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> makes PWAs more potent alternatives to native apps You will need to be specific about what missing API will magically make this true. Because all I see peop

> makes PWAs more potent alternatives to native apps You will need to be specific about what missing API will magically make this true. Because all I see people on here ask for are things like MIDI support which are nice and all but have been used by companies to track you. Which is why Google who is fully supportive of this has no issues adding it in without any thought to privacy.

no_wizard 3y ago
Filesystem persistence removes a whole host of complexities from applications For instance, I would no longer have to store files on a server, I could simply save them locally for the user, which makes it easier for them to have portable files, use it with other apps etc. It also reduces the startup cost of some apps. If for instance I wanted to make a photo editing app, its going to be cheaper to store edited photos back onto the users device, than it is for me to upload them to a server and store them, especially over time. It removes alot of developer overhead and it has benefits for the user (IE, the files are more portable, since they're on your machine, not someone elses). Currently we are perpetually stuck with having to re-create virtual representations of file systems and they aren't the same thing, not by a long shot.
- mardifoufs 3y ago
  But it also makes tracking much easier, right?
  - no_wizard 3y ago
    Not by default. It’s not inherent to it at all. I’m honestly not sure how it does, given the idea would be to restrict FS access to only files the user grants permissions to read / write, so they can’t write arbitrary things to the file system. There’s other techniques they can use to make it blind / privacy focused as well
jsnell 3y ago
Where's "here"? As far as I can tell, yours is the only mention of MIDI in these comments. Arguing against MIDI is a total strawman.
- troupo 3y ago
  When you ask people about "what PWA standards are you talking about" people inevitably bring up Chrome's half-baked non-standards half of which both Safari and Firefox are in opposition to. WebMIDI is just one such example. Safari and Firefox were against it. Then Firefox relented and implemented it, and ran into tracking literally the day after they released it. Others are WebUSB, WebHID, WebSerial etc. It's refreshing to see people discussing something else like Origin Private Filesystem for a change.

no_wizard 3y ago

Filesystem persistence removes a whole host of complexities from applications For instance, I would no longer have to store files on a server, I could simply save them locally for the user, which makes it easier for them to have portable files, use it with other apps etc. It also reduces the startup cost of some apps. If for instance I wanted to make a photo editing app, its going to be cheaper to store edited photos back onto the users device, than it is for me to upload them to a server and store them, especially over time. It removes alot of developer overhead and it has benefits for the user (IE, the files are more portable, since they're on your machine, not someone elses). Currently we are perpetually stuck with having to re-create virtual representations of file systems and they aren't the same thing, not by a long shot.

mardifoufs 3y ago
But it also makes tracking much easier, right?
- no_wizard 3y ago
  Not by default. It’s not inherent to it at all. I’m honestly not sure how it does, given the idea would be to restrict FS access to only files the user grants permissions to read / write, so they can’t write arbitrary things to the file system. There’s other techniques they can use to make it blind / privacy focused as well

jsnell 3y ago

Where's "here"? As far as I can tell, yours is the only mention of MIDI in these comments. Arguing against MIDI is a total strawman.

troupo 3y ago
When you ask people about "what PWA standards are you talking about" people inevitably bring up Chrome's half-baked non-standards half of which both Safari and Firefox are in opposition to. WebMIDI is just one such example. Safari and Firefox were against it. Then Firefox relented and implemented it, and ran into tracking literally the day after they released it. Others are WebUSB, WebHID, WebSerial etc. It's refreshing to see people discussing something else like Origin Private Filesystem for a change.