Comparing GUIDE and App Designer
MATLAB® offers users two interactive design environments for building apps: App Designer and GUIDE (GUI Design Environment).
App Designer is the recommended environment for building apps in MATLAB, and GUIDE will be removed in a future release of MATLAB. When creating new apps, users are strongly encouraged to use App Designer and the appdesigner function instead. To learn more about the benefits of App Designer and the features it supports, please visit the App Designer product page.
After GUIDE is removed, existing GUIDE apps will continue to run in MATLAB, but will not be editable using the GUIDE environment. To continue editing an existing GUIDE-based app and help maintain its compatibility with future MATLAB releases, you can use the GUIDE to App Designer Migration Tool for MATLAB on File Exchange. Alternatively, you can export it from GUIDE to a single MATLAB file by selecting File > Export to MATLAB-file.
To help in deciding how to best proceed with your existing GUIDE app, please consider the following options and which will best meet your needs.
What can I do with my GUIDE app when GUIDE is removed?
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Options |
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| Action | Do Nothing | Export to .m | Migrate to App Designer |
Rebuild with App Designer |
| Run app | ||||
| - Initial effort to run app | n/a | Low | Med | High |
| Edit app layout | ||||
| - Interactively | ||||
| - Programmatically | ||||
| Edit app code (behavior) | ||||
| - Effort to maintain code | Med | Med | Med | Low |
| - Effort to enhance app | High | High | Med | Low |
Key
Support for interactive and programmatic app building
Support for programmatic app building only
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
Component Library |
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Property Inspector |
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Component Browser |
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Callback Sharing |
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Single-File Management for Code and User Interface |
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Modern Look & Feel |
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Toolstrip-Based Desktop |
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Rich Canvas Interactions |
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Embedded Code Editor |
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Rich Property Editors |
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App Metadata Management |
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Robust Programming Editor and Workflow |
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Quick Start Interactive Tutorial |
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App Testing Framework Support |
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| App Templates |
Code Editor
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
Code Debugger |
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Code Folding |
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Code Analyzer |
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App Input Arguments |
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Rich Programming Aids |
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Quick Code Navigation |
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Global Component Rename |
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Utility Functions via Custom App Methods |
Graphics Support
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
2D & 3D Plotting |
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Axes Support (axes, polaraxes, geoaxes) |
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Axes Interactions (pan, zoom, rotate) |
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Figure Interactions (keyboard and mouse events) |
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Printing |
See Displaying Graphics in App Designer in the MATLAB documentation for more information.
App Sharing and Access
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
Share as MATLAB App Install File |
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Share as MATLAB Standalone Desktop App 1 |
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Share as MATLAB Web App 1 |
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Create, Edit, and Run Apps in MATLAB Online 2 |
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Export as Standalone MATLAB Class File |
Containers and Layout Managers
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
| Context Menu | ||
| Toolbar | ||
Panel |
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Menu Bar |
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Tab Group |
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Scrollable Containers |
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Grid Layout Manager |
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| Auto-Reflow |
Common Components
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
Button |
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Drop Down |
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Edit Field (Text) |
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Label |
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List Box |
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Radio Button Group |
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| Slider | ||
| Table | ||
| Text Area | ||
| Toggle Button Group | ||
| Date Picker | ||
| Edit Field (Numeric) | ||
| Image | ||
| Spinner | ||
| State Button | ||
| Tree |
Dialogs and Notifications
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
Alert Dialog |
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Confirmation Dialog |
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| Progress Dialog | ||
| Color Picker | ||
| File Selection | ||
| Save File | ||
| Folder Selection | ||
| Load Variable | ||
| Save Variable |
Instrumentation
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
Gauge |
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90 Degree Gauge |
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Linear Gauge |
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Semicircular Gauge |
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Knob |
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Discrete Knob |
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Lamp |
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| Switch |
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| Rocker Switch |
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| Toggle Switch |
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| Airspeed Indicator 3 |
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| Altimeter 3 |
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| Climb Rate Indicator 3 |
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| EGT Indicator 3 |
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| Heading Indicator 3 |
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| Artificial Horizon 3 |
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| RPM Indicator 3 |
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| Turn Indicator 3 |
Component Extensibility
Design Environment |
GUIDE4 |
App Designer |
|---|---|---|
HTML Component |
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| ActiveX Control4 |
- Requires MATLAB Compiler.
- MATLAB Online is available with select licenses. Check your eligibility on mathworks.com/products/matlab-online.html.
- Requires Aerospace Toolbox.
- Will be removed in a future release.
