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The author mainly focuses on mobile devices. I would like to add that even on desktop, native apps feel way better than their web based counterparts. Switching

The author mainly focuses on mobile devices. I would like to add that even on desktop, native apps feel way better than their web based counterparts. Switching from Google Reader to NetNewsWire, from GMail to Sparrow, Twitter web to Twitter desktop app, SoundCloud web to SoundCloud native app, are just some examples. Ideally, data synced on the web, with clients on the desktop seems like an ideal possibility to me. Or maybe its just me who thinks this way.

jpeterson 16y ago
Couldn't disagree more. I switched to Twitter web and Gmail from desktop counterparts several months ago, and haven't looked back since.
- siddhant 16y ago
  Well, you should use whatever rocks your boat. Personally, I think its a little weird that Twitter Web consumes a lot of CPU as compared to the Desktop app. As for GMail, I find switching between labels (on the web interface) very slow, if you have a ton of labels/emails. So instead of setting up Gears or something, I just started using a native app.
  - jace 16y ago
    What native app do you use? I use Apple Mail since IMO it has the best IMAP support of the lot, but archiving and filing under labels is a pain. Apple's way is to use drag and drop, which doesn't rock my boat.
    - siddhant 16y ago
      Sparrow (http://sparrowmailapp.com http://sparrowmailapp.com). Its quite literally, a godsend.
      - keyle 16y ago
        Yeah but $10? Where did try before you buy go?
        loire280 16y ago
        That's an unfortunate side-effect of the Mac app store. It's too bad, because functional demos was one of the nice things about the Mac software ecosystem. I hope demos are a feature they're working on.
        tofumatt 16y ago
        There's Sparrow Lite, an ad-supported free version that's set to release in the Mac App Store but hasn't been approved yet. Seems they're working on a non-Mac App Store version too. http://blog.sparrowmailapp.com/post/3197243085/sparrow-1-0-is-now-available-on-the-mac-appstore http://blog.sparrowmailapp.com/post/3197243085/sparrow-1-0-i...
        ptomato 16y ago
        Give it a few days, that was literally only released last night, and they're still waiting for the ad supported version to be approved. Up until then it was in open beta.
    - halostatue 16y ago
      Mailplane rocks. It's more of an SSB than a pure native app like Twitter for Mac, but it has a lot of nice little integration points with Mac OS X. It's not cheap, but it's well worth the price (its also due for a paid upgrade soon, IMO, as I have not paid anything beyond the first version three years ago).
    - cglee 16y ago
      Postbox
  - junkbit 16y ago
    ChromeDeck is pretty great. It's an HTML5 TweetDeck app in the Chrome Web Store that feels almost native. Multicolumn layout for your lists, inline video / photos, and desktop notifications with sound. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hbdpomandigafcibbmofojjchbcdagbl https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hbdpomandigafcibbm...
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Just depends. The more of the app's data and interaction is cloud based, the better web apps will be.
MrScruff 16y ago
I would say that on the desktop web apps are 'good enough' for me to prefer them over desktop apps for several reasons: - high performance hardware - mouse and keyboard - larger screen - consistency of experience on work/home machine On mobile, as I see it there is no contest. Web apps make no sense.
- arethuza 16y ago
  "On mobile, as I see it there is no contest. Web apps make no sense." Do you say that because of the expectation that to use a web app you have to have a working Internet connection? [NB I'm not trolling, I'm genuinely interested, my current close-to-launch side project is a service that allows you to build data-aware HTML5 webapps for mobile devices - these work perfectly well offline]. :-)
  - joakin 16y ago
    I would say that the main points are performance, access to hardware apis, and - the most ignored one - ease of install. There is no familiar way for users to install a web app (unless they are a bit tech savvy). My uncle adds favorites to its home screen to go to web pages, he knows that, and its impossible for him to think that a website is a website and if you add it to the home screen "turns out" to be like an application. If a clearer interface was provided in the mobile phones, something like identifying webapps with a meta tag, or something, so that the phone could know and offer the user to install the app, the barrier for mobile webapps adoption could be lowered a lot.
    - arethuza 16y ago
      Thanks for the feedback. I agree that "installing" an offline web app on something like the iPhone is a bit odd - largely because there is very little you have to do. You can just install it as a Bookmark or on the Home Screen (where it can have it's own logo etc. - like a normal app). I'm more targeting getting structured (or semi structured) data onto a mobile device, possibly make the content editable and allow changes to be sync'ed back to the server to be shared with others or collected via an export or API. e.g. I can take an Excel spreadsheet, turn it into an offline HTML 5 app, allow users to edit the data, sync all the changes and export it back out as a modified spreadsheet.
loewenskind 16y ago
> Ideally, data synced on the web, with clients on the desktop seems like an ideal possibility to me. Or maybe its just me who thinks this way. You're not the only one.
gte910h 16y ago
Has richer interactions? Yup Works across the 3-5 computers I use daily? Not really well. Really the only desktop app which does any of this well, is perversely google chrome.

jpeterson 16y ago

Couldn't disagree more. I switched to Twitter web and Gmail from desktop counterparts several months ago, and haven't looked back since.

siddhant 16y ago
Well, you should use whatever rocks your boat. Personally, I think its a little weird that Twitter Web consumes a lot of CPU as compared to the Desktop app. As for GMail, I find switching between labels (on the web interface) very slow, if you have a ton of labels/emails. So instead of setting up Gears or something, I just started using a native app.
- jace 16y ago
  What native app do you use? I use Apple Mail since IMO it has the best IMAP support of the lot, but archiving and filing under labels is a pain. Apple's way is to use drag and drop, which doesn't rock my boat.
  - siddhant 16y ago
    Sparrow (http://sparrowmailapp.com http://sparrowmailapp.com). Its quite literally, a godsend.
    - keyle 16y ago
      Yeah but $10? Where did try before you buy go?
      - loire280 16y ago
        That's an unfortunate side-effect of the Mac app store. It's too bad, because functional demos was one of the nice things about the Mac software ecosystem. I hope demos are a feature they're working on.
        tofumatt 16y ago
        There's Sparrow Lite, an ad-supported free version that's set to release in the Mac App Store but hasn't been approved yet. Seems they're working on a non-Mac App Store version too. http://blog.sparrowmailapp.com/post/3197243085/sparrow-1-0-is-now-available-on-the-mac-appstore http://blog.sparrowmailapp.com/post/3197243085/sparrow-1-0-i...
      - ptomato 16y ago
        Give it a few days, that was literally only released last night, and they're still waiting for the ad supported version to be approved. Up until then it was in open beta.
  - halostatue 16y ago
    Mailplane rocks. It's more of an SSB than a pure native app like Twitter for Mac, but it has a lot of nice little integration points with Mac OS X. It's not cheap, but it's well worth the price (its also due for a paid upgrade soon, IMO, as I have not paid anything beyond the first version three years ago).
  - cglee 16y ago
    Postbox
- junkbit 16y ago
  ChromeDeck is pretty great. It's an HTML5 TweetDeck app in the Chrome Web Store that feels almost native. Multicolumn layout for your lists, inline video / photos, and desktop notifications with sound. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hbdpomandigafcibbmofojjchbcdagbl https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hbdpomandigafcibbm...
kenjackson 16y ago
Just depends. The more of the app's data and interaction is cloud based, the better web apps will be.

MrScruff 16y ago

I would say that on the desktop web apps are 'good enough' for me to prefer them over desktop apps for several reasons: - high performance hardware - mouse and keyboard - larger screen - consistency of experience on work/home machine On mobile, as I see it there is no contest. Web apps make no sense.

arethuza 16y ago
"On mobile, as I see it there is no contest. Web apps make no sense." Do you say that because of the expectation that to use a web app you have to have a working Internet connection? [NB I'm not trolling, I'm genuinely interested, my current close-to-launch side project is a service that allows you to build data-aware HTML5 webapps for mobile devices - these work perfectly well offline]. :-)
- joakin 16y ago
  I would say that the main points are performance, access to hardware apis, and - the most ignored one - ease of install. There is no familiar way for users to install a web app (unless they are a bit tech savvy). My uncle adds favorites to its home screen to go to web pages, he knows that, and its impossible for him to think that a website is a website and if you add it to the home screen "turns out" to be like an application. If a clearer interface was provided in the mobile phones, something like identifying webapps with a meta tag, or something, so that the phone could know and offer the user to install the app, the barrier for mobile webapps adoption could be lowered a lot.
  - arethuza 16y ago
    Thanks for the feedback. I agree that "installing" an offline web app on something like the iPhone is a bit odd - largely because there is very little you have to do. You can just install it as a Bookmark or on the Home Screen (where it can have it's own logo etc. - like a normal app). I'm more targeting getting structured (or semi structured) data onto a mobile device, possibly make the content editable and allow changes to be sync'ed back to the server to be shared with others or collected via an export or API. e.g. I can take an Excel spreadsheet, turn it into an offline HTML 5 app, allow users to edit the data, sync all the changes and export it back out as a modified spreadsheet.

loewenskind 16y ago

> Ideally, data synced on the web, with clients on the desktop seems like an ideal possibility to me. Or maybe its just me who thinks this way. You're not the only one.

gte910h 16y ago

Has richer interactions? Yup Works across the 3-5 computers I use daily? Not really well. Really the only desktop app which does any of this well, is perversely google chrome.