4 ms·

> but trying to save data required hosting it somewhere With the File System Access API, webpages nowadays can read and write local files just like desktop app

by mg 16d ago

> but trying to save data required hosting it somewhere With the File System Access API, webpages nowadays can read and write local files just like desktop applications: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/web-apis/file-system-access https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/web-apis/file... Try this text editor for example: https://googlechromelabs.github.io/text-editor/ https://googlechromelabs.github.io/text-editor/ It works nicely on Desktop and Mobile.

pspeter3 16d ago
My dream is that you could write to Google Drive or iCloud Drive transparently too if the browser allows you to
- jg0r 16d ago
  I believe you are able to connect to a Google Drive account with a purely client side site via google oauth and then using the Google Drive rest api. There was an article in particular that I liked that walked through it. Let me see if I can find it
  - Lord_Zero 16d ago
    Yes but Google OAuth is a nightmare if you want to "publish" your client so that anyone can use it. If only you use it, you can add yourself as a test user. Just know your access token expires super fast and you will have to frequently re-auth. Its crazy annoying.
- realPubkey 16d ago
  This is possible with RxDB, you can sync from browser to google drive or ms onedrive
emaro 16d ago
*In Chrome.
- simongray 16d ago
  That file editor seems to work in Firefox. I just tested the save/open functionality.
  - maelito 16d ago
    It just downloaded the file on my firefox.
  - tbrockman 16d ago
    It's not using the File System Access API, on Firefox it uses <input type="file"> for file-picking, and the save just downloads it. It's not synchronizing anything with your filesystem.
    - simongray 16d ago
      I see. Thanks for enlightening me.
    - whizzter 16d ago
      Iirc the File System Access API should always originate File objects from an input picker so that the user selects the file to be opened and not give more access to apps than users allows?
    - bithammerthunde 16d ago
      Do you know the reason for that? The File System API does seem to be well supported on Firefox: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System_API#browser_compatibility https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System...
      - mg 16d ago
        Firefox unfortunately does not support the File System Access API. You can try by calling the most fundamental function, the one that asks the user to select a file: window.showOpenFilePicker() What Firefox supports is a "File System API" which creates something similar to the other old ways of storing data in a browser, like cookies and indexeddb. You cannot use it to edit normal files on your disk. This is my main gripe with Firefox. They force their users to either store everything in the cloud or go through the arcane "download" workflow where you have to manually save files.
darkvertex 16d ago
Even better how about a fully functional VSCode: https://vscode.dev https://vscode.dev The File System Access API makes it possible.
rtvn83 15d ago
it's not only about saving data but easily sharing too. I think the capsule file is great for sharing one's work without the hassle of hosting.
- cosmic_cheese 15d ago
  Ease of backup too. One of the issues I take with browsers allowing web apps to save data locally is that they don’t also expose a way to easily locate the data in the filesystem or export it, and to my knowledge on-disk format isn’t standardized and so portability between browsers is also a concern. The effect of this is that unless the user uses migration assistants or similar when upgrading to a new computer is that they’ll lose all local web app data. To me to this feels like a serious problem but when it’s brought up it tends to be hand waved away.

by mg 16d ago

pspeter3 16d ago

My dream is that you could write to Google Drive or iCloud Drive transparently too if the browser allows you to

jg0r 16d ago
I believe you are able to connect to a Google Drive account with a purely client side site via google oauth and then using the Google Drive rest api. There was an article in particular that I liked that walked through it. Let me see if I can find it
- Lord_Zero 16d ago
  Yes but Google OAuth is a nightmare if you want to "publish" your client so that anyone can use it. If only you use it, you can add yourself as a test user. Just know your access token expires super fast and you will have to frequently re-auth. Its crazy annoying.
realPubkey 16d ago
This is possible with RxDB, you can sync from browser to google drive or ms onedrive

emaro 16d ago

*In Chrome.

simongray 16d ago
That file editor seems to work in Firefox. I just tested the save/open functionality.
- maelito 16d ago
  It just downloaded the file on my firefox.
- tbrockman 16d ago
  It's not using the File System Access API, on Firefox it uses <input type="file"> for file-picking, and the save just downloads it. It's not synchronizing anything with your filesystem.
  - simongray 16d ago
    I see. Thanks for enlightening me.
  - whizzter 16d ago
    Iirc the File System Access API should always originate File objects from an input picker so that the user selects the file to be opened and not give more access to apps than users allows?
  - bithammerthunde 16d ago
    Do you know the reason for that? The File System API does seem to be well supported on Firefox: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System_API#browser_compatibility https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System...
    - mg 16d ago
      Firefox unfortunately does not support the File System Access API. You can try by calling the most fundamental function, the one that asks the user to select a file: window.showOpenFilePicker() What Firefox supports is a "File System API" which creates something similar to the other old ways of storing data in a browser, like cookies and indexeddb. You cannot use it to edit normal files on your disk. This is my main gripe with Firefox. They force their users to either store everything in the cloud or go through the arcane "download" workflow where you have to manually save files.

darkvertex 16d ago

Even better how about a fully functional VSCode: https://vscode.dev https://vscode.dev The File System Access API makes it possible.

rtvn83 15d ago

it's not only about saving data but easily sharing too. I think the capsule file is great for sharing one's work without the hassle of hosting.

cosmic_cheese 15d ago
Ease of backup too. One of the issues I take with browsers allowing web apps to save data locally is that they don’t also expose a way to easily locate the data in the filesystem or export it, and to my knowledge on-disk format isn’t standardized and so portability between browsers is also a concern. The effect of this is that unless the user uses migration assistants or similar when upgrading to a new computer is that they’ll lose all local web app data. To me to this feels like a serious problem but when it’s brought up it tends to be hand waved away.