ExcalidrawZ: Local Native Excalidraw on macOS/iOS
github.comExcalidraw has an NPM package!: npmjs.com/package/@excalidraw/excalidraw
It is very easy in my experience to set up a local npm project that's just an empty HTML with Excalidraw inside, working fully locally - great if you're behind some firewall or similar network isolation.
Excalidraw is great. I created a macOS wrapper as well a while back and still went back to creating a web-based alternative instead. ExcalidrawZ looks a lot more fancy than what I had back then.
I switched to web mostly for collaboration. The shared environment on the web somehow makes more sense for collaboration than the challenges of setting up sharing with local apps. You could go with a server in between, but I haven't figured out any upsides really.
What I did do is customise the editor and add a bunch of features that really helped in collaborating the way I like it.
So a bit of a shameless plug: https://kromdraw.com/
If this improves the Apple Pencil experience this could be a great improvement. Would be nice if this could be tied into Obsidian to replace the web based version somehow.
The browser based ink/drawing support on iOS devices is pretty bad (and hard to fix since Apple doesn’t expose the ink APIs in JS from my understanding).
There's an excalidraw plugin for obsidian, really nice.
Yeah and I do use it from my iPad occasionally. Stylus support is ok.
Tldraw is also neat, I used their line drawing library in some of my projects.
Now is a great time to be replacing web apps everywhere with native tools that are memory efficient, private, and highly responsive.
already exists via emacs =P https://github.com/yibie/excali-mode
From what I can tell, this project
* Steals the brand name from a tool I love
* Seems like it is intended to replace the original, not an extension/plugin
* Smells vibe-coded (which raises the question as to its quality)
I'll keep using (and paying for!) the original, thanks.
> * Smells vibe-coded (which raises the question as to its quality
Any substance for your claim? The repo is at least older than the word "vibe" itself.
V1.0.0 is from August 2024 and has more-or-less the same README.md (the GIF looks very similar).
Looking at the content of recent commits they read like raw LLM output to me, and also the graph at https://github.com/chocoford/ExcalidrawZ/graphs/code-frequen... makes it pretty clear that development has been accelerated much more recently than 2024.
did you just steal their brand name? or what am i missing
Looks like it. There are several other projects that heavily borrow from the name/branding around too, including the one I use Excalidash (https://excalidash.xyz/)
I guess making it clear it's Excalidraw-related without overstepping is tricky.
I also wonder why we're appending a Z. And is it drawsy like ChewZ is choosy?
wardilacxe? just off the top of my head
That sounds like a disease I don't want to catch
It doesn't have to sound good, just to be unique and not infringe
good luck having anyone discover something with that name
compared to a project that gets shut down for infringement? Don't think i'll need your luck;)
Wardilacxe sounds like the name of an acne-removal cream. That, or the name of a laxative. :P
Things that bring goodness, in other words!
Just pick a different famous sword? Masamunedraw, Durandraw, etc…
Well hey, at least it's not like they've completely re-implemented the same functionality as well.
4yr old ? installed it via mac appstore. hope u dont steal my api keys
Honestly, that looks quite good and every feature is really welcome. Kudos!