Follow-up: packaging/release + remaining ease-of-use work

[armpro24-blip]

Tracking issue for work deferred after the in-app config / backend-supervision rework (branch feat/in-app-config-and-backend-supervisor).

Shipped in that branch

• Electron now launches/supervises the Python backend (no terminal); startup/error gate UI.
• In-app Settings (⚙): LLM key/model + Test connection, Whisper size/device, preview backend — saved per-user, applied via backend restart.
• /config, /config/test-llm, /audio/devices endpoints; audio device picker.
• Silent LLM-fallback now surfaced as an actionable toast; simple/advanced diagnostics; summary expand modal (no more window.alert).

1. One-click packaging / release (biggest remaining item)

Goal: a non-technical user downloads one installer — no Python/Node, no scripts.

• Freeze the backend with PyInstaller (one-folder); ship via electron-builder extraResources. Highest risk: native libs (ctranslate2, onnxruntime, sounddevice/portaudio, soundfile/libsndfile, silero-vad, soundcard).
• electron-builder config: NSIS (Windows) + dmg (macOS); spawn the bundled backend exe via process.resourcesPath (the BackendSupervisor already abstracts spawn/attach — extend path resolution for app.isPackaged).
• main.py: branch PROJECT_ROOT on sys.frozen; move writable paths (DB, exports) to %APPDATA%/~/Library/Application Support (currently parents[3], read-only under Program Files).
• Models downloaded on first run (not bundled); default bundle to CPU/int8, detect CUDA at runtime; optional GPU pack later.
• Code signing (Authenticode / Apple notarization) to avoid SmartScreen/Gatekeeper.
• Estimate: ~4–6 weeks for a signed Windows installer; macOS adds calendar time.

2. Smaller follow-ups

• Emit translation_unavailable errors the same way summaries now do (LLMTranslator + manager call site).
• Real model-download progress (byte-level) instead of the coarse phase flag.
• Robust venv handling: the desktop spawn path needs app/backend/.venv to be Python 3.12+. Detect a wrong-version/empty venv pre-spawn and show a clear "run installer" message (today it surfaces as a runtime ModuleNotFoundError in the gate).
• Optional: Chinese UI i18n (READMEs are bilingual; UI strings are still English-only) — lightweight t() dictionary.
• Optional: incremental App.tsx decomposition (Header/Transcript/Workspace/HealthDrawer) — deferred as low-risk-only.

Verification status of the shipped branch

• Backend boots and serves /health {ready,phase}, /config, /audio/devices, /config/test-llm over HTTP (port override via MEETINGBRO_PORT confirmed).
• Frontend tsc (both configs) + production vite build pass.
• Electron GUI not visually driven in CI; supervisor spawn command + attach probe verified against a live backend.