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I like to think about it this way: web is for documents, apps are for tools. If it can be linked to universally, it is a document. If it cannot, it is a tool. W

by krn 8y ago

I like to think about it this way: web is for documents, apps are for tools. If it can be linked to universally, it is a document. If it cannot, it is a tool. Would I install facebook.exe on my PC in order to browse it? No, it would feel like installing a virus. Then why would I do this on mobile?

danShumway 8y ago
I've had this conversation with people before on HN, but to take this philosophy even a step farther, I feel like I have an almost regressive view of most apps compared to a lot of people on here. I honestly don't see the difference between an application like Google Maps and a document. Google Maps should be presentable in pure text without CSS, and the overlay is basically just styling on top of that. You have a list of points with information associated with them including Latitude and Longitude. XML is perfectly fine for that. Or you have a list of directions or reviews, which obviously should be presentable in pure text. Same with Google Music. Google Music isn't an application. It's a search box that displays a list of links to audio files. It's fine that Google puts pretty interfaces on top of this stuff, and CSS is good for that, but I just still don't see what they're doing that requires native access. Minus the absolutely horrible performance that would come out of using Electron and JS for everything, I really don't feel like it would be difficult to remake the majority of what people call native apps in HTML/CSS. A lot of the native apps on my computer are basically just fancy ways to present tree-like information. Stuff like Gimp, or Blender, or a 3D game - okay, we can talk about applications. But Maps, or Youtube? I dunno, maybe I'm just old and cranky. Certainly Facebook and Reddit don't fit into those categories.
- krn 8y ago
  I find such things as email, maps and streaming services to be proper use cases for native applications, because they either require non-standard connectivity / caching implementations, or hardware features which are not equally available on all browser-connected devices. JavaScript and CSS should be used to enhance hypertext document browsing experience, not to replace OS-level applications where they are needed.

by krn 8y ago

danShumway 8y ago

I've had this conversation with people before on HN, but to take this philosophy even a step farther, I feel like I have an almost regressive view of most apps compared to a lot of people on here. I honestly don't see the difference between an application like Google Maps and a document. Google Maps should be presentable in pure text without CSS, and the overlay is basically just styling on top of that. You have a list of points with information associated with them including Latitude and Longitude. XML is perfectly fine for that. Or you have a list of directions or reviews, which obviously should be presentable in pure text. Same with Google Music. Google Music isn't an application. It's a search box that displays a list of links to audio files. It's fine that Google puts pretty interfaces on top of this stuff, and CSS is good for that, but I just still don't see what they're doing that requires native access. Minus the absolutely horrible performance that would come out of using Electron and JS for everything, I really don't feel like it would be difficult to remake the majority of what people call native apps in HTML/CSS. A lot of the native apps on my computer are basically just fancy ways to present tree-like information. Stuff like Gimp, or Blender, or a 3D game - okay, we can talk about applications. But Maps, or Youtube? I dunno, maybe I'm just old and cranky. Certainly Facebook and Reddit don't fit into those categories.

krn 8y ago
I find such things as email, maps and streaming services to be proper use cases for native applications, because they either require non-standard connectivity / caching implementations, or hardware features which are not equally available on all browser-connected devices. JavaScript and CSS should be used to enhance hypertext document browsing experience, not to replace OS-level applications where they are needed.