Epichrome was a favorite among Mac users for years: it turned websites into Chromium-powered apps, each with its own Dock icon and its own data kept apart from your browser. But its developer has stopped working on it. In the project's README, the author writes: "I'm sad to announce I have ended development of Epichrome," and lists alternatives, including WebCatalog.
If your Epichrome apps are starting to show their age, or you're setting up a new Mac and need somewhere to move them, here's how WebCatalog Desktop compares.
At a glance
| WebCatalog Desktop | Epichrome | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Actively developed | Development has ended |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS only |
| Engine | Chromium, built in and kept up to date | A Brave-based engine, or an external Chrome |
| Creating apps | Pick from a catalog of 65,000+ apps, or enter any URL | Enter a URL, then create an icon |
| Multiple accounts | Every account signed in side by side in one app | One account per app |
| Organizing apps | Spaces that group apps and accounts in one window | One app per website |
| Updates | WebCatalog Desktop and your apps update automatically | The final release is version 2.4.27 |
| Extensions | 1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass, and Dark Reader | Chrome Web Store extensions |
What is WebCatalog Desktop?
WebCatalog Desktop picks up where Epichrome left off: websites become Chromium-powered desktop apps, each with its own data. The difference is that it's still being developed, runs on Windows as well as the Mac, and keeps both itself and your apps up to date.
What is Epichrome?
Epichrome is an open-source Mac tool that creates Chromium-based apps from websites, using a built-in engine based on Brave, or an external Chrome. Each app keeps its own data and supports Chrome Web Store extensions, and a helper extension sends links to your default browser. Its final release is version 2.4.27, and its author has ended development.
1. A replacement that's still moving forward
Epichrome's author explains that the project could no longer keep up with changes to macOS and to Chrome's extension system. The last version was tested on macOS Monterey and Chrome 96, and creating icons on newer versions of macOS requires installing PHP yourself. Apps you've already built may keep working for a while, but they won't get new fixes as macOS and the web keep changing.
WebCatalog Desktop is actively developed. It updates itself, and the apps you install update automatically, so they keep getting the latest Chromium fixes without you doing anything.
2. Moving your apps over
Switching takes a few minutes. Open WebCatalog Desktop, search the catalog of more than 65,000 apps for each one you used in Epichrome, install it, and sign in. Most come with the right name and icon already, so the PHP step is gone. For an internal tool or a site that isn't listed, enter the URL and choose an icon.
A few Epichrome habits carry over directly. Links to other sites still open in your default browser, as they did with Epichrome's helper extension, and per-site rules can send them to a specific app instead. If you relied on extensions, WebCatalog Desktop supports a short list rather than the whole Chrome Web Store: 1Password, Bitwarden, and LastPass for passwords, and Dark Reader.
3. Your apps on every computer
Epichrome only ever ran on the Mac. WebCatalog Desktop runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and your setup syncs across computers. Set up your apps once on a MacBook at home, and they're waiting on the Windows PC at the office.
4. Fewer apps, better organized
Because each Epichrome app had a single data directory, a second account meant creating and maintaining a second app. Many people ended up with "Gmail Work" and "Gmail Personal" side by side in the Dock.
In WebCatalog Desktop, one app can hold all your accounts for a service, each with its own isolated session, all signed in at once. And when the Dock starts to fill up, spaces group the apps and accounts for a client or project into a single window with its own Dock icon and keyboard shortcut.
Which one should you choose?
Epichrome can still make sense if you specifically need an app you built with it years ago to keep running unchanged, and you're comfortable with it no longer receiving updates.
If you're looking for an Epichrome replacement, WebCatalog Desktop is the better fit. Choose it if you:
- Want your apps to keep receiving Chromium fixes as macOS changes
- Want to reinstall your apps from a catalog instead of making icons by hand
- Also use Windows, now or in the future
- Want one app per service, with every account inside it
Epichrome brought Chromium-powered web apps to many Mac users. To keep that going, on every computer you use, try WebCatalog Desktop.
