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Platform Capabilities

NativeMessageBox aims for a shared dialog model across platforms, but each backend keeps its native constraints.

Capability Matrix

Capability Windows macOS Linux (GTK) iOS Android Browser
Multiple buttons Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial (3) Yes
Custom button labels Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Verification checkbox Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Text/password input No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Combo box input No Yes Yes No No Yes
Informative / expanded secondary text Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Help link Yes Yes Yes No No No
Timeout auto-close Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Parent-window modality Yes Yes Yes Presenter-based Activity-based Overlay-based

Reading the Matrix

  • Windows uses TaskDialogIndirect for advanced dialogs and falls back when possible.
  • macOS uses NSAlert plus accessory views.
  • Linux uses GTK and may downgrade to zenity in constrained environments.
  • iOS and Android intentionally expose a smaller feature surface because system dialog APIs are narrower.
  • Browser support is implemented with a custom overlay host rather than the blocking alert/confirm APIs.

Practical Implication

Design your dialog requests around the most constrained platform you must support. If your application depends on text input or secondary content everywhere, Android will require an alternate UX path.