machine.
Handover.
The repository, the release accounts and every password move into your name.
Proof: windowsweep for Windows
One desktop app of ours ships today: windowsweep’s Windows installer, released from a public repository you can read line by line. Each release lists its .exe and .msi installers, built by the repository’s own release workflow, and the app’s updater checks a signature before it installs an update. The window runs our cleanup engine, which names every path before it touches one and refuses documents, credentials and browser settings. One limit: the installer isn’t signed with a paid code-signing certificate yet, so Windows shows a warning the first time it runs. For macOS and Linux, macleanup and linux-cleanup are command-line tools in their own public repositories.
What it costs
There’s no fixed package for desktop work, so your brief gets its own written estimate. It also lists any code-signing certificate or store fee your installers need, because those costs continue after handover. If a web app would do the job, we’ll say so on the free call.
Questions
Yes. We build software that installs on Windows, Linux and macOS, with an installer at every milestone and the code repository in your name at handover.
A web app reaches anyone with a browser. A desktop app makes sense when it must work offline or reach files on the machine. Ask on the free call, and we’ll tell you which one costs you less.
Often, yes. Many desktop apps today are built with web technology inside a desktop shell, so one codebase can serve both; whether that fits yours is a question for the free call.
You do. The repository and every credential move into your name at handover.
Start
Tell us what it has to do when the internet is off.
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