4 ms·

This app is a great example of why you should use electron in the eyes of some: this is Mac only. If it were electron it wouldn’t be.

friedman23 5y ago
Yep, if you were making a purchasing decision for your company and you had some users on windows or linux this app is immediately crossed off the list.
- copperx 5y ago
  And the list of Mac-centric businesses is minuscule.
- embirico 5y ago
  Cofounder here. Yep, this happens and it sucks. We view it as a hard and temporary tradeoff to be loved by few rather than liked by many.
  - ushakov 5y ago
    maybe you consider Apple’s approach with FaceTime: offer app for Apple platforms but allow joining via Web Browser?
    - aejae 5y ago
      :) Planning to release this next week!
throw10920 5y ago
No, this isn't a reason. They're Mac-only because they used Cocoa, which is exclusive to macOS. If they'd used GTK or Qt they could have shared 90% of their application code between at least the three major desktop operating systems, without using Electron.
- endisneigh 5y ago
  You don’t share 90% of code between desktop app and web with GTK or Qt. With electron you can share a large chunk.
  - throw10920 5y ago
    Yes, and? "How much code we get to share between platforms" is an extremely poor indicator of quality for any technology. GTK/Qt have the advantage of being very fast, having native look-and-feel, and allowing you to share code between platforms. Electron only has that last one. If you want to maximize code-sharing, you would use webtech for all platforms, including iOS and Android. Yet most organizations don't, because they know that that gives them a poor experience, and they're willing to expend the effort to do native ports to those platforms. Alternatively, if I'm not making a web application, I literally don't care about the fact that I could share my desktop code with it, because it doesn't exist.
    - endisneigh 5y ago
      I’m not really sure what you’re arguing. My point is that those who can’t use your app would appreciate electron, not that electron is the best.
      - throw10920 5y ago
        > My point is that those who can’t use your app would appreciate electron ...and my point is that nothing about Electron makes it uniquely able to solve this problem. Someone who can't use my app would also appreciate GTK/Qt if it allowed them to use it. Some people are also unable to use apps because they use Electron. My computer can't play some video games while I'm in a Discord call because of how many resources it uses, but it's perfectly fine in a Mumble call, because Mumble has a reasonably-performant, non-Electron client.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]

friedman23 5y ago

Yep, if you were making a purchasing decision for your company and you had some users on windows or linux this app is immediately crossed off the list.

copperx 5y ago
And the list of Mac-centric businesses is minuscule.
embirico 5y ago
Cofounder here. Yep, this happens and it sucks. We view it as a hard and temporary tradeoff to be loved by few rather than liked by many.
- ushakov 5y ago
  maybe you consider Apple’s approach with FaceTime: offer app for Apple platforms but allow joining via Web Browser?
  - aejae 5y ago
    :) Planning to release this next week!

throw10920 5y ago

No, this isn't a reason. They're Mac-only because they used Cocoa, which is exclusive to macOS. If they'd used GTK or Qt they could have shared 90% of their application code between at least the three major desktop operating systems, without using Electron.

endisneigh 5y ago
You don’t share 90% of code between desktop app and web with GTK or Qt. With electron you can share a large chunk.
- throw10920 5y ago
  Yes, and? "How much code we get to share between platforms" is an extremely poor indicator of quality for any technology. GTK/Qt have the advantage of being very fast, having native look-and-feel, and allowing you to share code between platforms. Electron only has that last one. If you want to maximize code-sharing, you would use webtech for all platforms, including iOS and Android. Yet most organizations don't, because they know that that gives them a poor experience, and they're willing to expend the effort to do native ports to those platforms. Alternatively, if I'm not making a web application, I literally don't care about the fact that I could share my desktop code with it, because it doesn't exist.
  - endisneigh 5y ago
    I’m not really sure what you’re arguing. My point is that those who can’t use your app would appreciate electron, not that electron is the best.
    - throw10920 5y ago
      > My point is that those who can’t use your app would appreciate electron ...and my point is that nothing about Electron makes it uniquely able to solve this problem. Someone who can't use my app would also appreciate GTK/Qt if it allowed them to use it. Some people are also unable to use apps because they use Electron. My computer can't play some video games while I'm in a Discord call because of how many resources it uses, but it's perfectly fine in a Mumble call, because Mumble has a reasonably-performant, non-Electron client.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]