Skip to main content

Lynx Desktop - what to expect

Lynx Desktop - what to expect

9/17/2020

 
A few days ago, I revealed some more information about my first Electron app on Twitter. If you saw that Tweet and have been following the site for a while, you were probably able to guess what my upcoming Electron app is: a new version of Lynx.

That’s right! I’ve been working hard on a new program, called Lynx Desktop, that might just be the beginning of a new era for the entire Lynx project! However, I’m getting ahead of myself. In this post, I’ll be talking about the history of Lynx and what to expect in the future.

Some history...

To fully understand Lynx Desktop, I think we need to go back to Lynx for Windows v1.0. Released a few months into 2019, Lynx for Windows was truly a turning point for Tectra.

How come? Well, it was the first program that I truly got super invested in. There was a time when I was literally releasing a new major update every week!

However, Lynx for Windows wasn’t perfect, and around the release of version 2.0, it was really starting to show. It was pretty finicky, and I really felt like Windows wasn’t the right platform for Lynx. As a result, I started working on the Lynx Online Editor.

I released the Online Editor in August of 2019 and updated it from time to time over the course of the next year. Though it became more of a side-project, I never gave up on it. However, it wasn’t until I started looking into Electron that I figured out what I wanted to do with the Lynx project.
​

Electron and the Lynx Online Editor

As you might have guessed (if you are familiar with Electron), Lynx Desktop will be based on the Online Editor. However, despite this, I still am working on a lot of new features. Here’s what to expect:
  • ​Undo/Redo: One of the biggest shortcomings of Lynx has been the lack of undo and redo functionality. However, I’m pleased to say that I have been able to successfully implement these features, and they work great!
  • Insert Images: That’s right! You can now insert images to help make your drawing look nicer. The possibilities are infinite!
  • Saving Work: This has always been a bit of a rough point for Lynx. Saving work has been possible, but never convenient. Thankfully, I have implemented a saving feature that allows you to easily save your drawing as an image file!
  • New UI: I’ve designed a beautiful new user interface for Lynx that makes drawing a lot more convenient. There’s a lot less scrolling required and overall clutter now.
  • Much, much more: Believe it or not, those are not all of the improvements coming to Lynx soon! I’ll continue to reveal what’s new in upcoming posts.

Wrapping things up...

I’m pretty excited to see what’s next for Lynx, and I hope you are too! With any luck, Lynx Desktop should be ready very soon.

Until then, stay tuned for more updates!
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

What's in John's Backpack? (EDC)

I may no longer be a computer science major, but I'm still fascinated by electronics of all kinds. That's why I take great pleasure in writing about my "everyday carry," that being the devices that I regularly take along with me. These are often being swapped around, as I am an enthusiast at heart, but some of these have stuck around for a long time. So, here's the list: Phone: iPhone 15 Pro (128 GB) It's a very nice phone. That's about all I have to say about it. Like most people, I'm pretty apathetic toward iPhones. I prefer iOS for my needs, and it does what I need it to. 'Nuff said. Laptop: MacBook Pro 14" (2023, M3) I feel bad for my MacBook Pro. It gets tossed around in my bag, is constantly being used, and has a fair few battle scars. But it keeps on going. This laptop has gotten me through college thus far, and I'm hoping I won't have to replace it for a few more years. Watch: Apple Watch SE (the newest one) I swear that this i...
Read more

I love my Instax Mini SE. Here's why!

Hey, folks! I did it. I finally got into instant photography. And I love it. Admittedly, I've had some experience with instant photography before now. I got my first instant camera at a thrift store in 2022. It was a Polaroid OneStep from the 90s, and while film was still readily available for it, it was far too expensive to justify using it regularly. As cool as instant photography was, I accepted that it wasn't economically viable for me and moved on. ...Until about a month ago! On one of my first dates with my girlfriend, she introduced me to her Fujifilm Instax Mini 11. It was a much more compact and modern instant camera than my Polaroid. It also used smaller film slides. This was a big deal, as she informed me that the smaller film came at a smaller price. I was intrigued. A couple weeks later, I ventured to Walmart and splurged. I picked up the cheapest Instax they sold: The Mini SE. It only cost about $57, and it came bundled with 10 slides of film. I also picked up an ...
Read more