SynthMotion (or just Synth) is an appimage tool that let's you build appimages for Linux super easy. Just need to locate your app and you are ready to go.
No needed, since it is an AppImge it works on virtually any distro! So you just need to type:
sudo apt-get install python3-pil python3-pil.imagetk && git clone https://github.com/appvoid/synth.git && ./synth/synth.dist/synth.AppImage
- 🐧 Linux
- 📄 Executable file
- 🎴 PNG icon file
Even though is super easy to create them, there are some things you need to consider when creating or porting your existing app to a SynthMotion app. You should have an executable file and an icon.png. Your app should contain an icon.png next to your executable, for example, you should have an structure like this:
app | icon.png
This is the bare minimum to make SynthMotion to compile your app into an appimage.
If your app uses local resources, which is pretty common, you should be providing to your app the base directory path where your app is located when mounted, like this:
$APPDIR/usr/bin/
For example, in a Python app, you should get the path of the project first and then use it to load your app's resources. Here's a simple way to achieve that:
src_dir = os.popen("echo $APPDIR/usr/bin/").read().rstrip()
Now we can use assets from within the AppImage:
icon_path = src_dir+"icon.png"
// make sure you you have os* wildcard activated on the json settings
let appimage_dir;
let dir;
async function start() {
appimage_dir = await Neutralino.os.execCommand('echo $APPDIR/usr/bin/');
dir = appimage_dir.stdOut.replaceAll("\n","");
}
start()
// later in your code...
if (NL_OS === "Linux") {
let icon = "icon.png"
// we asume that longer chars than "/usr/bin" (12) means there is a path
// so it means we are in the appimage scenario, yeah, it's a hacky way
if (dir.length > 12){
console.log("Inside appimage")
// do your stuff
icon = dir+icon;
} else {
// do your stuff
}
}
There is a CLI version which is actually the main version. Essentially, this tool was designed to autoreplicate itself into an app version that replicates AppImages for your executables, but can also be used to make AppImages, actually, it's the only way to (not manually) set a category for the app.
DEV NOTE: Things are still changing so expect breaking changes from different versions!
* means is optional
./synth-cli compile <path-to-executable> <name*> <category*>
Buy me a coffee! Creating this kind of things is tedious sometimes and enjoyable also. When you support a developer, you really make it to work a lot happier 😄
You can also spread the word! Share it with your nerd pals! Help fixing bugs! There is a lot you can do if you really wanna help me to create the most beautiful, simple and efficient way to create apps for Linux.
If you make an app with this tool, please let us know!
For that amazing default icon for the app template. https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/illustration
For that amazing tutorial on AppImages, without him, this app wouldnt have existed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy63jwjpNg4
If you need better answers, chat with me here: [email protected] Remember to use the topic for subject "appvoid open source + your actual subject"
If an error related to FUSE appears, make sure to have installed FUSE:
sudo apt-get install fuse libfuse2
If it's still not working, check if the appimage is the actual architecture of your device.