4 ms·

Why not a web app instead? Web apps are nicely sandboxed, work on every device and give the user tons of interface features they are used to. Like zoom, copy&p

by TekMol 4y ago

Why not a web app instead? Web apps are nicely sandboxed, work on every device and give the user tons of interface features they are used to. Like zoom, copy&paste, bookmark urls (each city could be a url, parameters could be query string parameters) etc.

pizza234 4y ago
Because one can have a look at the widget very quickly; usability wise, it's a big difference.
fulafel 4y ago
There are some privacy techniques the app could use that are hard for a web app. For example it could update the weather information at a fixed rate so it would not leak the usage patterns of the app.
- TekMol 4y ago
  Web apps can do that too. Google for "pwa sync background" to see how.
  - fulafel 4y ago
    I ended up here https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Periodic_Background_Synchronization_API https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Periodi... - but the browser compatbility says it's missing from Firefox which probably many/most F-Droid users are using. But maybe it's possible to use the other PWA support without the periodic sync API to cook up similar functionality?
    - olabyne 4y ago
      It is a feature missing from Firefox. PWA apps are a great compromise for webapps with some APIs from native apps, without having an entire browser packed with them
    - TekMol 4y ago
      Unfortunately, Firefox seems to generally not like the idea that the Browser is used as an application platform. A way more fundamental API they refuse to implement is the file access api. Which lets you build web apps that can open and save local files. With this API, Chrome is now a great application platform for which you can write software that can be used just like desktop software.
pmontra 4y ago
I use the web site that has proven to best predict the weather in my area along the years. Firefox with UBo on both desktop and Android. It's pinned on Firefox home page on my phone. I think that I could put in on the home screen of the phone as well but I don't care.

by TekMol 4y ago

pizza234 4y ago

Because one can have a look at the widget very quickly; usability wise, it's a big difference.

fulafel 4y ago

There are some privacy techniques the app could use that are hard for a web app. For example it could update the weather information at a fixed rate so it would not leak the usage patterns of the app.

TekMol 4y ago
Web apps can do that too. Google for "pwa sync background" to see how.
- fulafel 4y ago
  I ended up here https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Periodic_Background_Synchronization_API https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Periodi... - but the browser compatbility says it's missing from Firefox which probably many/most F-Droid users are using. But maybe it's possible to use the other PWA support without the periodic sync API to cook up similar functionality?
  - olabyne 4y ago
    It is a feature missing from Firefox. PWA apps are a great compromise for webapps with some APIs from native apps, without having an entire browser packed with them
  - TekMol 4y ago
    Unfortunately, Firefox seems to generally not like the idea that the Browser is used as an application platform. A way more fundamental API they refuse to implement is the file access api. Which lets you build web apps that can open and save local files. With this API, Chrome is now a great application platform for which you can write software that can be used just like desktop software.

pmontra 4y ago

I use the web site that has proven to best predict the weather in my area along the years. Firefox with UBo on both desktop and Android. It's pinned on Firefox home page on my phone. I think that I could put in on the home screen of the phone as well but I don't care.