Loading an app

Apptrope runs any R or Python web app you point it at. There are five ways to tell it what to run, and they all go through the same place, the Run bar at the top of the window. Type or paste a source, press Run, and Apptrope resolves the app’s dependencies into its own isolated environment and opens it in a native window. Every app you run is saved to your Library automatically, so you only have to load it once.

The five sources

You can load an app from any of the following. Each one goes straight into the Run bar.

Source What it is Example in the Run bar
Local folder A directory on your machine that contains the app /Users/you/projects/my-shiny-app
Archive (zip/tar) A packaged app on disk ~/Downloads/dashboard.zip
Git repo A repository on GitHub, gist, GitLab, or Bitbucket https://github.com/owner/repo
Archive URL A direct link to a downloadable archive https://example.com/app.tar.gz
.apptrope bundle A shareable bundle file someone sent you ~/Downloads/shared-app.apptrope

A few notes on each:

  • Local folder. Point Apptrope at the folder holding your app (the one with your Shiny, Streamlit, Gradio, Flask, or other entry file). Nothing is copied out of place. Apptrope reads the app where it lives.

  • Archive (zip/tar). Both .zip and .tar archives work. Apptrope unpacks the app and runs it from there.

  • Git repo. Paste the repository URL. GitHub, GitHub gists, GitLab, and Bitbucket are all supported, so you can run something straight from source without cloning it yourself first.

    https://github.com/owner/repo
https://gist.github.com/user/abc123
https://gitlab.com/owner/repo
https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo

  • Archive URL. If an app is published as a downloadable archive, paste the direct link and Apptrope will fetch and run it.

  • .apptrope bundle. A .apptrope file is a single, shareable bundle of an app (see Export bundle… in an app’s ⋯ menu for how these are made). Open the file you were sent and Apptrope runs it like any other source.

Whichever source you choose, the first run resolves the app’s dependencies and later runs reuse that resolved environment, so startup is fast after the first time.

Drag and drop

You don’t have to type a path. Drag a folder or a file from Finder, Explorer, or your file manager and drop it onto the Apptrope window. That seeds the Run bar with the dropped item so you can review it and press Run. This works for local folders, archives, and .apptrope bundle files.

First run from a new source asks for confirmation

Apptrope uses trust on first use. The first time you run an app from a source you haven’t trusted yet, Apptrope shows a Confirm before running dialog before any code executes. It spells out that this will download and run code from that source, and it shows the app’s signature status, for example that its integrity was verified, or that it was signed by a named publisher and fingerprint.

The Confirm before running dialog, showing the source, its signature status, a Trust this publisher button, and a Remember this source option.

Apptrope asks you to confirm before it runs code from a source you haven’t trusted yet.

From this dialog you can:

  • Run once after reviewing what’s about to launch.
  • Remember this source so you aren’t asked again for it.
  • Trust this publisher. Once you pin a publisher’s signing key, their signed apps launch without this prompt in the future.

For the full picture of how trust, publishers, signatures, and revocation work, see the Trust page.