The world of app development is constantly evolving. Developers today need powerful app-building tools to meet growing user demands. They seek technologies that offer all essential features in one place. Tauri is one such platform.

In recent years, this open-source framework has gained significant traction among developers. This modern toolkit enables users to build cross-platform applications for both mobile and desktop.

Let us explore the features that make Tauri a revolutionary app development platform.

What is Tauri?

Tauri is a framework that allows users to build apps with CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.

It was first introduced in 2020 by Daniel Thompson-Yvetot and Lucas Nogueira.

In October 2024, Tauri released its stable version, Tauri 2.0, which introduced significant improvements. The current version, Tauri 2.3.1, was released in February 2025.

At its core, Tauri is quite flexible and modular. It has various tools and APIs that let you integrate between front-end and back-end technologies.

Over the past few years, the user base of Tauri has grown significantly. Let us examine its key features, which make it so popular.

Features of Tauri

• Lightweight: Tauri is exceptionally lightweight. It uses the native web view of the operating system to render the app UI. Compared to Electron, Tauri has a smaller bundle size. It naturally minimizes memory usage. For example, a simple ‘Hello World’ program built with Electron can occupy up to 100 MB of disk space. However, the same application built with Tauri would take only a few megabytes. This is the primary reason Tauri-based apps load quickly.

• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Unlike many modern frameworks, Tauri supports both mobile and desktop platforms. Consequently, it has become a top competitor for numerous mobile-first tools, including React Native and Flutter. Tauri lets you develop apps that users can run on all operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. It also provides a consistent API to interact with the underlying operating system. This flexibility allows developers to focus on the core of the app. They do not need to worry about platform-specific twists.

• Highly Secured: Tauri does not compromise on security. It provides built-in support for secured storage, automatic updates, and sandboxing. Additionally, you can define specific permissions and command scopes. Tauri safeguards against Front-end compromises and accidental exposure of system interfaces. It also enforces practices like code reviews and signed commits for enhanced safety.

• Rust-Based Backend: Tauri’s backend is built with Rust, a programming language known for its excellent performance and safety. Rust enables Tauri to handle complex tasks and prevent errors like null pointer dereferencing and buffer overflows.

• Easy to Customize: Tauri is highly customizable. The framework has a set of APIs and plugins to add various functionalities to an app. You can also build custom plugins in Rust.

• Mobile Support: Tauri provides native support for iOS and Android. Developers can integrate their application logic with Tauri’s frontend using a mobile plugin system. They can also use the desktop app code on mobile to save time and effort.

• Permission System: Tauri has replaced the old allowlist method with a new permissions system. It uses Scopes, Abilities, and Permissions to simplify access control.

• Hot Module Replacement (HMR): The HMR feature in Tauri lets developers update code changes in real-time. They do not need to restart the entire application. It speeds up development automatically.

What is New in Tauri V2.3.1?

This new version of Tauri focuses primarily on performance and security. A few considerable updates you can notice, include:

• Dependency Updates: Tauri relies on various libraries and tools, such as Axum, Apple-codesign, Getrandom, and Colored. Tauri has upgraded all of these dependencies to their latest versions.
• Plugin Enhancements: Many tools used with Tauri have been updated, including Tauri-bundler, Wry, and Tao.
• Feature Flags: The new version of Tauri has 33 feature flags, allowing developers to customize their applications efficiently.
• Security: Tauri v2.3.1 has improved security by implementing a secured permissions management system.

Top Uses of Tauri

• Tauri is an excellent platform for building a cross-platform mobile or desktop app.
• You can use Tauri to make a lightweight app that works on all platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and more.
• Tauri is an ideal platform for making security-focused applications. After all, it provides you with a sandboxed environment and strict permission controls.
• Developers who want to write native apps can also use Tauri.
• Tauri is also suitable for Rust developers who want to use it for GUI apps. It supports integration with system-level APIs.

Final Words

Tauri is a revolutionary application development platform. Features like cross-platform capabilities, lightweight architecture, and high security make it better than conventional frameworks.

The user base of Tauri is growing quickly because of its exciting APIs and tools. If you want to make a powerful native or cross-platform app, Tauri is worth considering.