Tauri 2 Has a Free Desktop and Mobile Framework That Makes Electron Look Bloated

# tauri# desktop# mobile# rust
Tauri 2 Has a Free Desktop and Mobile Framework That Makes Electron Look BloatedAlex Spinov

Electron apps ship a 150MB Chromium browser. Tauri 2 uses the OS native webview — your app is 5-10MB...

Electron apps ship a 150MB Chromium browser. Tauri 2 uses the OS native webview — your app is 5-10MB and uses 10x less RAM.

Tauri 2 vs Electron

Electron Tauri 2
App size 150-300MB 3-10MB
RAM usage 200-500MB 20-50MB
Backend Node.js Rust
Frontend Chromium OS WebView
Platforms Desktop only Desktop + Mobile
Startup time 2-5 seconds 0.5-1 second
Auto-update Yes Yes
System tray Yes Yes
Security Limited Capability-based

What Is New in Tauri 2

  • Mobile support — iOS and Android
  • Plugin system — modular capabilities
  • IPC v2 — faster communication between frontend and backend
  • Multiwindow — improved multi-window support
  • Swift/Kotlin plugins — extend with native mobile code

Getting Started 

npm create tauri-app@latest
# Choose: React, Vue, Svelte, Solid, Vanilla, Angular
# Choose: TypeScript or JavaScript
cd my-app && npm install && npm run tauri dev
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Frontend ↔ Backend Communication 

// src-tauri/src/lib.rs
#[tauri::command]
fn greet(name: &str) -> String {
    format!("Hello, {}! You have been greeted from Rust!", name)
}

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

pub fn run() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![greet, read_file])
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error while running tauri application");
}
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// Frontend (any framework)
import { invoke } from "@tauri-apps/api/core";

const greeting = await invoke<string>("greet", { name: "World" });
const fileContent = await invoke<string>("read_file", { path: "/tmp/data.txt" });
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Plugins 

npm install @tauri-apps/plugin-fs
npm install @tauri-apps/plugin-dialog
npm install @tauri-apps/plugin-shell
npm install @tauri-apps/plugin-notification
npm install @tauri-apps/plugin-http
npm install @tauri-apps/plugin-store
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import { readTextFile, writeTextFile } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-fs";
import { open, save } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-dialog";

// File picker dialog
const filePath = await open({ filters: [{ name: "Text", extensions: ["txt", "md"] }] });
const content = await readTextFile(filePath);

// Save dialog
const savePath = await save({ defaultPath: "output.txt" });
await writeTextFile(savePath, "Hello!");
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Mobile (iOS + Android) 

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

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

# Build for release
npm run tauri android build
npm run tauri ios build
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Same frontend code runs on desktop AND mobile.

Security (Capability-Based) 

// src-tauri/capabilities/default.json
{
  "identifier": "default",
  "windows": ["main"],
  "permissions": [
    "core:default",
    "fs:allow-read-text-file",
    "dialog:allow-open",
    "shell:allow-open"
  ]
}
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Need desktop or mobile app development? I build cross-platform tools and data solutions. Email spinov001@gmail.com or check my Apify tools.