M5Stack Releases Its UIFlow Browser-Based Development Environment as a Server Application

Embedded hardware specialist M5Stack has announced a new release for its UIFlow browser-based integrated development environment (IDE) — and, in a break with tradition, it's now possible to install the server portion locally on your own hardware.

The UIFlow IDE is primarily designed for use with M5Stack's own range of development boards and accessories, and aims to make the process of putting your own projects together easier by putting everything in the browser. Using M5Stack's hosted version, there's no software installation required at all — and for those new to coding the tool includes a drag-and-drop block-based visual programming environment built on Blockly, with a traditional Python view also available.

The software's latest release, though, brings a whole new feature. Brought to our attention by CNX Software, the latest UIFlow release comes with the option to run your own server locally — installing it on one machine on your network and making it available to multiple other machines, without having to use M5Stack's hosted version and while keeping all of your data stored locally for improved privacy and security.

The UIFlow server is available for Microsoft Windows 11 — though Windows 10 should also be compatible — as well as Apple's macOs and Linux on 64-bit x86 hardware. There's also a version for Linux on Arm-based devices, including M5Stack's CM4Stack — and given that's based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, the same version should also be installable on the Raspberry Pi 4 and new Raspberry Pi 5 single-board computers.

The move comes as M5Stack discontinues the desktop versions of the tool, which were simply a version of the web app wrapped in an Electron envelope. As well as allowing a single installation to be shared by multiple machines on the same network, the new server version also lets you use the browser of your choice. There is one drawback to the server release, though: it only provides access to UIFlow 1.0 — while the newer UIFlow 2.0, which supports additional hardware, is only available by using M5Stack's hosted version.

The UIFlow server release is available to download on the M5Stack website — though, at the time of writing, the company's website was returning an error, so you may need to wait a little while before jumping in.