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This seems kinda disappointing in capability compared with what you see in WeChat. I was expecting you'd be able to build apps that run from inside messenger, i

This seems kinda disappointing in capability compared with what you see in WeChat. I was expecting you'd be able to build apps that run from inside messenger, instead of toggle back and forth between native apps, possibly using something like ExponentJS/Reactive-Native, but maybe Apple would disapprove. The WeChat SDK allows apps to run JS from inside WeChat itself. You see this in action in China where you can actually do complex stuff like book a taxi via Didi Dache without necessarily having to switch back and forth between heavyweight apps.

Aleman360 11y ago
First browsers became OS's, now you want messenger apps to become OS's? How many layers of cruft do we need?
- pbreit 11y ago
  If anything, the cruft is shrinking since you simply can't fit as much cruft into mobile.
  - Aleman360 11y ago
    Let me get this straight. - The phone OS has a shell, usually written in native code. - The messenger app runs on top of the shell, usually written on top of some type of VM. - The messenger app contains a web browser that renders other apps, written in js.
    - ChristianBundy 11y ago
      Please, for your own sanity, don't even bother investigating how operating systems actually work.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
      - mwcampbell 11y ago
        Aleman360 works for Microsoft on the Windows 10 shell. So I think it's safe to say that Aleman360 knows how operating systems actually work.
    - pbreit 11y ago
      I guess I was thinking of cruft differently. All the messaging and bots are reducing UIs back down to CLIs again. Which is pretty much the sparest UI there is. Except perhaps for voice, the other UI gaining traction on mobile. So, yes, the physical size of mobile devices is reducing practically all the cruft.
- catfest 11y ago
  I'd hardly call it "cruft" - this is the beauty of computer systems and software - abstraction!
  - Aleman360 11y ago
    And now your messenger app needs a launcher, switcher, notification manager, search, per-app settings pages, etc. And maybe its own process model/scheduler, to prevent rogue apps from slowing down the messenger app. And apps within the messenger app now need to be cross-messenger-platform on top of being cross-webview-platform.
    - KirinDave 11y ago
      It's almost like people's expectations for software go up over time.
hendler 11y ago
See https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/implementation#structured_messages https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/impl...
sssparkkk 11y ago
Have a look at what we're doing with our startup: https://platform.happening.im https://platform.happening.im - it's exactly what you're describing: a (group) messenger that allows third party developers to create their own HTML5-based apps that can have complex functionality and/or interfaces.
- nostrademons 11y ago
  The top feature of any software platform is "can reach hundreds of millions of users". Solve that problem first and then maybe you'll be able to entice developers to build on your platform.
  - joepjp 11y ago
    Actually, I recall this platform from being quite popular in the Netherlands for a while. It received quite some media attention and a lot of people I know used it. It's not hundreds of millions, but it definitely had some reach!
acchow 11y ago
How do you write an app for WeChat? Their documentation at http://dev.wechat.com/ http://dev.wechat.com/ only talks about sharing content with WeChat users.

Aleman360 11y ago

First browsers became OS's, now you want messenger apps to become OS's? How many layers of cruft do we need?

pbreit 11y ago
If anything, the cruft is shrinking since you simply can't fit as much cruft into mobile.
- Aleman360 11y ago
  Let me get this straight. - The phone OS has a shell, usually written in native code. - The messenger app runs on top of the shell, usually written on top of some type of VM. - The messenger app contains a web browser that renders other apps, written in js.
  - ChristianBundy 11y ago
    Please, for your own sanity, don't even bother investigating how operating systems actually work.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - mwcampbell 11y ago
      Aleman360 works for Microsoft on the Windows 10 shell. So I think it's safe to say that Aleman360 knows how operating systems actually work.
  - pbreit 11y ago
    I guess I was thinking of cruft differently. All the messaging and bots are reducing UIs back down to CLIs again. Which is pretty much the sparest UI there is. Except perhaps for voice, the other UI gaining traction on mobile. So, yes, the physical size of mobile devices is reducing practically all the cruft.
catfest 11y ago
I'd hardly call it "cruft" - this is the beauty of computer systems and software - abstraction!
- Aleman360 11y ago
  And now your messenger app needs a launcher, switcher, notification manager, search, per-app settings pages, etc. And maybe its own process model/scheduler, to prevent rogue apps from slowing down the messenger app. And apps within the messenger app now need to be cross-messenger-platform on top of being cross-webview-platform.
  - KirinDave 11y ago
    It's almost like people's expectations for software go up over time.

hendler 11y ago

See https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/implementation#structured_messages https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/impl...

sssparkkk 11y ago

Have a look at what we're doing with our startup: https://platform.happening.im https://platform.happening.im - it's exactly what you're describing: a (group) messenger that allows third party developers to create their own HTML5-based apps that can have complex functionality and/or interfaces.

nostrademons 11y ago
The top feature of any software platform is "can reach hundreds of millions of users". Solve that problem first and then maybe you'll be able to entice developers to build on your platform.
- joepjp 11y ago
  Actually, I recall this platform from being quite popular in the Netherlands for a while. It received quite some media attention and a lot of people I know used it. It's not hundreds of millions, but it definitely had some reach!

acchow 11y ago

How do you write an app for WeChat? Their documentation at http://dev.wechat.com/ http://dev.wechat.com/ only talks about sharing content with WeChat users.