Chrome DevTools App is an experimental desktop version of Chrome DevTools packaged independently from Chrome with Electron. It explored what could be gained by separating the browser's developer tools from the browser itself. Users launched Chrome with remote debugging enabled and connected the desktop application to available debugging targets. The original release was primarily distributed as a macOS DMG. Its codebase uses Node.js-era tooling including npm, Bower, Gulp, and Electron. The project was intended as an experiment in standalone web debugging rather than a replacement for Chrome's built-in tools. It has since been discontinued and is no longer proactively maintained, with its author pointing users toward newer tooling.
Features
- Standalone Chrome DevTools desktop interface
- Remote Chrome debugging connections
- Electron-based application packaging
- Automatic debugging target discovery
- macOS desktop distribution
- Open-source experimental implementation