Tasfer: a text editor drawn on a 2D canvas

Tasfer replaces the browser’s contentEditable system with an editor that draws text, cursors, selections, line breaks, and right-to-left writing directly onto a 2D canvas. This gives the developer control over how the editor looks and behaves across browsers and devices, avoiding inconsistent browser formatting and selection quirks. A hidden input still receives keystrokes so typing, autocorrect, and input methods for languages such as Arabic and Chinese work. The project began as an attempt to render text with WebGL and WebGPU, including manually parsing TrueType fonts, but the developer switched to canvas as a simpler, sufficiently fast approach. He says modern AI tools helped accelerate development during a major push in late 2025.

Tasfer is designed to keep documents on the user’s device, without accounts or cloud storage. For live collaboration, it uses a conflict-free replicated data type so edits can merge consistently, and sends them directly between peers over encrypted WebRTC. A server helps devices connect but does not store documents; encrypted relay traffic is used only when direct connections fail. The editor has expanded to include LaTeX equations, syntax-highlighted code, tables, and a calendar, and runs on web, desktop, and mobile platforms. Its app is open source under the AGPL, while its separately packaged editor engine and SDK use the more permissive MIT license, allowing commercial use.