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Vue CLI Plugin Capacitor

Turn your Vue SPA into an Android or iOS app with Capacitor

Install

Open a terminal in the directory of a Vue CLI 3/4 project, or create one with vue create my-app, and run the following command:

vue add capacitor

Then, configure Capacitor to hide your app's splash screen when VueJS is ready by adding the following code to your src/main.js:

import Vue from 'vue'
import App from './App.vue'
+ import { Plugins } from '@capacitor/core'
+ const { SplashScreen } = Plugins

Vue.config.productionTip = false

new Vue({
  render: h => h(App),
+ mounted() {
+   SplashScreen.hide()
+ }
}).$mount('#app')

Start a Live Dev Server

Start the dev server by running:

With Yarn:

yarn capacitor:serve # add --android or --ios to specify a target platform

Or with npm:

npm run capacitor:serve # add --android or --ios to specify a target platform

This will start a dev server, then open your native IDE (Android Studio or XCode). From here, run your app on an emulator or physical device. The app will connect to the dev server, allowing HMR.

Build Your App

Build your app by running:

With Yarn:

yarn capacitor:build # add --android and/or --ios to specify a target platform(s)

Or with npm:

npm run capacitor:build # add --android and/or --ios to specify a target platform(s)

This will bundle your app, then open your native IDE (Android Studio or XCode). From here, build your app with the IDE tooling to create an Android/iOS app.

Further Configuration

To learn more about Capacitor and how to use it, visit Capacitor's Website. This plugin simply provides an easy-to-use interface for Vue CLI projects.

How It Works

Dev Server

  1. The normal development server is started with vue-cli-service serve.
  2. Capacitor is configured to load your app from the dev server's network url.
  3. The platform's native IDE is opened with cap open [platform].
  4. When the native app is run, it connects to the dev server, allowing for HMR.

Build

  1. Your app is built as normal with vue-cli-service build.
  2. The bundled output is copied to the native app with cap copy [platform]. This runs for each platform specified.
  3. The platform's native IDE is opened, allowing you to create a final build of the native app.