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What was the purpose of exposing the Ambient Light Sensor to web pages in the first place? The W3C document[0] has a few suggestions: > A Web application p

What was the purpose of exposing the Ambient Light Sensor to web pages in the first place? The W3C document[0] has a few suggestions: > A Web application provides input for a smart home system to control lighting. > A Web aplication checks whether light level at work space is sufficient. > A Web application calculates settings for a camera with manual controls (apperture, shutter speed, ISO). > A Web application monitors light level changes produced by hovering hand user gesture and interprets them to control a game character. While these applications are all potentially valid, it seems like each use case would be better served by a native app. [0] https://www.w3.org/TR/ambient-light/#usecases-requirements https://www.w3.org/TR/ambient-light/#usecases-requirements

sumitgt 9y ago
It's almost like someone came up with a solution, then tried really hard to find a set of problems.
- Mister_Snuggles 9y ago
  The first and last use case definitely feel that way. A smart home system would probably use a proper light sensor so that it will work if your phone is in your pocket or face down or simply not open on the page that's controlling it. Of course, all of these issues apply to an app version as well. Controlling a character via gestures sounds like a job for the front-facing camera, not the light sensor.
nfoz 9y ago
> While these applications are all potentially valid, it seems like each use case would be better served by a native app. That is the threat. They're pushing hard to keep the "open web" competitive with native apps, so that the web is not abandoned as an app platform.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- tyingq 9y ago
  Well said. I'm surprised this is the only comment focused on this. WASM fits in that spot as well. Eventually there's a point where the web platform is good enough that some companies choose to sunset native apps. Delivering the same functionality across 3 disparate platforms is a waste of time and energy. Especially when the form factor in the end users hands is the same. I get why it's that way now, but the question will come up over time. Especially for any app that needs live remote API calls to function.
  - pavement 9y ago
    The goal of keeping the open web “competitive” seems a little dubious, however, considering who’s favor shall ultimately be competed for, no? Offering up every last conduit one could possibly expose on a general purpose platform, so that competing interests on the other side of the wire are all fighting on a level playing field to harvest all the imaginable minutia of every quiver of flesh (whether voluntary or reflexive) against a piece of smartphone glass, in an effort to line pockets, starts to feel a little obscene after a while. And if any quarter should be given, the big bad companies will pack up their wares and refuse to conduct business in the commons, leaving the web to disintegrate and decompose back unto what geocities, myspace and aol used to look like? Not sure that’d be so terrible, tbh.
    - nl 9y ago
      The goal of keeping the open web “competitive” seems a little dubious, however, considering who’s favor shall ultimately be competed for, no? No. I like my ebook reader app to automatically adjust to the light. I'd like to be able to build similar apps on the web platform. I agree getting the security balance right is important though.
rrix2 9y ago
i'd appreciate it if websites could load dark instead of white if the room I'm in is dark, and there was a well supported (and actually implemented) API for doing that.
- Oxitendwe 9y ago
  I absolutely agree that this would be a great idea, but it would be much better to solve this at a higher level - the website should provide a light and dark stylesheet, and then the browser should pick based on whether the user has a dark theme or not. Giving a website information about your physical surroundings (GPS coordinates, ambient light, audio input, etc) should be an extremely conscious choice, made only when there is not a better option (Google Maps cannot recalculate your route upon making a wrong turn if it doesn't know where you are, for example).
  - Already__Taken 9y ago
    The server still knows you're requesting those resources. And the browser will always have to request those to check if it can offer you a different layout anyway. What if I don't want to give you binary light/dark choice. Perhaps the site is flux offering you an app the change your colour balance. It could show you what the app would do now with your existing light levels.
userbinator 9y ago
It's the "Web everything" trend, and personally I'm not too fond of it --- especially given how even the original goal of being a massively hyperlinked document repository is often being ignored now in preference to "Web applications" for everything. Then again, here's another reason to keep JavaScript absolutely off, except for sites you really trust and actually need JS on.
AgentME 9y ago
I think those use-cases are something a user should have to opt into through a permission prompt (just like cameras are ... the light sensor is sort of like a camera so it makes sense).

sumitgt 9y ago

It's almost like someone came up with a solution, then tried really hard to find a set of problems.

Mister_Snuggles 9y ago
The first and last use case definitely feel that way. A smart home system would probably use a proper light sensor so that it will work if your phone is in your pocket or face down or simply not open on the page that's controlling it. Of course, all of these issues apply to an app version as well. Controlling a character via gestures sounds like a job for the front-facing camera, not the light sensor.

nfoz 9y ago

> While these applications are all potentially valid, it seems like each use case would be better served by a native app. That is the threat. They're pushing hard to keep the "open web" competitive with native apps, so that the web is not abandoned as an app platform.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
tyingq 9y ago
Well said. I'm surprised this is the only comment focused on this. WASM fits in that spot as well. Eventually there's a point where the web platform is good enough that some companies choose to sunset native apps. Delivering the same functionality across 3 disparate platforms is a waste of time and energy. Especially when the form factor in the end users hands is the same. I get why it's that way now, but the question will come up over time. Especially for any app that needs live remote API calls to function.
- pavement 9y ago
  The goal of keeping the open web “competitive” seems a little dubious, however, considering who’s favor shall ultimately be competed for, no? Offering up every last conduit one could possibly expose on a general purpose platform, so that competing interests on the other side of the wire are all fighting on a level playing field to harvest all the imaginable minutia of every quiver of flesh (whether voluntary or reflexive) against a piece of smartphone glass, in an effort to line pockets, starts to feel a little obscene after a while. And if any quarter should be given, the big bad companies will pack up their wares and refuse to conduct business in the commons, leaving the web to disintegrate and decompose back unto what geocities, myspace and aol used to look like? Not sure that’d be so terrible, tbh.
  - nl 9y ago
    The goal of keeping the open web “competitive” seems a little dubious, however, considering who’s favor shall ultimately be competed for, no? No. I like my ebook reader app to automatically adjust to the light. I'd like to be able to build similar apps on the web platform. I agree getting the security balance right is important though.

rrix2 9y ago

i'd appreciate it if websites could load dark instead of white if the room I'm in is dark, and there was a well supported (and actually implemented) API for doing that.

Oxitendwe 9y ago
I absolutely agree that this would be a great idea, but it would be much better to solve this at a higher level - the website should provide a light and dark stylesheet, and then the browser should pick based on whether the user has a dark theme or not. Giving a website information about your physical surroundings (GPS coordinates, ambient light, audio input, etc) should be an extremely conscious choice, made only when there is not a better option (Google Maps cannot recalculate your route upon making a wrong turn if it doesn't know where you are, for example).
- Already__Taken 9y ago
  The server still knows you're requesting those resources. And the browser will always have to request those to check if it can offer you a different layout anyway. What if I don't want to give you binary light/dark choice. Perhaps the site is flux offering you an app the change your colour balance. It could show you what the app would do now with your existing light levels.

userbinator 9y ago

It's the "Web everything" trend, and personally I'm not too fond of it --- especially given how even the original goal of being a massively hyperlinked document repository is often being ignored now in preference to "Web applications" for everything. Then again, here's another reason to keep JavaScript absolutely off, except for sites you really trust and actually need JS on.

AgentME 9y ago

I think those use-cases are something a user should have to opt into through a permission prompt (just like cameras are ... the light sensor is sort of like a camera so it makes sense).