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"Studying what Electron does for people ... What gives the app value over the web page?" I always assumed that the immediate benefit here wasn't to the user at

by mrec 8y ago

"Studying what Electron does for people ... What gives the app value over the web page?" I always assumed that the immediate benefit here wasn't to the user at all, it was to the developer who could be 100% sure what engine they were running in, and so didn't have to bother testing in multiple browsers and versions, or risk browser updates breaking their site.

zitterbewegung 8y ago
Also, its much easier to find people that can design for the web instead of designing for the desktop.
- mrec 8y ago
  Different question, no? This is about Browser vs Electron, not Browser/Electron vs Native.
damagednoob 8y ago
The author gives two examples in Slack and Spotify and it's pretty apparent why Electron is better than a browser. During screen sharing calls in Slack, it can capture the user's mouse and control a remote user's desktop. With Spotify, it can cache gigs of mp3s to save on bandwidth. I don't think either of these features are possible with a standard browser because of sandboxing, nor should they be allowed.
- TylerE 8y ago
  Nitpick: Spotify is Vorbis, and has never been MP3
notatoad 8y ago
But slack and spotify both have websites that offer all the functionality of their electron app, and people still install the electron apps. They devs aren't saving any effort by having an electron app if they still have to build the browser app.
- pragmatick 8y ago
  My colleagues do that and having apps has some advantages (at least on Windows, no idea about MacOS or linux): You can put in your startup and not forget to start it when you log in and you can minimize it to the tray.
- KozmoNau7 8y ago
  The Spotify website is severely limited in functionality compared to the Electron app. Playlist handling is lacking, and playlist folders are missing completely. Not to mention options for volume normalization, crossfade and similar things.

by mrec 8y ago

zitterbewegung 8y ago

Also, its much easier to find people that can design for the web instead of designing for the desktop.

mrec 8y ago
Different question, no? This is about Browser vs Electron, not Browser/Electron vs Native.

damagednoob 8y ago

The author gives two examples in Slack and Spotify and it's pretty apparent why Electron is better than a browser. During screen sharing calls in Slack, it can capture the user's mouse and control a remote user's desktop. With Spotify, it can cache gigs of mp3s to save on bandwidth. I don't think either of these features are possible with a standard browser because of sandboxing, nor should they be allowed.

TylerE 8y ago
Nitpick: Spotify is Vorbis, and has never been MP3

notatoad 8y ago

But slack and spotify both have websites that offer all the functionality of their electron app, and people still install the electron apps. They devs aren't saving any effort by having an electron app if they still have to build the browser app.

pragmatick 8y ago
My colleagues do that and having apps has some advantages (at least on Windows, no idea about MacOS or linux): You can put in your startup and not forget to start it when you log in and you can minimize it to the tray.
KozmoNau7 8y ago
The Spotify website is severely limited in functionality compared to the Electron app. Playlist handling is lacking, and playlist folders are missing completely. Not to mention options for volume normalization, crossfade and similar things.