DEV Community

Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

Posted on

Tauri 2 Has a Free Framework for Building Tiny Desktop and Mobile Apps

#tauri #rust #desktop #mobile

Electron apps are 150MB+ because they bundle an entire Chromium browser. Tauri uses the system's native webview — your app is 3-10MB, starts instantly, and uses 10x less memory. Tauri 2 adds mobile support.

What Tauri 2 Gives You for Free

  • Desktop apps — Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Mobile apps — iOS and Android (NEW in v2!)
  • Tiny bundles — 3-10MB vs Electron's 150MB+
  • Low memory — 50MB vs Electron's 500MB+
  • System webview — no bundled Chromium
  • Rust backend — fast, safe, native system access
  • Any frontend — React, Vue, Svelte, SvelteKit, vanilla HTML
  • Auto-updater — built-in update mechanism
  • Plugins — file system, HTTP, clipboard, notifications, shell

Quick Start 

npm create tauri-app@latest
cd my-app
npm install
npm run tauri dev
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Architecture 

┌──────────────────────────────┐
│     Your Frontend (React)     │
│     (System WebView)          │
├──────────────────────────────┤
│     Tauri Bridge (IPC)        │
├──────────────────────────────┤
│     Rust Backend              │
│     (Native OS access)        │
└──────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Frontend = any web tech. Backend = Rust with full system access.

Frontend → Rust Communication 

// src-tauri/src/lib.rs
use tauri::command;

#[command]
async fn read_file(path: String) -> Result<String, String> {
    std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
        .map_err(|e| e.to_string())
}

#[command]
async fn get_system_info() -> SystemInfo {
    SystemInfo {
        os: std::env::consts::OS.to_string(),
        cpu_count: num_cpus::get(),
        memory: sys_info::mem_info().unwrap().total,
    }
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 
// Frontend (React/Vue/Svelte)
import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core';

const content = await invoke<string>('read_file', { path: '/tmp/data.txt' });
const info = await invoke<SystemInfo>('get_system_info');
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Plugins (No Rust Needed) 

// File system
import { readTextFile, writeTextFile } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-fs';
const content = await readTextFile('config.json');
await writeTextFile('output.txt', 'Hello!');

// HTTP client
import { fetch } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-http';
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');

// Clipboard
import { writeText, readText } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-clipboard-manager';
await writeText('Copied!');

// Notifications
import { sendNotification } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-notification';
sendNotification({ title: 'Done!', body: 'Task completed' });

// Shell
import { Command } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-shell';
const output = await Command.create('git', ['status']).execute();
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Mobile Support (Tauri 2) 

# Add mobile targets
npm run tauri android init
npm run tauri ios init

# Run on mobile
npm run tauri android dev
npm run tauri ios dev

# Build for mobile
npm run tauri android build
npm run tauri ios build
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Same codebase for desktop AND mobile.

Tauri 2 vs Electron vs React Native

Feature Tauri 2 Electron React Native
Bundle size 3-10MB 150MB+ 20MB+
Memory usage 50MB 500MB+ 100MB+
Desktop Yes Yes No
Mobile Yes (v2) No Yes
Backend Rust Node.js Bridge
Frontend Any web Any web React
Auto-updater Built-in Built-in OTA updates
Startup time ~200ms ~2s ~1s

The Verdict

Tauri 2 is the future of cross-platform development: desktop AND mobile from one codebase, with bundles 15x smaller than Electron. If you know web development, you can build native apps.

Need help building production web scrapers or data pipelines? I build custom solutions. Reach out: spinov001@gmail.com

Check out my awesome-web-scraping collection — 400+ tools for extracting web data.

Top comments (0)