---
layout: post
title: "Fluid: Desktop Web Apps"
created: 1204130200
permalink: blog/walkah/fluid-desktop-web-apps/
tags:
- mac os x
- google
- fluidapp
- rememberthemilk
---
<p><a href="http://www.asitis.org/fluid-makes-stable-web-apps">Matt</a> turned me on to a new app for OS X (Leopard only) called <a href="http://fluidapp.com/">Fluid</a>. Essentially, fluid lets you create website-specific applications - really just little <a href="http://webkit.org/">webkit browsers</a> as their own applications with their own icons. It's really simple to use and (so far) has worked phenomenally well.</p>
<p>I have two web apps that have become an absolute core staple of my daily routine: <a href="http://rememberthemilk.com/">Remember the Milk</a> (for TODO management) and <a href="http://reader.google.com/">Google Reader</a> (for RSS feeds).  Both of these are pretty "heavy" web apps (containing lots of JS/AJAX/etc) and I had been running Firefox extensions for both which ultimately weighed down my main browser (which is where I do primary development, etc). Having them as separate applications lets me keep Firefox running (a little) leaner, and I also get pretty icons and the ability to "cmd-tab" between them.</p>
<p>The <em>coolest</em> part, however, is that Fluid has implemented icon updating on a few sites (google reader being one of them) to show the number of unread items. Check it:</p>
<p><img src="http://walkah.net/sites/walkah.net/files/fluid.png" alt="Fluid App Dock Icons" /></p>
<p>Now, if I can just get <a href="http://googlemac.blogspot.com/2007/05/google-gears-for-webkit.html">Google Gears for Webkit</a> working (for offline support for google reader & RTM) I'll be one happy camper.</p>
<p>The desktop / web app convergence continues...</p>
