Why Are We Restricting Third-Party Graph Apps?
Graph Apps were introduced more than five years ago to democratize graph databases through an application environment inside Neo4j Desktop that provided access to Neo4j databases.
In that time, we’ve seen limited usage of Graph Apps from the community, with only a handful of apps being created and supported. Many of those apps, including NeoDash, were from Neo4j Labs. Providing third-party Graph Apps requires ongoing maintenance, support, and security updates.
Therefore, we’ve decided to restrict all new third-party Graph App installations starting from Neo4j Desktop 1.6.0 due to the dwindling usage and increasing maintenance costs.
What Graph Apps Are Affected?
The restricted third-party Graph Apps include:
- Semspect (from Derivo)
- Graphlytic (from Demtec)
- yFiles Neo4j Data explorer (from yWorks)
- GraphXR (from Kineviz)
- Neo4j Commander 3 (from Netbiz Global)
How Can I Get Access to Neo4j Labs Graph Apps?
Neo4j Labs Graph Apps will still be available and pre-installed as part of the Neo4j Desktop installation. The details:
- Third-party Graph Apps will no longer be signed and verified as trusted by Neo4j.
- Any previously installed apps will continue to work.
- Installation of applications via the Gallery App, file protocol, or deep linking will no longer work.
What Are My Options Now?
If you still need to use third-party Graph Apps, Neo4j Desktop 1.5.9 is still available, and the following resources will also be helpful.
Semspect
SemSpect is a scalable graph exploration and no code querying tool for Neo4j. It complements existing graph browsers with a novel graph visualization paradigm that combines visual aggregation with data-driven exploration and details on demand.
Available:
– As a Graph App for Neo4j Desktop 1.5.9
– As a plug-in for Neo4j Graph Database
More info and docs:
https://www.semspect.de
https://doc.semspect.de
https://development.neo4j.dev/blog/semspect-different-approach-graph-visualization
Graphlytic
Graphlytic is a customizable browser tool for collaborative graph visualization and analysis.
Available:
– As a Graph App for Neo4j Desktop 1.5.9
– As a managed cloud service
– As an on-premises server installation
More info and docs:
https://graphlytic.com
https://graphlytic.com/doc
yFiles Neo4j Data Explorer
The data explorer for Neo4j is a free browser tool that provides easy access and interactive exploration of your Neo4j database. Based on the yFiles SDK, it provides automatic layouts and graph analysis algorithms to gain more insights into the data. Automatic coloring and sizing of nodes can highlight different properties over the entire visible graph.
Available:
– As a Graph App for Neo4j Desktop 1.5.9
– As a browser tool
More info and docs:
https://www.yworks.com/neo4j-explorer
https://www.yworks.com/products/data-explorer-for-neo4j#technical
GraphXR
Kineviz is a data visualization research and development company. Their GraphXR product provides intuitive visual analytics.
Available:
– As a Graph App for Neo4j Desktop 1.5.9
– Via contact form
More info and docs:
https://www.kineviz.com/graphxr
Neo4j Commander 3
Commander 3 is a powerful UI that makes manual data entry and editing more accessible.
Available:
– As a Graph App for Neo4j Desktop 1.5.9
– As a Chrome extension
More info and docs:
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/neo4j-commander/bkckbmnflmjhjcamhoinobndahnjahea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLk14KhH_U8
https://medium.com/neo4j/editing-data-in-neo4j-graphs-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-8e9791c731bc
Neo4j Desktop 1.6.0 and Graph Apps update was originally published in Neo4j Developer Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
