Documentation / Platform support

Platform support#

Blitsen publishes desktop runtimes for Linux, macOS and Windows on x64 and arm64. Android APK output exists as a source-checkout workflow and is not installed as a seventh desktop runtime.

Blitsen is pre-alpha. Platform support means that a runtime is produced, not that every application or operating-system integration behaves identically. Test the exported artifact on each target.

Desktop targets#

Only the package matching the install machine is downloaded. A cross-target build fetches the requested runtime separately and stores it in the platform cache.

Linux requirements#

Published Linux runtimes are built on Ubuntu 22.04 and require glibc 2.35 or newer. The machine must also provide ALSA, OpenSSL 3, fontconfig and the display libraries needed by its active X11 or Wayland session.

Minimal containers and headless Linux systems commonly omit these libraries. Blitsen is a windowed runtime, so a successful install does not imply that such an environment can open an application.

Linux is currently the only desktop platform with blitsen/dialog. setAlwaysOnTop has no effect on Wayland because that protocol does not expose the operation. Cursor grab modes also vary; the runtime throws when a requested mode is unavailable.

macOS requirements#

Blitsen publishes Intel and Apple silicon runtimes. The published 0.1.0 artifacts are unsigned, and an application you export is unsigned unless your build runs an appropriate signing command.

Distribute a macOS application only after signing its .app bundle and completing notarization on macOS. The current blitsen/dialog module is absent on macOS.

Windows requirements#

Published runtimes support Windows 10 or newer, and x64 also supports Server 2016 or newer. The Microsoft C runtime is statically linked, so users do not need a separate Visual C++ Redistributable.

Windows packaging writes the application manifest and optional .ico beside the executable rather than embedding them in the PE file. Keep those files with the executable. The current blitsen/dialog module and Unix single-instance lock are absent on Windows.

Android#

Android output is an APK built from a Blitsen source checkout. It supports arm64-v8a and x86_64 by default; armeabi-v7a can be requested but has not been run by this project. Android does not support Blitsen's app, clipboard, dialog or window native modules in this release.

The output is an APK for direct installation, not an Android App Bundle. It cannot be used to create a new Google Play listing that requires AAB upload. See Build an Android APK for prerequisites and signing.

Important runtime limitations#

• <canvas> 2D, WebGL, WebGPU and WebRTC are not implemented.
• There is no platform accessibility tree, so screen readers cannot access the application.
• Text input lacks complete IME/composition, clipboard editing, undo/redo, contenteditable and complex-script support.
• Cross-platform font fallback is incomplete. Verify typography on every target.
• Intl and WebAssembly are absent from the standard shipped JavaScript engine.
• localStorage and sessionStorage are in-memory and reset when the process exits.
• The runtime is not a browser sandbox and must not run untrusted third-party pages.

This list calls out release-level constraints, not every missing web API. Use blitsen doctor and Web API support for the complete boundary.

Unsigned artifacts#

The published 0.1.0 runtimes are unsigned, and Blitsen does not own or manage your certificates. Use --sign to connect your build to a signing command, then follow the target platform's normal distribution and notarization process. A cross-target build can generate packaging files but needs the target's tools or an external signing service to establish publisher identity.