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31 Aug

Stories Of September (2021 Desktop Wallpapers Edition)

by TBSCategories: News

September is just around the corner, and, well, that means… it’s time for some new wallpapers! Since more than ten years now, our monthly wallpapers series is the perfect opportunity for artists and designers from all across the world to challenge their creative skills and dive into a little project just for fun. Telling the story they want to tell, using the tools they love. This always makes for an exciting and unique collection of wallpapers each month anew. And, of course, this month is no exception.

In this post, you’ll find wallpaper designs for September 2021, created with love by the community for the community. All of them are available in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. A big thank-you to everyone who shared their artworks with us — this post wouldn’t exist without you!

Last but not least, to cater for some extra variety, we also compiled a little best-of from past September editions at the end of this post. Enjoy!

You can click on every image to see a larger preview,
We respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Submit a wallpaper!

Did you know that you could get featured in our next wallpapers post, too? We are always looking for creative talent! Join in! →

Finding The Balance

“One evening last week I felt a little stressed, so I decided to have a short walk outside. When I went out of the door, I saw two young hares jumping around, and a bat which flew just over my head. I sat down on a garden chair and watched while Jupiter slowly rose above the trees. The crisp air of the autumn night reminded me of how the seasons keep changing. Here in Finland the differences between seasons are extremely large, as both the temperatures and the duration of sunlight vary a lot. However, twice a year on the equinoxes everything is in balance. I hope we all can find the same balance in our own lives.” — Designed by Tuomas Karjalainen from Finland.

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with calendar: 1280×720, 1366×768, 1920×1080, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 1280×720, 1366×768, 1920×1080, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Sunny September

“September greets us and invites us to enjoy warm and sunny days.” — Designed by LibraFire from Serbia.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Wine Harvest Season

“Welcome to the wine harvest season in Serbia. It’s September, and the hazy sunshine bathes the vines on the slopes of Fruška Gora. Everything is ready for the making of Bermet, the most famous wine from Serbia. This spiced wine was a favorite of the Austro-Hungarian elite and was served even on the Titanic. Bermet’s recipe is a closely guarded secret, and the wine is produced by just a handful of families in the town of Sremski Karlovci, near Novi Sad. On the other side of Novi Sad, plains of corn and sunflower fields blend in with the horizon, catching the last warm sun rays of this year.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Back To Business

“They say September is known as the January in the fashion industry. And they’re not the only ones hitting the reset button! Kids go back to school and the workforce returns from their holidays. It takes extra effort to balance all the workload we seem to have forgotten about during the carefree summer days… But we can do it! ActiveCollab wishes you a smooth September.” — Designed by ActiveCollab from the United States.

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with calendar: 1080×1920, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1080×1920, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Go Bananas

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Labor Day

“On September 6th, it’s time to celebrate the backbone of the economy, namely workers! A day to celebrate all the hard work, toil, and commitment day in and day out.” — Designed by Ever Increasing Circles from the United Kingdom.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1080×1080, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1080×1080, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Evening In Monaco

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with calendar: 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Meets For Speed

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Oldies But Goodies

Below you’ll find a selection of September wallpapers from our archives that are just too good to be forgotten. Please note that these designs don’t come with a calendar.

Weekend Relax

“Since we are mostly staying in this summer, I’m looking forward for the weekend to enjoy drinks with friends!” — Designed by Robert from the United States.

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Terrazzo

“With the end of summer and fall coming soon, I created this terrazzo pattern wallpaper to brighten up your desktop. Enjoy this month!” — Designed by Melissa Bogemans from Belgium.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Better Days Ahead

“A hopeful message we all need right now.” — Designed by Andrew from Portugal.

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Flower Soul

“The earth has music for those who listen. Take a break and relax and while you drive out the stress, catch a glimpse of the beautiful nature around you. Can you hear the rhythm of the breeze blowing, the flowers singing, and the butterflies fluttering to cheer you up? We dedicate flowers which symbolize happiness and love to one and all.” — Designed by Krishnankutty from India.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Autumn Rains

“This autumn, we expect to see a lot of rainy days and blues, so we wanted to change the paradigm and wish a warm welcome to the new season. After all, if you come to think of it: rain is not so bad if you have an umbrella and a raincoat. Come autumn, we welcome you!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Summer Ending

“As summer comes to an end, all the creatures pull back to their hiding places, searching for warmth within themselves and dreaming of neverending adventures under the tinted sky of closing dog days.” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Funny Cats

“Cats are beautiful animals. They’re quiet, clean, and warm. They’re funny and can become an endless source of love and entertainment. Here for the cats!” — Designed by UrbanUI from India.

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without calendar: 360×640, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080

Finding Jaguar

“Nature and our planet have given us life, enabled us to enjoy the most wonderful place known to us in the universe. People have given themselves the right to master something they do not fully understand. We dedicate this September calendar to a true nature lover, Vedran Badjun from Dalmatia, Croatia, who inspires us to love our planet, live in harmony with it and appreciate all that it has to offer. Amazon, Siberia, and every tree or animal on the planet are treasures we lose every day. Let’s change that!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Cacti Everywhere

“Seasons come and go, but our brave cactuses still stand. Summer is almost over, and autumn is coming, but the beloved plants don’t care.” — Designed by Lívia Lénárt from Hungary.

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without calendar: 320×480, 800×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Summer Is Leaving

“It is inevitable. Summer is leaving silently. Let us think of ways to make the most of what is left of the beloved season.” — Designed by Bootstrap Dashboards from India.

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without calendar: 360×640, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080

Hungry

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without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Summer Collapsed Into Fall

“The lands are painted gold lit with autumn blaze. And all at once the leaves of the trees started falling, but none of them are worried. Since, everyone falls in love with fall.” — Designed by Mindster from India.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Long Live Summer

“While September’s Autumnal Equinox technically signifies the end of the summer season, this wallpaper is for all those summer lovers, like me, who don’t want the sunshine, warm weather and lazy days to end.” — Designed by Vicki Grunewald from Washington.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Listen Closer… The Mushrooms Are Growing

“It’s this time of the year when children go to school and grown-ups go to collect mushrooms.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

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without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2560×1600

#Spring

“Such a lovely time of the year in Melbourne!” — Designed by Tazi from Australia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Never Stop Exploring

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

31 Jul

Good Vibes In August (2021 Desktop Wallpapers Edition)

by TBSCategories: News

Everybody loves a beautiful wallpaper to freshen up their desktops and home screens, right? To cater for new and unique artworks on a regular basis, we started our monthly wallpapers challenge more than ten years ago, and from the very beginning to today, artists and designers from all across the world have accepted the challenge and submitted their designs to it. Just like this month.

In this post, you’ll find their wallpapers for August 2021. All of them come in versions with and without a calendar, so no matter if you need to count down the days to a big deadline (or a few days off, maybe?) or plan to use your favorite wallpaper even after the month has ended, we’ve got you covered. A big thank-you to everyone who shared their designs with us — we sincerely appreciate it!

As a little bonus goodie, we also added some “oldies” at the end of this post, timeless wallpaper treasures that we rediscovered way down in our archives and that are just too good to be forgotten. Now there’s only one question left to be answered: Which one to choose? Happy August!

You can click on every image to see a larger preview,
We respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Submit a wallpaper!

Did you know that you could get featured in our next wallpapers post, too? We are always looking for creative talent! Join in! →

Cowabunga

preview
with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Work Hard, Play Hard

“It seems the feeling of summer breaks we had back in school never leaves us. The mere thought of alarm clocks feels wrong in the summer, especially if you’ve recently come back from a trip to the seaside. So, we try to do our best during working hours and then compensate with fun activities and plenty of rest. Cheers!” — Designed by ActiveCollab from the United States.

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with calendar: 1080×1920, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 1080×1920, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Ivory Tower

“August 12th marks World Elephant Day, highlighting the need for the protection and conservation of wild elephants across Asia and Africa. Today, African elephants are endangered due to wildlife crime, primarily poaching for the illegal ivory trade, whereas Asian elephants face habitat loss due to human-elephant conflict. Driven to the brink of extinction, elephants rely on us to create a non-exploitive and sustainable environment where these magnificent creatures can be safe.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Novi Sad, Serbia.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 1980×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 1980×1200, 2560×1440

Do What You Love

“The whole purpose of life is to enjoy and do what you love. When you are not able to enjoy your life, you are missing your life’s purpose and your chance to make a difference in your world.” — Designed by Hitesh Puri from Delhi, India.

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with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Love Is In The Air

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Senior Citizen’s Day

“It’s a day to give thanks for all the selfless support grandparents offer to their grandchildren and working parents. For all the wisdom bestowed over the years and all the love and encouragement provided. Here’s to you all, you Grandmas, Grandpas, Memas, Nanas, Pops, Granddads, and all those other fond names you’ve been given!” — Designed by Ever Increasing Circles from the United Kingdom.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1080×1080, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1080×1080, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Balance Of Nature

“We have been disturbing the fragile balance of nature for too long due to our own greed. The time has come to weigh what is more valuable to us, those superficial material riches or the health and well-being of our only home.” — Designed by LibraFire from Serbia.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Oldies But Goodies

Childhood memories, camping under the stars, or a simple pencil and a piece of paper — a lot of things have inspired the design community to create an August wallpaper in the last few years. Here are some favorites from our archives. (Please note that these designs don’t come with a calendar.)

Live In The Moment

“My dog Sami inspired me for this one. He lives in the moment and enjoys every second with a big smile on his face. I wish we could learn to enjoy life like he does! Happy August everyone!” — Designed by Westie Vibes from Portugal.

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1080×1920, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Childhood Memories

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Bee Happy!

“August means that fall is just around the corner, so I designed this wallpaper to remind everyone to ‘bee happy’ even though summer is almost over. Sweeter things are ahead!” — Designed by Emily Haines from the United States.

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without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Psst, It’s Camping Time…

“August is one of my favorite months, when the nights are long and deep and crackling fire makes you think of many things at once and nothing at all at the same time. It’s about heat and cold which allow you to touch the eternity for a few moments.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Hello Again

“In Melbourne it is the last month of quite a cool winter so we are looking forward to some warmer days to come.” — Designed by Tazi from Australia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Launch

“The warm, clear summer nights make me notice the stars more — that’s what inspired this space-themed design!” — Designed by James Mitchell from the United Kingdom.

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without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1800

Leo

“I’m always interested in learning more about the zodiac signs. July 23 to August 23 is the time of the Lion, Leo. I based my wallpaper design around this and included the constellation of Leo as well. Enjoy!” Designed by Franny Van Eyck from Wisconsin, USA.

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×1050, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Dessert First

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×764, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Happiness Happens In August

“Many people find August one of the happiest months of the year because of holidays. You can spend days sunbathing, swimming, birdwatching, listening to their joyful chirping, and indulging in sheer summer bliss. August 8th is also known as the Happiness Happens Day, so make it worthwhile.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Ahoy

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without calendar: 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

A Bloom Of Jellyfish

“I love going to aquariums – the colours, patterns and array of blue hues attract the nature lover in me while still appeasing my design eye. One of the highlights is always the jellyfish tanks. They usually have some kind of light show in them, which makes the jellyfish fade from an intense magenta to a deep purple – and it literally tickles me pink. On a recent trip to uShaka Marine World, we discovered that the collective noun for jellyfish is a bloom and, well, it was love-at-first-collective-noun all over again. I’ve used some intense colours to warm up your desktop and hopefully transport you into the depths of your own aquarium.” — Designed by Wonderland Collective from South Africa.

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without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Rain, Rain Go Away!

“Remember the nursery rhyme where the little boy pleads the rain to go away? It is one of the most pleasant and beautiful seasons when the whole universe buckles up to dance to the rhythm of the drizzles that splash across the earth. And, it is August, the time of the year when monsoons add a lot of color and beauty to nature. We welcome everyone to enjoy the awesomeness of monsoons.” — Designed by Acodez from India.

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without calendar: 320×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1440×1050, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

World Alpinism Day

“International Day of Alpinism and Climbing.” Designed by cheloveche.ru from Russia.

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Olympic Summer

“The Summer Olympic Games promise two weeks of superhuman struggle for eternal glory. Support your favorites and enjoy hot August.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

The Ocean Is Waiting

“In August, make sure you swim a lot. Be cautious though.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

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without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Handwritten August

“I love typograhy handwritten style.” — Designed by Chalermkiat Oncharoen from Thailand.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Embrace Summer!

“You’ve waited 300 days for summer, better hold on to it!” — Designed by Mira Hoayek from Lebanon.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Oh La La…. Paris’ Night

“I like the Paris’ night! All is very bright!” — Designed by Verónica Valenzuela from Spain.

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without calendar: 800×480, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Monsoon Sale!

“Hey monsoon is here! So grab your umbrella in this monsoon sale, and don’t miss the fun in the rain.” Designed by Debobrata Debnath from India.

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without calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Searching for Higgs Boson

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without calendar: 800×600, 960×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1229×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1440×900, 1440×960, 1600×1200, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1728×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2304×1440, 2560×1600

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

30 Jun

The Many Shades Of July (2021 Desktop Wallpapers Edition)

by TBSCategories: News

Often, it’s the little things that inspire us and that we treasure most. The sky shining in the most beautiful colors as a seemingly endless summer day comes to an end, riding your bike through a light rain shower on a hot July afternoon, or maybe it’s a scoop of your favorite ice cream that refuels your batteries? No matter what big and small adventures July will have in store for you this year, our new batch of wallpapers is bound to cater for some inspiration along the way.

More than ten years ago, we started this wallpapers series to bring you a new selection of beautiful, unique, and inspiring wallpapers every month. It’s a community effort, made possible by artists and designers from all across the globe who challenge their creative skills to cater for some good vibes on your screens. And, well, it wasn’t any different this time around.

In this post, you’ll find their wallpapers for July 2021. All of them come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. A huge thank-you to everyone who submitted their artworks — we sincerely appreciate it! As a little bonus goodie, we also compiled some favorites from past July editions at the end of this post. Maybe you’ll discover one of your almost-forgotten favorites in there, too? Happy July!

You can click on every image to see a larger preview,
We respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Submit a wallpaper!

Did you know that you could get featured in our next wallpapers post, too? We are always looking for creative talent! Join in! →

Against The Current

“‘I don’t care that they stole my idea. I care that they don’t have any of their own.’ July 10th marks 165 years since the birth of Nikola Tesla, inventor, engineer, and futurist who helped shape the world as we know it today. Tesla’s inventions brought electricity to all corners of the world, paved the way for wireless communication, and revolutionized energy production. But underneath all the discoveries and the good they brought, Tesla’s life is shrouded in mystery. His dream of free wireless energy, research on understanding the aether, and the enigmatic disappearance of his records leaves many questions unanswered.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 1980×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 1980×1200, 2560×1440

Less Busy Work, More Fun!

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with calendar: 1080×1920, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 1080×1920, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Summer Season

“I’m an avid runner, and I have some beautiful natural views surrounding my city. The Smoky Mountains are a bit further east, so I took some liberties, but Tennessee’s nature is nothing short of beautiful and inspiring.” — Designed by Cam Elliott from Memphis, TN.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Flamingos

“Well, if I think about the month July, the first thing what comes up is summer. So I wanted a theme about summer and I went looking on the internet for summer things. And after a few ideas, I saw a flamingo and I just started to draw some things. And I loved the idea that if you put two flamingos together like I did here, a heart shape will grow.” — Designed by Froukje from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Nightly Carnival

“July brings the yearly carnival near my hometown, so I decided to design a summer evening carnival.” — Designed by Bregje Damen from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Surfer Cat

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Space

“In July, the earth is farthest from the sun. That’s what inspired me to make a space-themed calendar for the month July.” — Designed by Rosalie Toorians from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

The Ancient Device

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Sweet As A Peach

“One of my favorite summer fruits for a few years now is the peach. It always reminds me of vacation and that brings me joy. Hope you all enjoy this month, too!” — Designed by Melissa Bogemans from Belgium.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Independence Day

“When you hear the word ‘July’, what comes to your mind? For us, it’s the ‘Fourth of July’, so our design team made a stunning wallpaper in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.” — Designed by Ever Increasing Circles from the United Kingdom.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Sun At Dawn

“I created a wallpaper that reminded me of late summer nights when the sun is slowly setting.” — Designed by Bibi Goelema from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Ocean Full Of Stars

“I wanted to make something that reminded me of summer but I wanted to keep that dark and cozy vibe, so I decided to go with a whale swimming through space. Summer for me is a time to be free from responsibilities like school and to just hang around, which is what I wanted to make.” — Designed by Ilse van Dinther from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Artemis And Athena

“Artemis has the sign Cancer as a zodiac sign and this is also a zodiac sign in July. Athena was always celebrated during the month of July, in ancient Athens. Since I knew this, I decided to put those two together in a wallpaper. The way Athena and Artemis look are inspired by Lore Olympus.” — Designed by Gigi Kim from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

4th Of July And Apollo 11

“I’m a huge space nerd and wanted to celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing in tandem with Independence Day.” — Designed by Jelle Guit from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 1280×720, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1280×720, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Colorful Summer

“Two weeks ago, I got the school assignment to make a wallpaper and send this to you. I have made this picture at Kronenburgerpark in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Since the coronavirus is on its way back, we can go back to the ‘old normal’ and do things we haven’t been able to do in over a year. So it will be a colorful summer. And that was my inspiration to take this picture and send it as a wallpaper.” — Designed by Jorn Meijs from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

4th Of July

“Our teacher told us about the Smashing Magazine wallpapers. So we participated with our class to make a wallpaper.” — Designed by Jarno van der Linden from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Bentley Bentayga Speed

“If everything goes according to plan, the Bentley Bentayga Speed will drop on the first of July. I made this Bentley because I wanted to make something that I’m interested in myself. In my spare time I like to make car illustrations so I knew immediately the style that I wanted to use. I’m personally very excited for the drop of the Bentley.” — Designed by Nick Geurds from the Netherlands.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Oldies But Goodies

To make your July even more colorful, we compiled some wallpaper goodies from past years’ editions below. Please note that these designs don’t come with a calendar.

Birdie July

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without calendar: 800×600, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Eternal Summer

“And once you let your imagination go, you find yourself surrounded by eternal summer, unexplored worlds and all-pervading warmth, where there are no rules of physics and colors tint the sky under your feet.” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Riding In The Drizzle

“Rain has come, showering the existence with new seeds of life. Everywhere life is blooming, as if they were asleep and the falling music of raindrops have awakened them. Feel the drops of rain. Feel this beautiful mystery of life. Listen to its music, melt into it.” — Designed by DMS Software from India.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Summer Cannonball

“Summer is coming in the northern hemisphere and what better way to enjoy it than with watermelons and cannonballs.” — Designed by Maria Keller from Mexico.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 640×1136, 750×1334, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1242×2208, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2880×1800

Strive For Progress, Not Perfection

“I created this wallpaper as a daily reminder that it’s better to take one small step towards my goal every day than to do nothing at all out of fear that it won’t be perfect. I hope you enjoy it and it helps you keep motivated every day!” — Designed by Andrew from the United States.

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Taste Like Summer!

“In times of clean eating and the world of superfoods there is one vegetable missing. An old, forgotten one. A flower actually. Rare and special. Once it had a royal reputation (I cheated a bit with the blue). The artichocke — this is my superhero in the garden! I am a food lover — you too? Enjoy it — dip it!” — Designed by Alexandra Tamgnoué from Germany.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1440×1050, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Island River

“Make sure you have a refreshing source of ideas, plans and hopes this July. Especially if you are to escape from urban life for a while.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Day Turns To Night

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Captain Amphicar

“My son and I are obsessed with the Amphicar right now, so why not have a little fun with it?” — Designed by 3 Bicycles Creative from the United States.

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without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Tropical Lilies

“I enjoy creating tropical designs, they fuel my wanderlust and passion for the exotic. Instantaneously transporting me to a tropical destination.” — Designed by Tamsin Raslan from the United States.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1440×1050, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

July Rocks!

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1920×1080

Alentejo Plain

“Based in the Alentejo region, in the south of Portugal, where there are large plains used for growing wheat. It thus represents the extensions of the fields of cultivation and their simplicity. Contrast of the plain with the few trees in the fields. Storks that at this time of year predominate in this region, being part of the Alentejo landscape and mentioned in the singing of Alentejo.” — Designed by José Guerra from Portugal.

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without calendar: 1125×2436, 1280×800, 1536×2048, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2880×1800

Fire Camp

“What’s better than a starry summer night with an (unexpected) friend around a fire camp with some marshmallows? Happy July!” — Designed by Etienne Mansard from the UK.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1440×1050, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2048×1536, 2560×1440

Summertime

“Since I’m a big fan of Mid-Century Modern design, I changed George Nelson’s Starburst clock with 12 points — a fitting schematic of the sun with a spot-on summertime color palette — into a ‘sundial calendar’ with 31 points, one for each day of July. Illustrator’s Polar Grid tool helped get the spacing just right, and I retained the construction lines because the extra layer appealed to me. The warm yellow background is borrowed from his Kangaroo chair, and the typographic choice references the cover of Pentagram’s monograph, ‘George Nelson On Design.’” — Designed by Brian Frolo from Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2048×2048

Hot Air Balloon

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without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Ice Cream vs. Hot Dog

“It’s both ‘National Ice Cream Month’ and ‘National Hot Dog Month’ over in the US, which got me thinking — which is better? With this as your wallpaper, you can ponder the question all month!” — Designed by James Mitchell from the UK.

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without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1800

Night Sky Magic

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

My July

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 2560×1440

Floral Thing

“The wallpaper which I created consists of my personal sketches of Polish herbs and flowers. I wanted it to be light and simple with a hint of romantic feeling. I hope you’ll enjoy it!” — Designed by Beata Kurek from Poland.

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without calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 2560×1440

Sunset

“I decided to create a wallpaper to bring this summer feeling to the desktop.” — Designed by Mladen Milinovic from Germany.

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without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Spectate

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

An Intrusion Of Cockroaches

“Ever watched Joe’s Apartment when you were a kid? Well, that movie left a soft spot in my heart for the little critters. Don’t get me wrong: I won’t invite them over for dinner, but I won’t grab my flip flop and bring the wrath upon them when I see one running in the house. So there you have it… three roaches… bringing the smack down on that pesky human… ZZZZZZZAP!!” — Designed by Wonderland Collective from South Africa.

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without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Summer Never Ends!

“July is a very special month to me — it’s the month of my birthday and of the best cherries.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Melting July

“July often brings summer heat and we all wish for something cold to take it away… If you take a closer look, you will see an ice cream melting from the sunset. Bon appetite!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

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31 May

Happy June Vibes For Your Screen (2021 Desktop Wallpapers Edition)

by TBSCategories: News

There’s an artist in everyone. Some bring their creative ideas to life with digital tools, others capture the perfect moment with a camera, or love to grab pen and paper to create little doodles or pieces of lettering. And even if you think you’re far away from being an artist, well, it might just be hidden somewhere deep inside of you. So why not explore it?

Since more than ten years, our monthly wallpapers series is the perfect opportunity to do just that: to challenge your creative skills and break out of your daily routine to do something just for fun, fully immersing yourself in the creative process.

For this post, folks from across the globe once again took on the challenge and designed beautiful and unique wallpapers to cater for some good vibes on your screens. All of them come in versions with and without a calendar for June 2021 and can be downloaded for free. At the end of this post, we also compiled some wallpaper goodies from our archives that are just too good to be forgotten. A big thank-you to everyone who shared their designs with us — this post wouldn’t exist without you. Happy June!

You can click on every image to see a larger preview,
We respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Submit a wallpaper!

Did you know that you could get featured in our next wallpapers post, too? We are always looking for creative talent! Join in! →

Mother Nature

“Rain, fog, and winter jackets have been our companions for the last couple of weeks, but we are challenging the gloomy weather with this colorful, vibrant, picturesque calendar design. Spring is the most wonderful time of the year, intense, powerful, and vivid. We hope to summon sunny June with our desktop wallpaper – join us!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Novi Sad, Serbia.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Reef Days

“June brings the start of summer full of bright colors, happy memories, and traveling. What better way to portray the goodness of summer than through an ocean folk art themed wallpaper. This statement wallpaper gives me feelings of summer and I hope to share that same feeling with others.” — Designed by Taylor Davidson from Kentucky.

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with calendar: 480×800, 1024×1024, 1242×2208, 1280×1024
without calendar: 480×800, 1024×1024, 1242×2208, 1280×1024

Happy Father’s Day

“Whatever you call them, Pa, Dad, Daddy, Pops, they all have one thing in common: they are our superheroes. So, to honor superhero fathers this Father’s Day, we created this super calendar for you to enjoy.” — Designed by Ever Increasing Circles from the United Kingdom.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Bikini Season

“June reminds me of growing up on the lake. For me, this month is the official start of bikini season! I wanted to create this wallpaper to get everyone excited to put on their favorite suit and find their favorite body of water.” — Designed by Katie Ulrich from the United States.

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with calendar: 640×480, 1024×1024, 1680×1200, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
without calendar: 640×480, 1024×1024, 1680×1200, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Summer Party

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

Happy Squatch

“I just wanted to capture the atmosphere of late spring/early summer in a fun, quirky way that may be reflective of an adventurous person during this time of year.” — Designed by Nick Arcarese from the United States.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Dancing In The Summer Moonlight

“If you’re happy and you know it – show some dance moves – because summer is finally here!” — Designed by ActiveCollab from the United States.

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with calendar: 1080×1920, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 1080×1920, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Love Yourz

“J Cole is one of the most inspiring hip hop artists and is known for his famous song ‘Love Yourz’. With all of the negativity and hate we have been having the past year, this is a message to remind people to love your life (love yourz) because there is no such thing as a life that is better than yours.” — Designed by James from Pennsylvania.

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1400
without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1400

Made For Greatness

“Inspiring to more than mediocrity.” — Designed by Katherine Bollinger from the United States.

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with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Summertime

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 3840×2160

This Is How You Start The Day

“When I think of June, I think of what summer items make you happy. For the 21+ club, summer means grabbing a drink with your friends on a hot summer day. The preferred drink of the summer is bottomless mimosas! And what better time to start drinking than the beginning of the day (responsibly of course)!” — Designed by Carolyn Choates from the United States.

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with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Under The Starlight

“After being cooped up inside for so long, everyone needs a little nature break! And what’s more calming than a crackling campfire on a cool midsummer night, looking up at the shining stars and full moon!” — Designed by Hannah Basham from the United States.

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with calendar: 800×600, 1280×720, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
without calendar: 800×600, 1280×720, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Oldies But Goodies

Ready for more? Below you’ll find a little best-of from past June wallpapers editions. Enjoy! (Please note that these designs don’t come with a calendar.)

Summer Coziness

“I’ve waited for this summer more than I waited for any other summer since I was a kid. I dream of watermelon, strawberries, and lots of colors.” — Designed by Kate Jameson from the United States.

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Wildlife Revival

“In these turbulent times for men, we are witnessing the extraordinary rebirth of nature, especially of the wildlife around the planet. Maybe this situation is a blessing in disguise? Either way, one thing is for sure, this planet is the home that we share with all other forms of life and it is our obligation and sacred duty to protect it.” — Designed by LibraFire from Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Summer Is Coming

“Imagine a sunny beach and an endless blue sea. Imagine yourself right there. Is it somewhere in Greece? The Mediterranean? North Africa? Now turn around and start wandering through those picturesque, narrow streets. See all those authentic white houses with blue doors and blue windows? Feel the fragrance of fresh flowers? Stop for a second. Take a deep breath. Seize the moment. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now slowly open your eyes. Not quite there yet? Don’t worry. You will be soon! Summer is coming…” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Solstice Sunset

“June 21 marks the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere — and sunsets like these will be getting earlier and earlier after that!” — Designed by James Mitchell from the United Kingdom.

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without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1800

Ice Creams Away!

“Summer is taking off with some magical ice cream hot air balloons.” — Designed by Sasha Endoh from Canada.

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Deep Dive

“Summer rains, sunny days and a whole month to enjoy. Dive deep inside your passions and let them guide you.” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

The Call Of Koel

“The peak of summer is upon us, and June brings scorching heat to most places in India. Summer season in my state also reminds me of the bird songs, especially the Koel bird. A black bird with a red eye, this bird’s elegant voice rings through the trees on hot summer afternoons. This June, I have created a wallpaper to give life to this experience — the birds singing in scorching heat give us some respite!” — Designed by Anuja from India.

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without calendar: 640×480, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Oh, The Places You Will Go!

“In celebration of high school and college graduates ready to make their way in the world!” — Designed by Bri Loesch from the United States.

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Bauhaus

“I created a screenprint of one of the most famous buildings from the Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe for you. So, enjoy the Barcelona Pavillon for your June wallpaper.” — Designed by Anne Korfmacher from Germany.

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without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Join The Wave

“The month of warmth and nice weather is finally here. We found inspiration in the World Oceans Day which occurs on June 8th and celebrates the wave of change worldwide. Join the wave and dive in!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Flamingood Vibes Only

“I love flamingos! They give me a happy feeling that I want to share with the world.” — Designed by Melissa Bogemans from Belgium.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Shine Your Light

“Shine your light, Before the fight, Just like the sun, Cause we don’t have to run.” — Designed by Anh Nguyet Tran from Vietnam.

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without calendar: 768×1280, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Summer Surf

“Summer vibes.” — Designed by Antun Hirsman from Croatia.

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without calendar: 640×480, 1152×864, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1440, 2650×1440

Ice Cream June

“For me, June always marks the beginning of summer! The best way to celebrate summer is of course ice cream, what else?” — Designed by Tatiana Anagnostaki from Greece.

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Lavender Is In The Air!

“June always reminds me of lavender — it just smells wonderful and fresh. For this wallpaper I wanted to create a simple, yet functional design that featured — you guessed it — lavender!” — Designed by Jon Phillips from Canada.

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without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Strawberry Fields

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without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1200, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Start Your Day

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1220, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Pineapple Summer Pop

“I love creating fun and feminine illustrations and designs. I was inspired by juicy tropical pineapples to celebrate the start of summer.” — Designed by Brooke Glaser from Honolulu, Hawaii.

<img loading=”lazy” decoding=”async” src=”https://cloud.netlifyusercontent.com/assets/344dbf88-fdf9-42bb-adb4-46f01eedd629/16db22ee-c7f8-47a3-856c-992c82cd61f9/june-16-pineapple-summer-pop-preview-opt.png” alt=”Pineapple Summer Pop”

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without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×720, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Nine Lives!

“I grew up with cats around (and drawing them all the time). They are so funny… one moment they are being funny, the next they are reserved. If you have place in your life for a pet, adopt one today!” — Designed by Karen Frolo from the United States.

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without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

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03 Sep

Building Desktop Apps With Electron And Vue

by TBSCategories: News

JavaScript used to be known as the language for building websites and web applications especially with some of its frameworks such as React, Vue, and Angular but over time (as early as 2009), it became possible for JavaScript to run outside the browser with the emergence of Node.js, an open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside a web browser. This has led to the ability to use JavaScript for a whole lot more than just web applications, and one of which is building desktop applications using Electron.js.

Electron enables you to create desktop applications with pure JavaScript by providing a runtime with rich native (operating system) APIs. You can see it as a variant of the Node.js runtime that is focused on desktop applications instead of web servers.

In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to build desktop applications using Electron, we’re also going to learn how to use Vuejs to build Electron applications.

Note: Basic knowledge of Vue.js and the Vue CLI is required to follow this tutorial. All of the code used in this tutorial can be found on my GitHub. Feel free to clone and play around with it!

What Are Desktop Applications?

Desktop applications are applications that run stand-alone in desktop or laptop computers. They are applications that perform specific tasks and are installed solely for this purpose.

An example of a desktop application is your Microsoft Word, which is used for creating and typing documents. Other examples of common desktop applications are web browsers, Visual Studio Code, and Adobe Photoshop. Desktop applications are different from web applications because you have to install the desktop application in order for you to access and make use of it, and they sometimes do not need internet access for them to work. Web apps, on the other hand, can be accessed by simply visiting the URL that such an app is hosted on and always need internet access before you can access them.

Examples of frameworks used in building desktop apps include:

Java)
Java is a general-purpose programming language that is class-based, object-oriented, and designed to have as few implementation dependencies) as possible. It is intended to let application developers write once, run anywhere (WORA), meaning that compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need for recompilation.
Java FX
According to their official documentation, it is an open-source, next-generation client application platform for desktop, mobile, and embedded systems built on Java.
C#)
C# is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented, and component-oriented programming disciplines.
.NET
.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications. With .NET, you can use multiple languages, editors, and libraries to build for web, mobile, desktop, gaming, and IoT.

What Is Electron?

Electron is an open-source framework for building desktop applications. It was formerly known as ‘Atom shell’ and is developed and maintained by GitHub. It lets you write cross-platform desktop applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This means that you can build desktop applications for Windows, MacOS and other platforms using one code base. It is based on Node.js and Chromium. Examples of applications built with Electron include the popular Atom editior, Visual Studio Code, WordPress for desktop, and Slack.

Installation

You can install Electron in your project using NPM:

npm install electron --save-dev

You can also install it globally if you’re going to be working with electron apps a lot using this command:

npm install electron -g

Building Vuejs Apps For Desktop With Electron

If you’re familiar with building web applications using Vuejs, it is possible to build desktop applications using Vuejs. All you need for this is the Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder.

The Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder

This tool allows you to build Vue apps for desktop with Electron, this means that it makes your Vue application work as an electron app. This means that your Vue application which possibly is a web application can be extended to work in desktop environments without the need to build a separate desktop application in another framework. This gives Vue developers the option and power to go beyond the web. Going forward, you can work on that idea you have and give users a desktop application option — one that can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

To see this in action, we’re going to be building a News app using the News API. The application will provide breaking news headlines and allow you to search for articles from news sources and blogs all over the web with their API. All you need to get started with them is your personal API key which can be gotten from here.

We’ll be building a simple app that offers the following:

A page that displays top and breaking headlines from a selected country with the option to choose a country using their /top-headlines endpoint. News API provides news from a list of countries that they support, find the list here.
News from a selected category using a combination of their /everything endpoint and a query parameter q with which we’ll specify our category.

After getting your API Key, we can create our application using the Vue CLI. Ensure you have the Vue CLI installed on your system, if you do not, install it using this command:

npm install -g @vue/cli # OR yarn global add @vue/cli

Once this is done, create your News app using the CLI:

vue create news-app

We’ll fetch the data from the News API by using Axios for this tutorial, but you can use any alternative you’re more comfortable with. You can install Axios by using any of the following commands:

//NPM npm install axios // YARN yarn add axios

The next step would be to set up an Axios instance for global config in our application. We’re going to be creating a plugins folder in the src folder where we’ll create this axios.js file. After creating the file, add the following lines of code:

import axios from "axios"; let baseURL = `https://newsapi.org/v2`; let apiKey = process.env.VUE_APP_APIKEY; const instance = axios.create({     baseURL: baseURL,     timeout: 30000,     headers: {         "X-Api-Key": apiKey,     }, }); export default instance;

Here, we define our baseURL and apiKey which we got from News API and pass it to a new instance of Axios. This instance accepts the baseURL and apiKey together with a timeout property. News API requires you to add your API Key when making a request to their API and offers 3 ways to attach it to your request but here, we’re adding it to the header X-Api-Key property after which we export instance. Once this is done, we can now use this config for all our Axios requests in our app.

When this is done, you can add the Plugin Electron builder with the CLI using this command:

vue add electron-builder

You’ll be prompted to select your preferred Electron version, I selected version 9.0.0 because it is the latest version of Electron (at the time of writing).

When this is done, you can now serve your application using this command:

Using Yarn(strongly recommended) yarn electron:serve OR NPM npm run electron:serve

This will take some time to compile and serve your app. When that is done, your application will pop open on your system, this should look like this:

If you close the devtools of your app, it should look like this:

This electron plugin is super helpful and easy to use because every part of the development of this app works the same way as a Vue app. This means you can have one codebase for both your web application and desktop app. Our app will have three parts:

A landing page that renders top news from a country chosen at random.
A page for rendering top news from the user’s country of choice.
A page that renders top news from a category of the user’s selection.

For this, we’re going to be needing a header component for all our nav links. So let us create a file in the components folder and name it header.vue, and afterward add the following lines of code to it:

<template>     <header class="header">         <div class="logo">             <div class="logo__container">                 <img src="../assets/logo.png" alt="News app logo" class="logo__image" />             </div>             <h1>News App</h1>         </div>         <nav class="nav">             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/home">Home</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/top-news">Top News</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/categories">News By Category</router-link>             </h4>         </nav>     </header> </template> <script>     export default {         name: "app-header",     }; </script> <style>     .header {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         justify-content: space-between;     }     .logo {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: nowrap;         justify-content: space-between;         align-items: center;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__container {         width: 50px;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__image {         max-width: 100%;         max-height: 100%;     }     .nav {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         width: 350px;         justify-content: space-between;     } </style>

Here, we create a header component that has our app name and logo (image can be found on my GitHub) together with a nav section that contains links to the other parts of our application. The next thing would be to import this page on our layout page — App.vue so we can see our header on every page.

<template>     <div id="app">         <app-header />         <router-view />     </div> </template> <script>     import appHeader from "@/components/Header.vue";     export default {         name: "layout",         components: {             appHeader,         },     }; </script> <style>     @import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Abel&family=Staatliches&display=swap");     html,     #app {         min-height: 100vh;     }     #app {         font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;         -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;         -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;         text-align: center;         color: #2c3e50;         background-color: #fff;     }     #app h1 {         font-family: "Staatliches", cursive;     }     a {         font-weight: bold;         color: #2c3e50;         text-decoration: none;     }     a:hover {         text-decoration: underline;     }     a.router-link-exact-active {         color: #42b983;     } </style>

Here, we replace the default content in the template section with our newly created header component after we have imported and declared it in the script section. Finally, we add some styling for the whole app in the style section.

Now if we try to view our app, it should look like this:

The next step would be to add content to our Home.vue file. This page would host the first section of our app; Top news from a country selected at random. Update your Home.vue file with the following lines of code:

<template>   <section class="home">     <h1>Welcome to News App</h1>     <h4>Displaying Top News from {{ countryInfo.name }}</h4>     <div class="articles__div" v-if="articles">       <news-card         v-for="(article, index) in articles"         :key="index"         :article="article"       ></news-card>     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   import { mapActions, mapState } from "vuex";   import NewsCard from "../components/NewsCard";   export default {     data() {       return {         articles: "",         countryInfo: "",       };     },     components: {       NewsCard,     },     mounted() {       this.fetchTopNews();     },     computed: {       ...mapState(["countries"]),     },     methods: {       ...mapActions(["getTopNews"]),       async fetchTopNews() {         let countriesLength = this.countries.length;         let countryIndex = Math.floor(           Math.random() * (countriesLength - 1) + 1         );         this.countryInfo = this.countries[countryIndex];         let { data } = await this.getTopNews(           this.countries[countryIndex].value         );         this.articles = data.articles;       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .articles__div {     display: flex;     flex-wrap: wrap;     justify-content: center;   } </style>

In the script section of this file, we import mapState and mapActions from Vuex, which we’ll be using later on in this file. We also import a NewsCard component (we’ll create this next) that would render all news headlines on this page. We then make use of the fetchTopNews method to fetch the latest news from a country selected at random from the array of countries in our store. This country is passed to our getTopNews action, this would be appended to the baseURL as a query for a country like so baseURL/top-news?country=$ {randomCountry}. Once this is done, we loop through this data and pass it to the article prop of our Newscard component in the template section. We also have a paragraph that indicates which country the top news is from.

The next thing would be to set up our NewsCard component that will display this news. Create a new file inside your components folder, name it NewsCard.vue, and add the following lines of code to it:

<template>   <section class="news">     <div class="news__section">       <h1 class="news__title">         <a class="article__link" :href="article.url" target="_blank">           {{ article.title }}         </a>       </h1>       <h3 class="news__author" v-if="article.author">{{ article.author }}</h3>       <!-- <p class="article__paragraph">{{ article.description }}</p> -->       <h5 class="article__published">{{ new Date(article.publishedAt) }}</h5>     </div>     <div class="image__container">       <img         class="news__img"         src="../assets/logo.png"         :data-src="article.urlToImage"         :alt="article.title"       />     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   export default {     name: "news-card",     props: {       article: Object,     },     mounted() {       this.lazyLoadImages();     },     methods: {       lazyLoadImages() {         const images = document.querySelectorAll(".news__img");         const options = {           // If the image gets within 50px in the Y axis, start the download.           root: null, // Page as root           rootMargin: "0px",           threshold: 0.1,         };         const fetchImage = (url) => {           return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {             const image = new Image();             image.src = url;             image.onload = resolve;             image.onerror = reject;           });         };         const loadImage = (image) => {           const src = image.dataset.src;           fetchImage(src).then(() => {             image.src = src;           });         };         const handleIntersection = (entries) => {           entries.forEach((entry) => {             if (entry.intersectionRatio > 0) {               loadImage(entry.target);             }           });         };         // The observer for the images on the page         const observer = new IntersectionObserver(handleIntersection, options);         images.forEach((img) => {           observer.observe(img);         });       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .news {     width: 100%;     display: flex;     flex-direction: row;     align-items: flex-start;     max-width: 550px;     box-shadow: 2px 1px 7px 1px #eee;     padding: 20px 5px;     box-sizing: border-box;     margin: 15px 5px;     border-radius: 4px;   }   .news__section {     width: 100%;     max-width: 350px;     margin-right: 5px;   }   .news__title {     font-size: 15px;     text-align: left;     margin-top: 0;   }   .news__author {     font-size: 14px;     text-align: left;     font-weight: normal;   }   .article__published {     text-align: left;   }   .image__container {     width: 100%;     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .news__img {     transition: max-width 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1),       max-height 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1);     max-width: 150px;     max-height: 150px;   }   .news__img:hover {     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .article__link {     text-decoration: none;     color: inherit;   } </style>

Here, we display data passed into this component using the article object prop. We also have a method that lazy loads the images attached to each article. This method loops through the number of article images we have and lazy loads them when they become visible. Finally, we have styles targeted at this component in the style section.

The next thing will be to set up our store so we can start getting the latest news. Add the following lines of code to your index.js file:

import Vue from "vue"; import Vuex from "vuex"; import axios from "../plugins/axios"; Vue.use(Vuex); const store = new Vuex.Store({     state: {         countries: [{                 name: "United States of America",                 value: "us",             },             {                 name: "Nigeria",                 value: "ng",             },             {                 name: "Argentina",                 value: "ar",             },             {                 name: "Canada",                 value: "ca",             },             {                 name: "South Africa",                 value: "za",             },         ],         categories: [             "entertainment",             "general",             "health",             "science",             "business",             "sports",             "technology",         ],     },     mutations: {},     actions: {         async getTopNews(context, country) {             let res = await axios({                 url: `/top-headlines?country=$  {country}`,                 method: "GET",             });             return res;         },     }, }); export default store;

We are adding two properties to our store, one of these properties is countries. This property contains an array of countries’ object. We also have the categories property; this contains an array of available categories on the News API. The reader will like the freedom to view the top news from specific countries and categories; this will also be needed in more than one part of the app and that is why we’re making use of the store. In the actions section of our store, we have a getTopNews method that fetches top news from a country(this country was passed from the component that called this action).

At this point, if we open our app, we should see our landing page that looks like this:

The background.js file

This file is the entry point for Electron into your app. It controls all the Desktop app-like settings for this app. The default state of this file can be found on my GitHub.

In this file, we have some predefined configurations set for the app such as the default height and width for your app. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do in this file.

Enabling the Vuejs devtools

By default, you have access to dev tools in Electron but it is not enabled after installation. This is as a result of an existing bug on windows 10, so if you open you background.js file, you will find some commented out code with comments that state why they’re commented out:

// Install Vue Devtools // Devtools extensions are broken in Electron 6.0.0 and greater // See https://github.com/nklayman/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/issues/378 for more info // Electron will not launch with Devtools extensions installed on Windows 10 with dark mode // If you are not using Windows 10 dark mode, you may uncomment these lines // In addition, if the linked issue is closed, you can upgrade electron and uncomment these lines // try { //   await installVueDevtools() // } catch (e) { //   console.error('Vue Devtools failed to install:', e.toString()) // }

So if you’re not affected by this bug, you can uncomment the try/catch block and also search for installVueDevtools in this same file(line 5) and also uncomment it. Once this is done, your app will automatically restart, and when you check your dev tools, you should see the Vuejs Devtools.

Selecting A Custom Icon For Your App

By default, the Electron icon is set as the default icon for your app, and most of the time, you probably would like to set your own custom icon. To do this, move your icon into your public folder, and rename it to be icon.png. The next thing to do would be to add the required dependency, electron-icon-builder.

You can install it using any of the following commands:

// With Yarn: yarn add --dev electron-icon-builder // or with NPM: npm install --save-dev electron-icon-builder

Once this is done, you can run this next command. It will convert your icon into Electron format and print the following in your console when this done.

The next thing would be to set the icon option in background.js file. This option goes inside the BrowserWindow option that is imported from Electron. To do this, update BrowserWindow to look like this:

// Add this to the top of your file /* global __static */ // import path import path from 'path'  // Replace win = new BrowserWindow({ width: 800, height: 600 }) // With win = new BrowserWindow({   width: 800,   height: 600,   icon: path.join(__static, 'icon.png') })

Now if we run yarn run electron:build and view our app, we should see the updated icon being used as the app icon but it doesn’t change in development. This issue helps address a manual fix for it on macOS.

Setting Title For Your App

You will notice the title of your app is set to the app name (news-app in this case) and we’ll need to change it. To do that, we have to add a title property to the BrowserWindow method in our background.js file like this:

win = new BrowserWindow({         width: 600,         height: 500,         title: "News App",         icon: path.join(__static, "icon.png"),         webPreferences: {             // Use pluginOptions.nodeIntegration, leave this alone             // See nklayman.github.io/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/guide/security.html#node-integration for more info             nodeIntegration: process.env.ELECTRON_NODE_INTEGRATION,         },     });

Here, we’re setting the title of our app to ‘News App’. But if your index.html file has a title selected or your title doesn’t change to this, try adding this code to your file:

win.on("page-title-updated", (event) => event.preventDefault());

We’re listening for an event that gets fired when our title is updated from BrowserWindow. When this event is fired, we’re telling Electron not to update the title with the one found in index.html file.

Another thing that might be worth changing is the productName, this controls what name appears when you hover on your app’s icon or what your computer recognizes the app as. Right now, the name of our app is Electron. To change this name in production, create a vue.config.js file and add the following lines of code to it:

module.exports = {     pluginOptions: {         electronBuilder: {             builderOptions: {                 productName: "News App",             },         },     }, };

Here, we define productName to be ‘News App’ so that when we run the build command for our app, the name changes from ‘Electron’ to ‘News App’.

Multi Platform Build

By default, when you run the build command, the app that gets created is dependent on the platform that it is being run on. This means if you run the build command on Linux, the app that gets created would be a Linux desktop app. The same also applies to other platforms(macOS and windows). But Electron comes with the option to specify a platform (or two platforms) you want to generate. The available options are:

mac
win
linux

So in order to build the Windows version of your app, run the following command:

// NPM npm electron:build -- --win nsis // YARN yarn electron:build --win nsis

Conclusion

The completed application can be found on my GitHub. The official Electron documentation provides information and a guide that helps you customize your desktop app whichever way you want. Some of the things I tried out but aren’t included in this tutorial are:

Customizing your dock on macOS — https://www.electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/macos-dock.
Setting resizeable, maximizable, and many more — https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/api/browser-window.md#new-browserwindowoptions.

So if you’re looking to do much more with your Electron application, their official docs is a good place to start.

Related Resources

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

Deprecated: Function create_function() is deprecated in /home2/thebrand/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-spamshield/wp-spamshield.php on line 1884

03 Sep

Building Desktop Apps With Electron And Vue

by TBSCategories: News

In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to build desktop applications using Electron, we’re also going to learn how to use Vuejs to build Electron applications.

What Are Desktop Applications?

Desktop applications are applications that run stand-alone in desktop or laptop computers. They are applications that perform specific tasks and are installed solely for this purpose.

Examples of frameworks used in building desktop apps include:

Java)
Java is a general-purpose programming language that is class-based, object-oriented, and designed to have as few implementation dependencies) as possible. It is intended to let application developers write once, run anywhere (WORA), meaning that compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need for recompilation.
Java FX
According to their official documentation, it is an open-source, next-generation client application platform for desktop, mobile, and embedded systems built on Java.
C#)
C# is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented, and component-oriented programming disciplines.
.NET
.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications. With .NET, you can use multiple languages, editors, and libraries to build for web, mobile, desktop, gaming, and IoT.

What Is Electron?

Installation

You can install Electron in your project using NPM:

npm install electron --save-dev

You can also install it globally if you’re going to be working with electron apps a lot using this command:

npm install electron -g

Building Vuejs Apps For Desktop With Electron

If you’re familiar with building web applications using Vuejs, it is possible to build desktop applications using Vuejs. All you need for this is the Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder.

The Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder

We’ll be building a simple app that offers the following:

A page that displays top and breaking headlines from a selected country with the option to choose a country using their /top-headlines endpoint. News API provides news from a list of countries that they support, find the list here.
News from a selected category using a combination of their /everything endpoint and a query parameter q with which we’ll specify our category.

After getting your API Key, we can create our application using the Vue CLI. Ensure you have the Vue CLI installed on your system, if you do not, install it using this command:

npm install -g @vue/cli # OR yarn global add @vue/cli

Once this is done, create your News app using the CLI:

vue create news-app

//NPM npm install axios // YARN yarn add axios

import axios from "axios"; let baseURL = `https://newsapi.org/v2`; let apiKey = process.env.VUE_APP_APIKEY; const instance = axios.create({     baseURL: baseURL,     timeout: 30000,     headers: {         "X-Api-Key": apiKey,     }, }); export default instance;

When this is done, you can add the Plugin Electron builder with the CLI using this command:

vue add electron-builder

You’ll be prompted to select your preferred Electron version, I selected version 9.0.0 because it is the latest version of Electron (at the time of writing).

When this is done, you can now serve your application using this command:

Using Yarn(strongly recommended) yarn electron:serve OR NPM npm run electron:serve

This will take some time to compile and serve your app. When that is done, your application will pop open on your system, this should look like this:

If you close the devtools of your app, it should look like this:

A landing page that renders top news from a country chosen at random.
A page for rendering top news from the user’s country of choice.
A page that renders top news from a category of the user’s selection.

<template>     <header class="header">         <div class="logo">             <div class="logo__container">                 <img src="../assets/logo.png" alt="News app logo" class="logo__image" />             </div>             <h1>News App</h1>         </div>         <nav class="nav">             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/home">Home</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/top-news">Top News</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/categories">News By Category</router-link>             </h4>         </nav>     </header> </template> <script>     export default {         name: "app-header",     }; </script> <style>     .header {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         justify-content: space-between;     }     .logo {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: nowrap;         justify-content: space-between;         align-items: center;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__container {         width: 50px;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__image {         max-width: 100%;         max-height: 100%;     }     .nav {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         width: 350px;         justify-content: space-between;     } </style>

<template>     <div id="app">         <app-header />         <router-view />     </div> </template> <script>     import appHeader from "@/components/Header.vue";     export default {         name: "layout",         components: {             appHeader,         },     }; </script> <style>     @import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Abel&family=Staatliches&display=swap");     html,     #app {         min-height: 100vh;     }     #app {         font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;         -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;         -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;         text-align: center;         color: #2c3e50;         background-color: #fff;     }     #app h1 {         font-family: "Staatliches", cursive;     }     a {         font-weight: bold;         color: #2c3e50;         text-decoration: none;     }     a:hover {         text-decoration: underline;     }     a.router-link-exact-active {         color: #42b983;     } </style>

Now if we try to view our app, it should look like this:

<template>   <section class="home">     <h1>Welcome to News App</h1>     <h4>Displaying Top News from {{ countryInfo.name }}</h4>     <div class="articles__div" v-if="articles">       <news-card         v-for="(article, index) in articles"         :key="index"         :article="article"       ></news-card>     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   import { mapActions, mapState } from "vuex";   import NewsCard from "../components/NewsCard";   export default {     data() {       return {         articles: "",         countryInfo: "",       };     },     components: {       NewsCard,     },     mounted() {       this.fetchTopNews();     },     computed: {       ...mapState(["countries"]),     },     methods: {       ...mapActions(["getTopNews"]),       async fetchTopNews() {         let countriesLength = this.countries.length;         let countryIndex = Math.floor(           Math.random() * (countriesLength - 1) + 1         );         this.countryInfo = this.countries[countryIndex];         let { data } = await this.getTopNews(           this.countries[countryIndex].value         );         this.articles = data.articles;       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .articles__div {     display: flex;     flex-wrap: wrap;     justify-content: center;   } </style>

<template>   <section class="news">     <div class="news__section">       <h1 class="news__title">         <a class="article__link" :href="article.url" target="_blank">           {{ article.title }}         </a>       </h1>       <h3 class="news__author" v-if="article.author">{{ article.author }}</h3>       <!-- <p class="article__paragraph">{{ article.description }}</p> -->       <h5 class="article__published">{{ new Date(article.publishedAt) }}</h5>     </div>     <div class="image__container">       <img         class="news__img"         src="../assets/logo.png"         :data-src="article.urlToImage"         :alt="article.title"       />     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   export default {     name: "news-card",     props: {       article: Object,     },     mounted() {       this.lazyLoadImages();     },     methods: {       lazyLoadImages() {         const images = document.querySelectorAll(".news__img");         const options = {           // If the image gets within 50px in the Y axis, start the download.           root: null, // Page as root           rootMargin: "0px",           threshold: 0.1,         };         const fetchImage = (url) => {           return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {             const image = new Image();             image.src = url;             image.onload = resolve;             image.onerror = reject;           });         };         const loadImage = (image) => {           const src = image.dataset.src;           fetchImage(src).then(() => {             image.src = src;           });         };         const handleIntersection = (entries) => {           entries.forEach((entry) => {             if (entry.intersectionRatio > 0) {               loadImage(entry.target);             }           });         };         // The observer for the images on the page         const observer = new IntersectionObserver(handleIntersection, options);         images.forEach((img) => {           observer.observe(img);         });       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .news {     width: 100%;     display: flex;     flex-direction: row;     align-items: flex-start;     max-width: 550px;     box-shadow: 2px 1px 7px 1px #eee;     padding: 20px 5px;     box-sizing: border-box;     margin: 15px 5px;     border-radius: 4px;   }   .news__section {     width: 100%;     max-width: 350px;     margin-right: 5px;   }   .news__title {     font-size: 15px;     text-align: left;     margin-top: 0;   }   .news__author {     font-size: 14px;     text-align: left;     font-weight: normal;   }   .article__published {     text-align: left;   }   .image__container {     width: 100%;     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .news__img {     transition: max-width 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1),       max-height 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1);     max-width: 150px;     max-height: 150px;   }   .news__img:hover {     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .article__link {     text-decoration: none;     color: inherit;   } </style>

The next thing will be to set up our store so we can start getting the latest news. Add the following lines of code to your index.js file:

import Vue from "vue"; import Vuex from "vuex"; import axios from "../plugins/axios"; Vue.use(Vuex); const store = new Vuex.Store({     state: {         countries: [{                 name: "United States of America",                 value: "us",             },             {                 name: "Nigeria",                 value: "ng",             },             {                 name: "Argentina",                 value: "ar",             },             {                 name: "Canada",                 value: "ca",             },             {                 name: "South Africa",                 value: "za",             },         ],         categories: [             "entertainment",             "general",             "health",             "science",             "business",             "sports",             "technology",         ],     },     mutations: {},     actions: {         async getTopNews(context, country) {             let res = await axios({                 url: `/top-headlines?country=$  {country}`,                 method: "GET",             });             return res;         },     }, }); export default store;

At this point, if we open our app, we should see our landing page that looks like this:

The background.js file

This file is the entry point for Electron into your app. It controls all the Desktop app-like settings for this app. The default state of this file can be found on my GitHub.

In this file, we have some predefined configurations set for the app such as the default height and width for your app. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do in this file.

Enabling the Vuejs devtools

// Install Vue Devtools // Devtools extensions are broken in Electron 6.0.0 and greater // See https://github.com/nklayman/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/issues/378 for more info // Electron will not launch with Devtools extensions installed on Windows 10 with dark mode // If you are not using Windows 10 dark mode, you may uncomment these lines // In addition, if the linked issue is closed, you can upgrade electron and uncomment these lines // try { //   await installVueDevtools() // } catch (e) { //   console.error('Vue Devtools failed to install:', e.toString()) // }

Selecting A Custom Icon For Your App

You can install it using any of the following commands:

// With Yarn: yarn add --dev electron-icon-builder // or with NPM: npm install --save-dev electron-icon-builder

Once this is done, you can run this next command. It will convert your icon into Electron format and print the following in your console when this done.

// Add this to the top of your file /* global __static */ // import path import path from 'path'  // Replace win = new BrowserWindow({ width: 800, height: 600 }) // With win = new BrowserWindow({   width: 800,   height: 600,   icon: path.join(__static, 'icon.png') })

Setting Title For Your App

win = new BrowserWindow({         width: 600,         height: 500,         title: "News App",         icon: path.join(__static, "icon.png"),         webPreferences: {             // Use pluginOptions.nodeIntegration, leave this alone             // See nklayman.github.io/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/guide/security.html#node-integration for more info             nodeIntegration: process.env.ELECTRON_NODE_INTEGRATION,         },     });

Here, we’re setting the title of our app to ‘News App’. But if your index.html file has a title selected or your title doesn’t change to this, try adding this code to your file:

win.on("page-title-updated", (event) => event.preventDefault());

module.exports = {     pluginOptions: {         electronBuilder: {             builderOptions: {                 productName: "News App",             },         },     }, };

Here, we define productName to be ‘News App’ so that when we run the build command for our app, the name changes from ‘Electron’ to ‘News App’.

Multi Platform Build

mac
win
linux

So in order to build the Windows version of your app, run the following command:

// NPM npm electron:build -- --win nsis // YARN yarn electron:build --win nsis

Conclusion

Customizing your dock on macOS — https://www.electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/macos-dock.
Setting resizeable, maximizable, and many more — https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/api/browser-window.md#new-browserwindowoptions.

So if you’re looking to do much more with your Electron application, their official docs is a good place to start.

Related Resources

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

Deprecated: Function create_function() is deprecated in /home2/thebrand/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-spamshield/wp-spamshield.php on line 1884

02 Sep

Building Desktop Apps With Electron And Vue

by TBSCategories: News

In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to build desktop applications using Electron, we’re also going to learn how to use Vuejs to build Electron applications.

What Are Desktop Applications?

Desktop applications are applications that run stand-alone in desktop or laptop computers. They are applications that perform specific tasks and are installed solely for this purpose.

Examples of frameworks used in building desktop apps include:

Java)
Java is a general-purpose programming language that is class-based, object-oriented, and designed to have as few implementation dependencies) as possible. It is intended to let application developers write once, run anywhere (WORA), meaning that compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need for recompilation.
Java FX
According to their official documentation, it is an open-source, next-generation client application platform for desktop, mobile, and embedded systems built on Java.
C#)
C# is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented, and component-oriented programming disciplines.
.NET
.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications. With .NET, you can use multiple languages, editors, and libraries to build for web, mobile, desktop, gaming, and IoT.

What Is Electron?

Installation

You can install Electron in your project using NPM:

npm install electron --save-dev

You can also install it globally if you’re going to be working with electron apps a lot using this command:

npm install electron -g

Building Vuejs Apps For Desktop With Electron

If you’re familiar with building web applications using Vuejs, it is possible to build desktop applications using Vuejs. All you need for this is the Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder.

The Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder

We’ll be building a simple app that offers the following:

A page that displays top and breaking headlines from a selected country with the option to choose a country using their /top-headlines endpoint. News API provides news from a list of countries that they support, find the list here.
News from a selected category using a combination of their /everything endpoint and a query parameter q with which we’ll specify our category.

After getting your API Key, we can create our application using the Vue CLI. Ensure you have the Vue CLI installed on your system, if you do not, install it using this command:

npm install -g @vue/cli # OR yarn global add @vue/cli

Once this is done, create your News app using the CLI:

vue create news-app

//NPM npm install axios // YARN yarn add axios

import axios from "axios"; let baseURL = `https://newsapi.org/v2`; let apiKey = process.env.VUE_APP_APIKEY; const instance = axios.create({     baseURL: baseURL,     timeout: 30000,     headers: {         "X-Api-Key": apiKey,     }, }); export default instance;

When this is done, you can add the Plugin Electron builder with the CLI using this command:

vue add electron-builder

You’ll be prompted to select your preferred Electron version, I selected version 9.0.0 because it is the latest version of Electron (at the time of writing).

When this is done, you can now serve your application using this command:

Using Yarn(strongly recommended) yarn electron:serve OR NPM npm run electron:serve

This will take some time to compile and serve your app. When that is done, your application will pop open on your system, this should look like this:

If you close the devtools of your app, it should look like this:

A landing page that renders top news from a country chosen at random.
A page for rendering top news from the user’s country of choice.
A page that renders top news from a category of the user’s selection.

<template>     <header class="header">         <div class="logo">             <div class="logo__container">                 <img src="../assets/logo.png" alt="News app logo" class="logo__image" />             </div>             <h1>News App</h1>         </div>         <nav class="nav">             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/home">Home</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/top-news">Top News</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/categories">News By Category</router-link>             </h4>         </nav>     </header> </template> <script>     export default {         name: "app-header",     }; </script> <style>     .header {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         justify-content: space-between;     }     .logo {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: nowrap;         justify-content: space-between;         align-items: center;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__container {         width: 50px;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__image {         max-width: 100%;         max-height: 100%;     }     .nav {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         width: 350px;         justify-content: space-between;     } </style>

<template>     <div id="app">         <app-header />         <router-view />     </div> </template> <script>     import appHeader from "@/components/Header.vue";     export default {         name: "layout",         components: {             appHeader,         },     }; </script> <style>     @import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Abel&family=Staatliches&display=swap");     html,     #app {         min-height: 100vh;     }     #app {         font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;         -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;         -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;         text-align: center;         color: #2c3e50;         background-color: #fff;     }     #app h1 {         font-family: "Staatliches", cursive;     }     a {         font-weight: bold;         color: #2c3e50;         text-decoration: none;     }     a:hover {         text-decoration: underline;     }     a.router-link-exact-active {         color: #42b983;     } </style>

Now if we try to view our app, it should look like this:

<template>   <section class="home">     <h1>Welcome to News App</h1>     <h4>Displaying Top News from {{ countryInfo.name }}</h4>     <div class="articles__div" v-if="articles">       <news-card         v-for="(article, index) in articles"         :key="index"         :article="article"       ></news-card>     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   import { mapActions, mapState } from "vuex";   import NewsCard from "../components/NewsCard";   export default {     data() {       return {         articles: "",         countryInfo: "",       };     },     components: {       NewsCard,     },     mounted() {       this.fetchTopNews();     },     computed: {       ...mapState(["countries"]),     },     methods: {       ...mapActions(["getTopNews"]),       async fetchTopNews() {         let countriesLength = this.countries.length;         let countryIndex = Math.floor(           Math.random() * (countriesLength - 1) + 1         );         this.countryInfo = this.countries[countryIndex];         let { data } = await this.getTopNews(           this.countries[countryIndex].value         );         this.articles = data.articles;       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .articles__div {     display: flex;     flex-wrap: wrap;     justify-content: center;   } </style>

<template>   <section class="news">     <div class="news__section">       <h1 class="news__title">         <a class="article__link" :href="article.url" target="_blank">           {{ article.title }}         </a>       </h1>       <h3 class="news__author" v-if="article.author">{{ article.author }}</h3>       <!-- <p class="article__paragraph">{{ article.description }}</p> -->       <h5 class="article__published">{{ new Date(article.publishedAt) }}</h5>     </div>     <div class="image__container">       <img         class="news__img"         src="../assets/logo.png"         :data-src="article.urlToImage"         :alt="article.title"       />     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   export default {     name: "news-card",     props: {       article: Object,     },     mounted() {       this.lazyLoadImages();     },     methods: {       lazyLoadImages() {         const images = document.querySelectorAll(".news__img");         const options = {           // If the image gets within 50px in the Y axis, start the download.           root: null, // Page as root           rootMargin: "0px",           threshold: 0.1,         };         const fetchImage = (url) => {           return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {             const image = new Image();             image.src = url;             image.onload = resolve;             image.onerror = reject;           });         };         const loadImage = (image) => {           const src = image.dataset.src;           fetchImage(src).then(() => {             image.src = src;           });         };         const handleIntersection = (entries) => {           entries.forEach((entry) => {             if (entry.intersectionRatio > 0) {               loadImage(entry.target);             }           });         };         // The observer for the images on the page         const observer = new IntersectionObserver(handleIntersection, options);         images.forEach((img) => {           observer.observe(img);         });       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .news {     width: 100%;     display: flex;     flex-direction: row;     align-items: flex-start;     max-width: 550px;     box-shadow: 2px 1px 7px 1px #eee;     padding: 20px 5px;     box-sizing: border-box;     margin: 15px 5px;     border-radius: 4px;   }   .news__section {     width: 100%;     max-width: 350px;     margin-right: 5px;   }   .news__title {     font-size: 15px;     text-align: left;     margin-top: 0;   }   .news__author {     font-size: 14px;     text-align: left;     font-weight: normal;   }   .article__published {     text-align: left;   }   .image__container {     width: 100%;     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .news__img {     transition: max-width 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1),       max-height 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1);     max-width: 150px;     max-height: 150px;   }   .news__img:hover {     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .article__link {     text-decoration: none;     color: inherit;   } </style>

The next thing will be to set up our store so we can start getting the latest news. Add the following lines of code to your index.js file:

import Vue from "vue"; import Vuex from "vuex"; import axios from "../plugins/axios"; Vue.use(Vuex); const store = new Vuex.Store({     state: {         countries: [{                 name: "United States of America",                 value: "us",             },             {                 name: "Nigeria",                 value: "ng",             },             {                 name: "Argentina",                 value: "ar",             },             {                 name: "Canada",                 value: "ca",             },             {                 name: "South Africa",                 value: "za",             },         ],         categories: [             "entertainment",             "general",             "health",             "science",             "business",             "sports",             "technology",         ],     },     mutations: {},     actions: {         async getTopNews(context, country) {             let res = await axios({                 url: `/top-headlines?country=$  {country}`,                 method: "GET",             });             return res;         },     }, }); export default store;

At this point, if we open our app, we should see our landing page that looks like this:

The background.js file

This file is the entry point for Electron into your app. It controls all the Desktop app-like settings for this app. The default state of this file can be found on my GitHub.

In this file, we have some predefined configurations set for the app such as the default height and width for your app. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do in this file.

Enabling the Vuejs devtools

// Install Vue Devtools // Devtools extensions are broken in Electron 6.0.0 and greater // See https://github.com/nklayman/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/issues/378 for more info // Electron will not launch with Devtools extensions installed on Windows 10 with dark mode // If you are not using Windows 10 dark mode, you may uncomment these lines // In addition, if the linked issue is closed, you can upgrade electron and uncomment these lines // try { //   await installVueDevtools() // } catch (e) { //   console.error('Vue Devtools failed to install:', e.toString()) // }

Selecting A Custom Icon For Your App

You can install it using any of the following commands:

// With Yarn: yarn add --dev electron-icon-builder // or with NPM: npm install --save-dev electron-icon-builder

Once this is done, you can run this next command. It will convert your icon into Electron format and print the following in your console when this done.

// Add this to the top of your file /* global __static */ // import path import path from 'path'  // Replace win = new BrowserWindow({ width: 800, height: 600 }) // With win = new BrowserWindow({   width: 800,   height: 600,   icon: path.join(__static, 'icon.png') })

Setting Title For Your App

win = new BrowserWindow({         width: 600,         height: 500,         title: "News App",         icon: path.join(__static, "icon.png"),         webPreferences: {             // Use pluginOptions.nodeIntegration, leave this alone             // See nklayman.github.io/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/guide/security.html#node-integration for more info             nodeIntegration: process.env.ELECTRON_NODE_INTEGRATION,         },     });

Here, we’re setting the title of our app to ‘News App’. But if your index.html file has a title selected or your title doesn’t change to this, try adding this code to your file:

win.on("page-title-updated", (event) => event.preventDefault());

module.exports = {     pluginOptions: {         electronBuilder: {             builderOptions: {                 productName: "News App",             },         },     }, };

Here, we define productName to be ‘News App’ so that when we run the build command for our app, the name changes from ‘Electron’ to ‘News App’.

Multi Platform Build

mac
win
linux

So in order to build the Windows version of your app, run the following command:

// NPM npm electron:build -- --win nsis // YARN yarn electron:build --win nsis

Conclusion

Customizing your dock on macOS — https://www.electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/macos-dock.
Setting resizeable, maximizable, and many more — https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/api/browser-window.md#new-browserwindowoptions.

So if you’re looking to do much more with your Electron application, their official docs is a good place to start.

Related Resources

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

Deprecated: Function create_function() is deprecated in /home2/thebrand/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-spamshield/wp-spamshield.php on line 1884

21 Jul

Building Desktop Apps With Electron And Vue

by TBSCategories: News

Building Desktop Apps With Electron And Vue

Timi Omoyeni

2020-07-21T15:30:00+00:00 2020-07-21T19:34:17+00:00

In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to build desktop applications using Electron, we’re also going to learn how to use Vuejs to build Electron applications.

What Are Desktop Applications?

Desktop applications are applications that run stand-alone in desktop or laptop computers. They are applications that perform specific tasks and are installed solely for this purpose.

Examples of frameworks used in building desktop apps include:

Java
Java is a general-purpose programming language that is class-based, object-oriented, and designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is intended to let application developers write once, run anywhere (WORA), meaning that compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need for recompilation.
Java FX
According to their official documentation, it is an open-source, next-generation client application platform for desktop, mobile, and embedded systems built on Java.
C#
C# is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented, and component-oriented programming disciplines.
.NET
.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications. With .NET, you can use multiple languages, editors, and libraries to build for web, mobile, desktop, gaming, and IoT.

What Is Electron?

Installation

You can install Electron in your project using NPM:

npm install electron --save-dev

You can also install it globally if you’re going to be working with electron apps a lot using this command:

npm install electron -g

Building Vuejs Apps For Desktop With Electron

If you’re familiar with building web applications using Vuejs, it is possible to build desktop applications using Vuejs. All you need for this is the Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder.

The Vue CLI Plugin Electron Builder

We’ll be building a simple app that offers the following:

A page that displays top and breaking headlines from a selected country with the option to choose a country using their /top-headlines endpoint. News API provides news from a list of countries that they support, find the list here.
News from a selected category using a combination of their /everything endpoint and a query parameter q with which we’ll specify our category.

After getting your API Key, we can create our application using the Vue CLI. Ensure you have the Vue CLI installed on your system, if you do not, install it using this command:

npm install -g @vue/cli # OR yarn global add @vue/cli

Once this is done, create your News app using the CLI:

vue create news-app

//NPM npm install axios // YARN yarn add axios

import axios from "axios"; let baseURL = `https://newsapi.org/v2`; let apiKey = process.env.VUE_APP_APIKEY; const instance = axios.create({     baseURL: baseURL,     timeout: 30000,     headers: {         "X-Api-Key": apiKey,     }, }); export default instance;

When this is done, you can add the Plugin Electron builder with the CLI using this command:

vue add electron-builder

You’ll be prompted to select your preferred Electron version, I selected version 9.0.0 because it is the latest version of Electron (at the time of writing).

When this is done, you can now serve your application using this command:

Using Yarn(strongly recommended) yarn electron:serve OR NPM npm run electron:serve

This will take some time to compile and serve your app. When that is done, your application will pop open on your system, this should look like this:

default open state of your electron app — Auto-open state of your electron app. (Large preview)

If you close the devtools of your app, it should look like this:

A landing page that renders top news from a country chosen at random.
A page for rendering top news from the user’s country of choice.
A page that renders top news from a category of the user’s selection.

<template>     <header class="header">         <div class="logo">             <div class="logo__container">                 <img src="../assets/logo.png" alt="News app logo" class="logo__image" />             </div>             <h1>News App</h1>         </div>         <nav class="nav">             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/home">Home</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/top-news">Top News</router-link>             </h4>             <h4 class="nav__link">                 <router-link to="/categories">News By Category</router-link>             </h4>         </nav>     </header> </template> <script>     export default {         name: "app-header",     }; </script> <style>     .header {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         justify-content: space-between;     }     .logo {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: nowrap;         justify-content: space-between;         align-items: center;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__container {         width: 50px;         height: 50px;     }     .logo__image {         max-width: 100%;         max-height: 100%;     }     .nav {         display: flex;         flex-wrap: wrap;         width: 350px;         justify-content: space-between;     } </style>

<template>     <div id="app">         <app-header />         <router-view />     </div> </template> <script>     import appHeader from "@/components/Header.vue";     export default {         name: "layout",         components: {             appHeader,         },     }; </script> <style>     @import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Abel&family=Staatliches&display=swap");     html,     #app {         min-height: 100vh;     }     #app {         font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;         -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;         -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;         text-align: center;         color: #2c3e50;         background-color: #fff;     }     #app h1 {         font-family: "Staatliches", cursive;     }     a {         font-weight: bold;         color: #2c3e50;         text-decoration: none;     }     a:hover {         text-decoration: underline;     }     a.router-link-exact-active {         color: #42b983;     } </style>

Now if we try to view our app, it should look like this:

empty landing page — Empty landing page. (Large preview)

<template>   <section class="home">     <h1>Welcome to News App</h1>     <h4>Displaying Top News from {{ countryInfo.name }}</h4>     <div class="articles__div" v-if="articles">       <news-card         v-for="(article, index) in articles"         :key="index"         :article="article"       ></news-card>     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   import { mapActions, mapState } from "vuex";   import NewsCard from "../components/NewsCard";   export default {     data() {       return {         articles: "",         countryInfo: "",       };     },     components: {       NewsCard,     },     mounted() {       this.fetchTopNews();     },     computed: {       ...mapState(["countries"]),     },     methods: {       ...mapActions(["getTopNews"]),       async fetchTopNews() {         let countriesLength = this.countries.length;         let countryIndex = Math.floor(           Math.random() * (countriesLength - 1) + 1         );         this.countryInfo = this.countries[countryIndex];         let { data } = await this.getTopNews(           this.countries[countryIndex].value         );         this.articles = data.articles;       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .articles__div {     display: flex;     flex-wrap: wrap;     justify-content: center;   } </style>

<template>   <section class="news">     <div class="news__section">       <h1 class="news__title">         <a class="article__link" :href="article.url" target="_blank">           {{ article.title }}         </a>       </h1>       <h3 class="news__author" v-if="article.author">{{ article.author }}</h3>       <!-- <p class="article__paragraph">{{ article.description }}</p> -->       <h5 class="article__published">{{ new Date(article.publishedAt) }}</h5>     </div>     <div class="image__container">       <img         class="news__img"         src="../assets/logo.png"         :data-src="article.urlToImage"         :alt="article.title"       />     </div>   </section> </template> <script>   export default {     name: "news-card",     props: {       article: Object,     },     mounted() {       this.lazyLoadImages();     },     methods: {       lazyLoadImages() {         const images = document.querySelectorAll(".news__img");         const options = {           // If the image gets within 50px in the Y axis, start the download.           root: null, // Page as root           rootMargin: "0px",           threshold: 0.1,         };         const fetchImage = (url) => {           return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {             const image = new Image();             image.src = url;             image.onload = resolve;             image.onerror = reject;           });         };         const loadImage = (image) => {           const src = image.dataset.src;           fetchImage(src).then(() => {             image.src = src;           });         };         const handleIntersection = (entries) => {           entries.forEach((entry) => {             if (entry.intersectionRatio > 0) {               loadImage(entry.target);             }           });         };         // The observer for the images on the page         const observer = new IntersectionObserver(handleIntersection, options);         images.forEach((img) => {           observer.observe(img);         });       },     },   }; </script> <style>   .news {     width: 100%;     display: flex;     flex-direction: row;     align-items: flex-start;     max-width: 550px;     box-shadow: 2px 1px 7px 1px #eee;     padding: 20px 5px;     box-sizing: border-box;     margin: 15px 5px;     border-radius: 4px;   }   .news__section {     width: 100%;     max-width: 350px;     margin-right: 5px;   }   .news__title {     font-size: 15px;     text-align: left;     margin-top: 0;   }   .news__author {     font-size: 14px;     text-align: left;     font-weight: normal;   }   .article__published {     text-align: left;   }   .image__container {     width: 100%;     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .news__img {     transition: max-width 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1),       max-height 300ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 1, 1);     max-width: 150px;     max-height: 150px;   }   .news__img:hover {     max-width: 180px;     max-height: 180px;   }   .article__link {     text-decoration: none;     color: inherit;   } </style>

The next thing will be to set up our store so we can start getting the latest news. Add the following lines of code to your index.js file:

import Vue from "vue"; import Vuex from "vuex"; import axios from "../plugins/axios"; Vue.use(Vuex); const store = new Vuex.Store({     state: {         countries: [{                 name: "United States of America",                 value: "us",             },             {                 name: "Nigeria",                 value: "ng",             },             {                 name: "Argentina",                 value: "ar",             },             {                 name: "Canada",                 value: "ca",             },             {                 name: "South Africa",                 value: "za",             },         ],         categories: [             "entertainment",             "general",             "health",             "science",             "business",             "sports",             "technology",         ],     },     mutations: {},     actions: {         async getTopNews(context, country) {             let res = await axios({                 url: `/top-headlines?country=$ {country}`,                 method: "GET",             });             return res;         },     }, }); export default store;

At this point, if we open our app, we should see our landing page that looks like this:

The background.js file

This file is the entry point for Electron into your app. It controls all the Desktop app-like settings for this app. The default state of this file can be found on my GitHub.

In this file, we have some predefined configurations set for the app such as the default height and width for your app. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do in this file.

Enabling the Vuejs devtools

// Install Vue Devtools // Devtools extensions are broken in Electron 6.0.0 and greater // See https://github.com/nklayman/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/issues/378 for more info // Electron will not launch with Devtools extensions installed on Windows 10 with dark mode // If you are not using Windows 10 dark mode, you may uncomment these lines // In addition, if the linked issue is closed, you can upgrade electron and uncomment these lines // try { //   await installVueDevtools() // } catch (e) { //   console.error('Vue Devtools failed to install:', e.toString()) // }

Selecting A Custom Icon For Your App

You can install it using any of the following commands:

// With Yarn: yarn add --dev electron-icon-builder // or with NPM: npm install --save-dev electron-icon-builder

Once this is done, you can run this next command. It will convert your icon into Electron format and print the following in your console when this done.

Generated info in terminal. (Large preview)

// Add this to the top of your file /* global __static */ // import path import path from 'path'  // Replace win = new BrowserWindow({ width: 800, height: 600 }) // With win = new BrowserWindow({   width: 800,   height: 600,   icon: path.join(__static, 'icon.png') })

Setting Title For Your App

win = new BrowserWindow({         width: 600,         height: 500,         title: "News App",         icon: path.join(__static, "icon.png"),         webPreferences: {             // Use pluginOptions.nodeIntegration, leave this alone             // See nklayman.github.io/vue-cli-plugin-electron-builder/guide/security.html#node-integration for more info             nodeIntegration: process.env.ELECTRON_NODE_INTEGRATION,         },     });

Here, we’re setting the title of our app to ‘News App’. But if your index.html file has a title selected or your title doesn’t change to this, try adding this code to your file:

win.on("page-title-updated", (event) => event.preventDefault());

module.exports = {     pluginOptions: {         electronBuilder: {             builderOptions: {                 productName: "News App",             },         },     }, };

Here, we define productName to be ‘News App’ so that when we run the build command for our app, the name changes from ‘Electron’ to ‘News App’.

Multi Platform Build

mac
win
linux

So in order to build the Windows version of your app, run the following command:

// NPM npm electron:build -- --win nsis // YARN yarn electron:build --win nsis

Conclusion

Customizing your dock on macOS — https://www.electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/macos-dock.
Setting resizeable, maximizable, and many more — https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/api/browser-window.md#new-browserwindowoptions.

So if you’re looking to do much more with your Electron application, their official docs is a good place to start.

(ks, ra, yk, il)

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

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08 Jul

Creating Tiny Desktop Apps With Tauri And Vue.js

by TBSCategories: News

Creating Tiny Desktop Apps With Tauri And Vue.js

Kelvin Omereshone

2020-07-08T11:00:00+00:00 2020-07-08T13:06:15+00:00

Technology makes our lives better, not just users, but also creators (developers and designers). In this article, I’ll introduce you to Tauri. This article will be useful to you if:

you have been building applications on the web with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and you want to use the same technologies to create apps targeted at Windows, macOS, or Linux platforms;
you are already building cross-platform desktop apps with technologies like Electron, and you want to check out alternatives;
you want to build apps with web technologies for Linux distributions, such as PureOS;
you are a Rust enthusiast, and you’d like to apply it to build native cross-platform applications.

We will look at how to build a native cross-platform application from an existing web project. Let’s get to it!

Note: This article assumes you are comfortable with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Vue.js.

What Is Tauri?

The official website sums up Tauri well:

Tauri is a polyglot toolchain for building more secure native apps with both tiny and fast binaries. By “polyglot”, I mean that Tauri uses multiple programming languages. At the moment, Rust, JavaScript, and TypeScript are used. But there are plans to let you use Go, C++, Python, and more.
It lets you use any HTML and JavaScript-based front-end framework, such as Vue.js, React, or Angular, to build a native desktop app, and it can be integrated into any pipeline.
It helps you build and bundle binaries for major desktop platforms (mobile and WebAssembly coming soon).

So, basically, Tauri allows you to use web technologies to create tiny and secure native desktop apps.

On its GitHub page, Tauri is described as a framework-agnostic toolchain for building highly secure native apps that have tiny binaries (i.e. file size) and that are very fast (i.e. minimal RAM usage).

Why Not Electron?

A popular tool for using web technologies to build desktop applications is Electron.

However, Electron apps have a rather large bundle size, and they tend to take up a lot of memory when running. Here is how Tauri compares to Electron:

Bundle
The size of a Tauri app can be less than 600 KB.
Memory
The footprint of a Tauri app is less than half the size of an Electron app.
Licence
Relicensing is possible with Tauri, but not with Electron. Electron ships with Chromium right out of the box. However, Chromium includes a digital rights-management system named Widevine. The inclusion of Widevine in Chromium makes apps created with Electron frowned upon by users of platforms such as PureOS for the sole reason that it is not free/libre open-source software (FLOSS). Platforms like PureOS are verified by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). This means that they can only publish free and open-source software in their app stores.

In a nutshell, if your app is built with Electron, it will never be shipped officially in the PureOS store. This should be a concern for developers targeting such distributions.

More Features Of Tauri

Security is really important to the Tauri team. Apps created with Tauri are meant to be secure from the get-go.
Tauri is compatible with any front-end framework, so you don’t have to change your stack.
It has many design patterns to help you choose important features with simple configurations.

Pros Of Tauri

Tauri enables you to take the code base you’ve built for the web and turn it into a native desktop app, without changing a thing.
Although you could use Rust in a Tauri-based project, it is completely optional. If you did, you wouldn’t need to change anything in your original code base targeted for the web.

Real-World Tauri

If you have been part of the Vue.js community for a while, then you’ll have heard of Guillaume Chau, a member of the core team of Vue.js. He is responsible for the Vue.js command-line interface (CLI), as well as other awesome Vue.js libraries. He recently created guijs, which stands for “graphical user interface for JavaScript projects”. It is a Tauri-powered native desktop app to visually manage your JavaScript projects.

Guijs is an example of what is possible with Tauri, and the fact that a core member of the Vue.js team works on the app tells us that Tauri plays nicely with Vue.js (amongst other front-end frameworks). Check out the guijs repository on GitHub if you are interested. And, yes, it is open-source.

How Tauri Works

At a high level, Tauri uses Node.js to scaffold an HTML, CSS, and JavaScript rendering window as a user interface (UI), managed and bootstrapped by Rust. The product is a monolithic binary that can be distributed as common file types for Linux (deb/appimage), macOS (app/dmg), and Windows (exe/msi).

How Tauri Apps Are Made

A Tauri app is created via the following steps:

First, make an interface in your GUI framework, and prepare the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for consumption.
The Tauri Node.js CLI takes it and rigs the Rust runner according to your configuration.
In development mode, it creates a WebView window, with debugging and Hot Module Reloading.
In build mode, it rigs the bundler and creates a final application according to your settings.

Setting Up Your Environment

Now that you know what Tauri is and how it works, let me walk you through setting up your machine for development with Tauri.

Note: The setup here is for Linux machines, but guides for macOS and for Windows are also available.

Linux Setup

The polyglot nature of Tauri means that it requires a number of tool dependencies. Let’s kick it off by installing some of the dependencies. Run the following:

$  sudo apt update && sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev build-essential curl libssl-dev appmenu-gtk3-module

Once the above is successful, proceed to install Node.js (if you don’t already have it), because Tauri requires its runtime. You can do so by running this:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.35.2/install.sh | bash

This will install nvm (Node.js version manager), which allows you to easily manage the Node.js runtime and easily switch between versions of Node.js. After it is installed, run this to see a list of Node.js versions:

nvm ls-remote

At the time of writing, the most recent version is 14.1.0. Install it like so:

nvm install v14.1.0

Once Node.js is fully set up, you would need to install the Rust compiler and the Rust package manager: Cargo. The command below would install both:

$  curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

After running this command, make sure that Cargo and Rust are in your $ PATH by running the following:

rust --version

If everything has gone well, this should return a version number.

According to the Tauri documentation, make sure you are on the latest version by running the following command:

$  rustup update stable

Voilà! You are one step closer to getting your machine 100% ready for Tauri. All that’s left now is to install the tauri-bundler crate. It’s best to quit your CLI, and run the command below in a new CLI window:

$  cargo install tauri-bundler --force

Eureka! If everything went all right, your machine is now ready for Tauri. Next up, we will get started integrating Tauri with Vue.js. Let’s get to it!

Yarn

The Tauri team recommends installing the Yarn package manager. So let’s install it this way:

npm install -g yarn

Then run the following:

yarn --version

If everything worked, a version number should have been returned.

Integrating Tauri With Vue.js

Now that we have Tauri installed, let’s bundle an existing web project. You can find the live demo of the project on Netlify. Go ahead and fork the repository, which will serve as a shell. After forking it, make sure to clone the fork by running this:

git clone https://github.com/[yourUserName]/nota-web

After cloning the project, run the following to install the dependencies:

yarn

Then, run this:

yarn serve

Your application should be running on localhost:8080. Kill the running server, and let’s install the Vue.js CLI plugin for Tauri.

vue-cli-plugin-tauri

The Tauri team created a Vue.js CLI plugin that quickly rigs and turns your Vue.js single-page application (SPA) into a tiny cross-platform desktop app that is both fast and secure. Let’s install that plugin:

vue add tauri

After the plugin is installed, which might take a while, it will ask you for a window title. Just type in nota and press “Enter”.

Let’s examine the changes introduced by the Tauri plugin.

package.json

The Tauri plugin added two scripts in the scripts section of our package.json file. They are:

"tauri:build": "vue-cli-service tauri:build", "tauri:serve": "vue-cli-service tauri:serve"

The tauri:serve script should be used during development. So let’s run it:

yarn tauri:serve

The above would download the Rust crates needed to start our app. After that, it will launch our app in development mode, where it will create a WebView window, with debugging and Hot Module Reloading!

src-tauri

You will also notice that the plugin added a src-tauri directory to the root of your app directory. Inside this directory are files and folders used by Tauri to configure your desktop app. Let’s check out the contents:

icons/ src/     build.rs     cmd.rs     main.rs Cargo.lock Cargo.toml rustfmt.toml tauri.conf.json tauri.js

The only change we would need to make is in src-tauri/Cargo.toml. Cargo.toml is like the package.json file for Rust. Find the line below in Cargo.toml:

name = "app"

Change it to this:

name = "nota"

That’s all we need to change for this example!

Bundling

To bundle nota for your current platform, simply run this:

yarn tauri:build

Note: As with the development window, the first time you run this, it will take some time to collect the Rust crates and build everything. On subsequent runs, it will only need to rebuild the Tauri crates themselves.

When the above is completed, you should have a binary of nota for your current OS. For me, I have a .deb binary created in the src-tauri/target/release/bundle/deb/ directory.*

Going Cross-Platform

You probably noticed that the yarn tauri:build command just generated a binary for your operating system. So, let’s generate the binaries for other operating systems. To achieve this, we will set up a workflow on GitHub. We are using GitHub here to serve as a distribution medium for our cross-platform app. So, your users could just download the binaries in the “Release” tab of the project. The workflow we would implement would automatically build our binaries for us via the power of GitHub actions. Let’s get to it.

Creating The Tauri Workflow

Thanks to Jacob Bolda, we have a workflow to automatically create and release cross-platform apps with Tauri on GitHub. Apart from building the binary for the various platforms (Linux, Mac, and Windows), the action would also upload the binary for you as a release on GitHub. It also uses the Create a Release action made by Jacob to achieve this.

To use this workflow, create a .github directory in the root of nota-web. In this directory, create another directory named workflows. We would then create a workflow file in .github/workflows/, and name it release-tauri-app.yml.

In release-tauri-app.yml, we would add a workflow that builds the binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows. This workflow would also upload the binaries as a draft release on GitHub. The workflow would be triggered whenever we push to the master.

Open release-tauri-app.yml, and add the snippet below:

name: release-tauri-app  on:   push:     branches:       - master     paths:       - '**/package.json'  jobs:   check-build:     runs-on: ubuntu-latest     timeout-minutes: 30      steps:       — uses: actions/checkout@v2       — name: setup node         uses: actions/setup-node@v1         with:           node-version: 12       — name: install rust stable         uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1         with:           toolchain: stable           profile: minimal       — name: install webkit2gtk         run: |           sudo apt-get update           sudo apt-get install -y webkit2gtk-4.0       — run: yarn       — name: build nota for tauri app         run: yarn build       — run: cargo install tauri-bundler --force       — name: build tauri app         run: yarn tauri:build    create-release:     needs: check-build     runs-on: ubuntu-latest     outputs:       RELEASE_UPLOAD_URL: $ {{ steps.create_tauri_release.outputs.upload_url }}      steps:       — uses: actions/checkout@v2       — name: setup node         uses: actions/setup-node@v1         with:           node-version: 12       — name: get version         run: echo ::set-env name=PACKAGE_VERSION::$ (node -p "require('./package.json').version")       — name: create release         id: create_tauri_release         uses: jbolda/create-release@v1.1.0         env:           GITHUB_TOKEN: $ {{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}         with:           tag_name: $ {{ matrix.package.name }}-v$ {{ env.PACKAGE_VERSION }}           release_name: 'Release nota app v$ {{ env.PACKAGE_VERSION }}'           body: 'See the assets to download this version and install.'           draft: true           prerelease: false    create-and-upload-assets:     needs: create-release     runs-on: $ {{ matrix.platform }}     timeout-minutes: 30      strategy:       fail-fast: false       matrix:         platform: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]         include:           — platform: ubuntu-latest             buildFolder: bundle/deb             ext: _0.1.0_amd64.deb             compressed: ''           — platform: macos-latest             buildFolder: bundle/osx             ext: .app             compressed: .tgz           — platform: windows-latest             buildFolder: ''             ext: .x64.msi             compressed: ''      steps:       — uses: actions/checkout@v2       — name: setup node         uses: actions/setup-node@v1         with:           node-version: 12       — name: install rust stable         uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1         with:           toolchain: stable           profile: minimal       — name: install webkit2gtk (ubuntu only)         if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-latest'         run: |           sudo apt-get update           sudo apt-get install -y webkit2gtk-4.0       — run: yarn       — name: build nota for tauri app         run: yarn build       — run: cargo install tauri-bundler --force       — name: build tauri app         run: yarn tauri:build       — name: compress (macos only)         if: matrix.platform == 'macos-latest'         working-directory: $ {{ format('./src-tauri/target/release/{0}', matrix.buildFolder ) }}         run: tar -czf $ {{ format('nota{0}{1}', matrix.ext, matrix.compressed ) }} $ {{ format('nota{0}', matrix.ext ) }}       — name: upload release asset         id: upload-release-asset         uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1.0.2         env:           GITHUB_TOKEN: $ {{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}         with:           upload_url: $ {{ needs.create-release.outputs.RELEASE_UPLOAD_URL }}           asset_path: $ {{ format('./src-tauri/target/release/{0}/nota{1}{2}', matrix.buildFolder, matrix.ext, matrix.compressed ) }}           asset_name: $ {{ format('nota{0}{1}', matrix.ext, matrix.compressed ) }}           asset_content_type: application/zip       — name: build tauri app in debug mode         run: yarn tauri:build --debug       — name: compress (macos only)         if: matrix.platform == 'macos-latest'         working-directory: $ {{ format('./src-tauri/target/debug/{0}', matrix.buildFolder ) }}         run: tar -czf $ {{ format('nota{0}{1}', matrix.ext, matrix.compressed ) }} $ {{ format('nota{0}', matrix.ext ) }}       — name: upload release asset with debug mode on         id: upload-release-asset-debug-mode         uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1.0.2         env:           GITHUB_TOKEN: $ {{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}         with:           upload_url: $ {{ needs.create-release.outputs.RELEASE_UPLOAD_URL }}           asset_path: $ {{ format('./src-tauri/target/debug/{0}/nota{1}{2}', matrix.buildFolder, matrix.ext, matrix.compressed ) }}           asset_name: $ {{ format('nota-debug{0}{1}', matrix.ext, matrix.compressed ) }}           asset_content_type: application/zip

To test the workflow, commit and push your changes to your fork’s master branch. After successfully pushing to GitHub, you can then click on the “Actions” tab in GitHub, then click on the “Check build” link to see the progress of the workflow.

Upon successful execution of the action, you can see the draft release in “Releases” on the repository page on GitHub. You can then go on to publish your release!

Conclusion

This article has introduced a polyglot toolchain for building secure, cross-platform, and tiny native applications. We’ve seen what Tauri is and how to incorporate it with Vue.js. Lastly, we bundled our first Tauri app by running yarn tauri:build, and we also used a GitHub action to create binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Let me know what you think of Tauri — I’d be excited to see what you build with it. You can join the Discord server if you have any questions.

The repository for this article is on GitHub. Also, see the binaries generated by the GitHub workflow.

(ra, il, al)

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

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03-responsive-web-desktop-development-with-flutter-opt

22 Apr

Responsive Web And Desktop Development With Flutter

by TBSCategories: News

Responsive Web And Desktop Development With Flutter

Carmine Zaccagnino

2020-04-22T10:00:00+00:00 2020-04-22T15:35:03+00:00

This tutorial is not an introduction to Flutter itself. There are plenty of articles, videos and several books available online with simple introductions that will help you learn the basics of Flutter. Instead, we’ll be covering the following two objectives:

The current state of Flutter non-mobile development and how you can run Flutter code in the browser, on a desktop or laptop computer;
How to create responsive apps using Flutter, so that you can see its power — especially as a web framework — on full display, ending with a note about routing based on URL.

Let’s get into it!

What Is Flutter, Why It’s Important, What It Has Evolved Into, Where It’s Going

Flutter is Google’s latest app development framework. Google envisions it to be all-encompassing: It will enable the same code to be executed on smartphones of all brands, on tablets, and on desktop and laptops computer as native apps or as web pages.

It’s a very ambitious project, but Google has been incredibly successful until now particularly in two aspects: in creating a truly platform-independent framework for Android and iOS native apps that works great and is fully ready for production use, and in creating an impressive front-end web framework that can share 100% of the code with a compatible Flutter app.

In the next section, we’re going to see what makes the app compatible and what’s the state of non-mobile Flutter development as of now.

Non-Mobile Development With Flutter

Non-mobile development with Flutter was first publicized in a significant way at Google I/O 2019. This section is about how to make it work and about when it works.

How To Enable Web And Desktop Development

To enable web development, you must first be on Flutter’s beta channel. There are two ways to get to that point:

Install Flutter directly on the beta channel by downloading the appropriate latest beta version from the SDK archive.
If you already have Flutter installed, switch to the beta channel with $ flutter channel beta, and then perform the switch itself by updating your Flutter version (which is actually a git pull on the Flutter installation folder) with $ flutter upgrade.

After that, you can run this:

$  flutter config --enable-web

Desktop support is much more experimental, especially due to a lack of tooling for Linux and Windows, making plugin development especially a major pain, and due to the fact that the APIs used for it are intended for proof-of-concept use and not for production. This is unlike web development, which is using the tried-and-tested dart2js compiler for release builds, which are not even supported for Windows and Linux native desktop apps.

Note: Support for macOS is slightly better than support for Windows and Linux, but it still isn’t as good as support for the web and not nearly as good as the full support for mobile platforms.

To enable support for desktop development, you need to switch to the master release channel by following the same steps outlined earlier for the beta channel. Then, run the following by replacing <OS_NAME> with either linux, windows, or macos:

$  flutter config --enable-<OS_NAME>-desktop

At this point, if you have issues with any of the following steps that I’ll be describing because the Flutter tool isn’t doing what I’m saying it should do, some common troubleshooting steps are these:

Run flutter doctor to check for issues. A side effect of this Flutter command is that it should download any tools it needs that it doesn’t have.
Run flutter upgrade.
Turn it off and on again. The old tier-1 technical-support answer of restarting your computer might be just what is needed for you to be able to enjoy the full riches of Flutter.

Running And Building Flutter Web Apps

Flutter web support isn’t bad at all, and this is reflected in the ease of development for the web.

Running this…

$  flutter devices

… should show right away an entry for something like this:

Web Server • web-server • web-javascript • Flutter Tools

Additionally, running the Chrome browser should cause Flutter to show an entry for it as well. Running flutter run on a compatible Flutter project (more on that later) when the only “connected device” showing up is the web server will cause Flutter to start a web server on localhost:<RANDOM_PORT>, which will allow you to access your Flutter web app from any browser.

If you have installed Chrome but it’s not showing up, you need to set the CHROME_EXECUTABLE environment variable to the path to the Chrome executable file.

Running And Building Flutter Desktop Apps

After you’ve enabled Flutter desktop support, you can run a Flutter app natively on your development workstation with flutter run -d <OS_NAME>, replacing <OS_NAME> with the same value you used when enabling desktop support. You can also build binaries in the build directory with flutter build <OS_NAME>.

Before you can do any of that, though, you need to have a directory containing what Flutter needs to build for your platform. This will be created automatically when you create a new project, but you’ll need to create it for an existing project with flutter create .. Also, the Linux and Windows APIs are unstable, so you might have to regenerate them for those platforms if the app stops working after a Flutter update.

When Is An App Compatible?

What have I meant all along when mentioning that a Flutter app has to be a “compatible project” in order for it to work on desktop or the web? Put simply, I mean that it mustn’t use any plugin that doesn’t have a platform-specific implementation for the platform on which you’re trying to build.

To make this point absolutely clear to everyone and avoid misunderstanding, please note that a Flutter plugin is a particular Flutter package that contains platform-specific code that is necessary for it to provide its features.

For example, you can use the Google-developed url_launcher package as much as you want (and you might want to, given that the web is built on hyperlinks).

An example of a Google-developed package the usage of which would preclude web development is path_provider, which is used to get the local storage path to save files to. This is an example of a package that, incidentally, isn’t of any use to a web app, so not being able to use it isn’t really a bummer, except for the fact that you need to change your code in order for it to work on the web if you’re using it.

For example, you can use the shared_preferences package, which relies on HTML localStorage on the web.

Similar caveats are valid regarding desktop platforms: Very few plugins are compatible with desktop platforms, and, as this is a recurring theme, much more work on this needs to be done on the desktop side than is really necessary on Flutter for the web.

Creating Responsive Layouts In Flutter

Because of what I’ve described above and for simplicity, I’m going to assume for the rest of this post that your target platform is the web, but the basic concepts apply to desktop development as well.

Supporting the web has benefits and responsibilities. Being pretty much forced to support different screen sizes might sound like a drawback, but consider that running the app in the web browsers enables you to see very easily how your app will look on screens of different sizes and aspect ratios, without having to run separate mobile device emulators.

Now, let’s talk code. How can you make your app responsive?

There are two perspectives from which this analysis is done:

“What widgets am I using or can I use that can or should adapt to screens of different sizes?”
“How can I get information about the size of the screen, and how can I use it when writing UI code?”

We’ll answer the first question later. Let’s first talk about the latter, because it can be dealt with very easily and is at the heart of the issue. There are two ways to do this:

One way is to take the information from the MediaQueryData of the MediaQuery root InheritedWidget, which has to exist in the widget tree in order for a Flutter app to work (it’s part of MaterialApp/WidgetsApp/CupertinoApp), which you can get, just like any other InheritedWidget, with MediaQuery.of(context), which has a size property, which is of type Size, and which therefore has two width and height properties of the type double.
The other way is to use a LayoutBuilder, which is a builder widget (just like a StreamBuilder or a FutureBuilder) that passes to the builder function (along with the context) a BoxConstraints object that has minHeight, maxHeight, minWidth and maxWidth properties.

Here’s an example DartPad using the MediaQuery to get constraints, the code for which is the following:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';  void main() => runApp(MyApp());  class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     MaterialApp(       home: MyHomePage()     ); }  class MyHomePage extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     Scaffold(       body: Center(         child: Column(           mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceEvenly,           children: [             Text(               "Width: $ {MediaQuery.of(context).size.width}",               style: Theme.of(context).textTheme.headline4             ),             Text(               "Height: $ {MediaQuery.of(context).size.height}",               style: Theme.of(context).textTheme.headline4             )           ]        )      )    ); }

And here’s one using the LayoutBuilder for the same thing:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';  void main() => runApp(MyApp());  class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     MaterialApp(       home: MyHomePage()     ); }  class MyHomePage extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     Scaffold(       body: LayoutBuilder(         builder: (context, constraints) => Center(           child: Column(             mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceEvenly,             children: [               Text(                 "Width: $ {constraints.maxWidth}",                 style: Theme.of(context).textTheme.headline4               ),               Text(                 "Height: $ {constraints.maxHeight}",                 style: Theme.of(context).textTheme.headline4               )             ]          )        )      )   ); }

Now, let’s think about what widgets can adapt to the constraints.

Fist of all, let’s think about the different ways of laying out multiple widgets according to the size of the screen.

The widget that most easily adapts is the GridView. In fact, a GridView built using the GridView.extent constructor doesn’t even need your involvement to be made responsive, as you can see in this very simple example:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';  void main() => runApp(MyApp());  class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     MaterialApp(       home: MyHomePage()     ); }  class MyHomePage extends StatelessWidget {   final List elements = [     "Zero",     "One",     "Two",     "Three",     "Four",     "Five",     "Six",     "Seven",     "Eight",     "A Million Billion Trillion",     "A much, much longer text that will still fit"   ];     @override   Widget build(context) =>     Scaffold(       body: GridView.extent(         maxCrossAxisExtent: 130.0,         crossAxisSpacing: 20.0,         mainAxisSpacing: 20.0,         children: elements.map((el) => Card(child: Center(child: Padding(padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0), child: Text(el))))).toList()       )    ); }

You can accommodate content of different sizes by changing the maxCrossAxisExtent.

That example mostly served the purpose of showing the existence of the GridView.extent GridView constructor, but a much smarter way to do that would be to use a GridView.builder with a SliverGridDelegateWithMaxCrossAxisExtent, in this case where the widgets to be shown in the grid are dynamically created from another data structure, as you can see in this example:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';  void main() => runApp(MyApp());  class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     MaterialApp(       home: MyHomePage()     ); }  class MyHomePage extends StatelessWidget {   final List<String> elements = ["Zero", "One", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", "Six", "Seven", "Eight", "A Million Billion Trillion", "A much, much longer text that will still fit"];     @override   Widget build(context) =>     Scaffold(       body: GridView.builder(         itemCount: elements.length,         gridDelegate: SliverGridDelegateWithMaxCrossAxisExtent(           maxCrossAxisExtent: 130.0,           crossAxisSpacing: 20.0,           mainAxisSpacing: 20.0,         ),         itemBuilder: (context, i) => Card(           child: Center(             child: Padding(               padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0), child: Text(elements[i])             )           )         )       )    ); }

An example of GridView adapting to different screens is my personal landing page, which is a very simple Flutter web app consisting of a GridView with a bunch of Cards, just like that previous example code, except that the Cards are a little more complex and larger.

A very simple change that could be made to apps designed for phones would be to replace a Drawer with a permanent menu on the left when there is space.

For example, we could have a ListView of widgets, like the following, which is used for navigation:

class Menu extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) => ListView(     children: [       FlatButton(         onPressed: () {},           child: ListTile(           leading: Icon(Icons.looks_one),           title: Text("First Link"),         )       ),       FlatButton(         onPressed: () {},           child: ListTile(           leading: Icon(Icons.looks_two),           title: Text("Second Link"),         )       )     ]   ); }

On a smartphone, a common place to use that would be inside a Drawer (also known as a hamburger menu).

Alternatives to that would be the BottomNavigationBar or the TabBar, in combination with the TabBarView, but with both we’d have to make more changes than are required with the drawer, so we’ll stick with the drawer.

To only show the Drawer containing the Menu that we saw earlier on smaller screens, you’d write code that looks like the following snippet, checking the width using the MediaQuery.of(context) and passing a Drawer object to the Scaffold only if it’s less than some width value that we believe to be appropriate for our app:

Scaffold(     appBar: AppBar(/* ... */),     drawer: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width < 500 ?     Drawer(       child: Menu(),     ) :     null,     body: /* ... */ )

Now, let’s think about the body of the Scaffold. As the sample main content of our app, we’ll use the GridView that we built previously, which we keep in a separate widget named Content to avoid confusion:

class Content extends StatelessWidget {   final List elements = ["Zero", "One", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", "Six", "Seven", "Eight", "A Million Billion Trillion", "A much, much longer text that will still fit"];   @override   Widget build(context) => GridView.builder(     itemCount: elements.length,     gridDelegate: SliverGridDelegateWithMaxCrossAxisExtent(       maxCrossAxisExtent: 130.0,       crossAxisSpacing: 20.0,       mainAxisSpacing: 20.0,     ),     itemBuilder: (context, i) => Card(       child: Center(         child: Padding(           padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0), child: Text(elements[i])         )       )     )   ); }

On bigger screens, the body itself may be a Row that shows two widgets: the Menu, which is restricted to a fixed width, and the Content filling the rest of the screen.

On smaller screens, the entire body would be the Content.

We’ll wrap everything in a SafeArea and a Center widget because sometimes Flutter web app widgets, especially when using Rows and Columns, end up outside of the visible screen area, and that is fixed with SafeArea and/or Center.

This means the body of the Scaffold will be the following:

SafeArea(   child:Center(     child: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width < 500 ? Content() :     Row(       children: [         Container(           width: 200.0,           child: Menu()         ),         Container(           width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width-200.0,           child: Content()         )       ]     )   ) )

Here is all of that put together:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';  void main() => runApp(MyApp());  class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) => MaterialApp(     home: HomePage()   ); }   class HomePage extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) => Scaffold(     appBar: AppBar(title: Text("test")),     drawer: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width < 500 ? Drawer(       child: Menu(),     ) : null,     body: SafeArea(         child:Center(           child: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width < 500 ? Content() :           Row(             children: [               Container(                 width: 200.0,                 child: Menu()               ),               Container(                 width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width-200.0,                 child: Content()               )             ]           )         )     )   ); }  class Menu extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) => ListView(     children: [       FlatButton(         onPressed: () {},           child: ListTile(           leading: Icon(Icons.looks_one),           title: Text("First Link"),         )       ),       FlatButton(         onPressed: () {},           child: ListTile(           leading: Icon(Icons.looks_two),           title: Text("Second Link"),         )       )     ]   ); }  class Content extends StatelessWidget {   final List<String> elements = ["Zero", "One", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", "Six", "Seven", "Eight", "A Million Billion Trillion", "A much, much longer text that will still fit"];   @override   Widget build(context) => GridView.builder(     itemCount: elements.length,     gridDelegate: SliverGridDelegateWithMaxCrossAxisExtent(       maxCrossAxisExtent: 130.0,       crossAxisSpacing: 20.0,       mainAxisSpacing: 20.0,     ),     itemBuilder: (context, i) => Card(       child: Center(         child: Padding(           padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0), child: Text(elements[i])         )       )     )   ); }

This is most of the stuff you’ll need as a general introduction to responsive UI in Flutter. Much of its application will depend on your app’s specific UI, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what you can do to make your app responsive, and you can take many approaches depending on your preference. Now, though, let’s see how we can make a more complete example into a responsive app, thinking about common app elements and UI flows.

Putting It In Context: Making An App Responsive

So far, we have just a screen. Let’s expand that into a two-screen app with working URL-based navigation!

Chances are that your app has a login page. How can we make that responsive?

Login screens on mobile devices are quite similar to each other usually. The space available isn’t much; it’s usually just a Column with some Padding around its widgets, and it contains TextFields for typing in a username and a password and a button to log in. So, a pretty standard (though not functioning, as that would require, among other things, a TextEditingController for each TextField) login page for a mobile app could be the following:

Scaffold(   body: Container(     padding: const EdgeInsets.symmetric(       vertical: 30.0, horizontal: 25.0     ),     child: Column(       mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceAround,       children: [         Text("Welcome to the app, please log in"),         TextField(           decoration: InputDecoration(             labelText: "username"           )         ),         TextField(           obscureText: true,           decoration: InputDecoration(             labelText: "password"           )         ),         RaisedButton(           color: Colors.blue,           child: Text("Log in", style: TextStyle(color: Colors.white)),           onPressed: () {}         )       ]     ),   ), )

It looks fine on a mobile device, but those very wide TextFields start to look jarring on a tablet, let alone a bigger screen. However, we can’t just decide on a fixed width because phones have different screen sizes, and we should maintain a degree of flexibility.

For example, through experimentation, we might find that the maximum width should be 500. Well, we would set the Container’s constraints to 500 (I used a Container instead of Padding in the previous example because I knew where I was going with this) and we’re good to go, right? Not really, because that would cause the login widgets to stick to the left side of the screen, which might be even worse than stretching everything. So, we wrap in a Center widget, like this:

Center(   child: Container(     constraints: BoxConstraints(maxWidth: 500),     padding: const EdgeInsets.symmetric(       vertical: 30.0, horizontal: 25.0     ),     child: Column(/* ... */)   ) )

That already looks fine, and we haven’t even had to use either a LayoutBuilder or the MediaQuery.of(context).size. Let’s go one step further to make this look very good, though. It would look better, in my view, if the foreground part was in some way separated from the background. We can achieve that by giving a background color to what’s behind the Container with the input widgets, and keeping the foreground Container white. To make it look a little better, let’s keep the Container from stretching to the top and bottom of the screen on large devices, give it rounded corners, and give it a nice animated transition between the two layouts.

All of that now requires a LayoutBuilder and an outer Container in order both to set a background color and to add padding all around the Container and not just on the sides only on larger screens. Also, to make the change in padding amount animated, we just need to turn that outer Container into an AnimatedContainer, which requires a duration for the animation, which we’ll set to half a second, which is Duration(milliseconds: 500) in code.

Here’s that example of a responsive login page:

class LoginPage extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     Scaffold(       body: LayoutBuilder(         builder: (context, constraints) {           return AnimatedContainer(             duration: Duration(milliseconds: 500),             color: Colors.lightGreen[200],             padding: constraints.maxWidth < 500 ? EdgeInsets.zero : EdgeInsets.all(30.0),             child: Center(               child: Container(                 padding: EdgeInsets.symmetric(                   vertical: 30.0, horizontal: 25.0                 ),                 constraints: BoxConstraints(                   maxWidth: 500,                 ),                 decoration: BoxDecoration(                   color: Colors.white,                   borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(5.0),                 ),                 child: Column(                   mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceAround,                   children: [                     Text("Welcome to the app, please log in"),                     TextField(                       decoration: InputDecoration(                         labelText: "username"                       )                     ),                     TextField(                       obscureText: true,                       decoration: InputDecoration(                         labelText: "password"                       )                     ),                     RaisedButton(                       color: Colors.blue,                       child: Text("Log in", style: TextStyle(color: Colors.white)),                       onPressed: () {                         Navigator.pushReplacement(                           context,                           MaterialPageRoute(                             builder: (context) => HomePage()                           )                         );                       }                       )                   ]                 ),               ),             )           );         }       )    ); }

As you can see, I’ve also changed the RaisedButton’s onPressed to a callback that navigates us to a screen named HomePage (which could be, for example, the view we built previously with a GridView and a menu or a drawer). Now, though, that navigation part is what we’re going to focus on.

A common thing for web apps to have is the ability to change screens based on the URL. For example going to https://appurl/login should give you something different than https://appurl/somethingelse. Flutter, in fact, supports named routes, which have two purposes:

In a web app, they have exactly that feature that I mentioned in the previous sentence.
In any app, they allow you to predefine routes for your app and give them names, and then be able to navigate to them just by specifying their name.

To do that, we need to change the MaterialApp constructor to one that looks like the following:

MaterialApp(   initialRoute: "/login",   routes: {     "/login": (context) => LoginPage(),     "/home": (context) => HomePage()   } );

And then we can switch to a different route by using Navigator.pushNamed(context, routeName) and Navigator.pushReplacementNamed(context, routeName), instead of Navigator.push(context, route) and Navigator.pushReplacement(context, route).

Here is that applied to the hypothetical app we built in the rest of this article. You can’t really see named routes in action in DartPad, so you should try this out on your own machine with flutter run, or check the example in action:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';  void main() => runApp(MyApp());  class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     MaterialApp(       initialRoute: "/login",       routes: {         "/login": (context) => LoginPage(),         "/home": (context) => HomePage()       }     ); }  class LoginPage extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) =>     Scaffold(       body: LayoutBuilder(         builder: (context, constraints) {           return AnimatedContainer(             duration: Duration(milliseconds: 500),             color: Colors.lightGreen[200],             padding: constraints.maxWidth < 500 ? EdgeInsets.zero : const EdgeInsets.all(30.0),             child: Center(               child: Container(                 padding: const EdgeInsets.symmetric(                   vertical: 30.0, horizontal: 25.0                 ),                 constraints: BoxConstraints(                   maxWidth: 500,                 ),                 decoration: BoxDecoration(                   color: Colors.white,                   borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(5.0),                 ),                 child: Column(                   mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceAround,                   children: [                     Text("Welcome to the app, please log in"),                     TextField(                       decoration: InputDecoration(                         labelText: "username"                       )                     ),                     TextField(                       obscureText: true,                       decoration: InputDecoration(                         labelText: "password"                       )                     ),                     RaisedButton(                       color: Colors.blue,                       child: Text("Log in", style: TextStyle(color: Colors.white)),                       onPressed: () {                         Navigator.pushReplacementNamed(                           context,                           "/home"                         );                       }                     )                   ]                 ),               ),             )           );         }       )    ); }   class HomePage extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) => Scaffold(     appBar: AppBar(title: Text("test")),     drawer: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width < 500 ? Drawer(       child: Menu(),     ) : null,     body: SafeArea(         child:Center(           child: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width < 500 ? Content() :           Row(             children: [               Container(                 width: 200.0,                 child: Menu()               ),               Container(                 width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width-200.0,                 child: Content()               )             ]           )         )     )   ); }  class Menu extends StatelessWidget {   @override   Widget build(context) => ListView(     children: [       FlatButton(         onPressed: () {},           child: ListTile(           leading: Icon(Icons.looks_one),           title: Text("First Link"),         )       ),       FlatButton(         onPressed: () {},           child: ListTile(           leading: Icon(Icons.looks_two),           title: Text("Second Link"),         )       ),       FlatButton(         onPressed: () {Navigator.pushReplacementNamed(           context, "/login");},           child: ListTile(           leading: Icon(Icons.exit_to_app),           title: Text("Log Out"),         )       )     ]   ); }  class Content extends StatelessWidget {   final List<String> elements = ["Zero", "One", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", "Six", "Seven", "Eight", "A Million Billion Trillion", "A much, much longer text that will still fit"];   @override   Widget build(context) => GridView.builder(     itemCount: elements.length,     gridDelegate: SliverGridDelegateWithMaxCrossAxisExtent(       maxCrossAxisExtent: 130.0,       crossAxisSpacing: 20.0,       mainAxisSpacing: 20.0,     ),     itemBuilder: (context, i) => Card(       child: Center(         child: Padding(           padding: EdgeInsets.all(8.0), child: Text(elements[i])         )       )     )   ); }

Onward With Your Flutter Adventure

That should give you an idea of what you can do with Flutter on bigger screens, specifically on the web. It’s a lovely framework, very easy to use, and its extreme cross-platform support only makes it more essential to learn and start using. So, go ahead and start trusting Flutter for web apps, too!

Further Resources

“Desktop shells”, GitHub
The current, always up-to-date state of Flutter on desktop
“Desktop support for Flutter”, Flutter
Information about the fully supported desktop platforms
“Web support for Flutter”, Flutter
Information about Flutter for the web
“All Samples”, Flutter
A curated list of Flutter samples and apps

(ra, yk, il, al)

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