4 ms·
I don't like PWAs (or modern web dev in general), but at least 1) Multiple PWA can run in a shared browser instance without the considerable overheads of Elect
by waste_monk 5y ago
I don't like PWAs (or modern web dev in general), but at least
1) Multiple PWA can run in a shared browser instance without the considerable overheads of Electron apps,
2) They tends to be a lot better optimised than Electron apps since it might be accessed from a phone or other minimally resourced platform, and
3) I can still use my standard browser tools and add-ons such as ad-block, etc. - blocking telemetry and social media tracking usually considerably improve performance.
Not that it's impossible to do this with Electron, but generally speaking I'm past the stage in my life where I can be bothered working around crap like this and would rather just not use Electron apps at all.
So I have less of an issue with PWAs.
Another gripe I have with Electron apps is under Windows they generally want to run out of the user's AppData directory, which is incompatible with secure environments where Software Restriction Policies are used to prevent execution in user-writable places. You end up having to poke a bunch of holes in your security to make things work, and indeed there have been attacks targeting Electron apps such as the Teams squirrel updater mechanism[1].
[1] https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cybersecurity/microsoft-teams-vulnerability https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cybersecurity/microsoft-te...
- hammyhavoc 5y agoThanks for the well-articulated insights! I'm surprised that companies choose Electron over PWAs for a lot of scenarios that would have made more sense to just make a PWA. I really feel you on the AppData problem, glad it isn't just me. Sometimes feel like I'm becoming a luddite over it.