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> In fact, they're trying to encourage web apps that run on every device over native apps that only run on one platform. Not quite. They are encouraging apps t

> In fact, they're trying to encourage web apps that run on every device over native apps that only run on one platform. Not quite. They are encouraging apps that are based on HTML and Javascript, but as far as I can tell Firefox OS includes plenty of APIs that are not available on other platforms, and there are no plans to bring them to other platforms [1]. Yes this isn't necessarily the fault of Mozilla, they can't force Google/Apple/Microsoft/Opera/Nokia etc to add features to their browsers [2], but that of course is one of the problems of using the 'open' web as a platform for everything. Either you remain standards compliant with very limited features dictated by the glacial/gridlocked standards process, or you extend the standards even without the support of the other big players, resulting in apps that only work on one OS (although are perhaps easier to port, depending on exactly what is missing). [1] https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebAPI https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebAPI I see plenty of grey "not currently planned for this platform" items in this list [2] other than to release their own browser on those platforms, which brings us full circle… the most important thing is open platforms where anybody can write and distribute native software targeting them

sp332 14y ago
That list is only for various versions of Firefox, not other platforms. The vibration API, for example, is a W3C standard that is supported by Chrome for Android already. HTML media capture (using the camera from a webapp) is supported in Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.
jgon 14y ago
You are so entirely wrong here that I have to guess you are either willfully trying to misrepresent things, or you have done so little research into this issue that your better sense should have told you to not comment. On the very page you are commenting on as "grey" they explicitly mention that each API will be submitted to the W3C for standardization once they reach a point where it is suitable (ie it has an implementation demonstrating it). Every single article I have seen about Firefox OS that includes comments from a dev has seen the dev explicitly call out that all the APIs they are creating will be submitted for standardization to allow the apps to run on any browser that supports these open standards. Please, please either stop misrepresenting the intent of the Firefox OS team, or if you are honestly in error, do more research before attempting to speak authoritatively.

sp332 14y ago

That list is only for various versions of Firefox, not other platforms. The vibration API, for example, is a W3C standard that is supported by Chrome for Android already. HTML media capture (using the camera from a webapp) is supported in Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.

jgon 14y ago

You are so entirely wrong here that I have to guess you are either willfully trying to misrepresent things, or you have done so little research into this issue that your better sense should have told you to not comment. On the very page you are commenting on as "grey" they explicitly mention that each API will be submitted to the W3C for standardization once they reach a point where it is suitable (ie it has an implementation demonstrating it). Every single article I have seen about Firefox OS that includes comments from a dev has seen the dev explicitly call out that all the APIs they are creating will be submitted for standardization to allow the apps to run on any browser that supports these open standards. Please, please either stop misrepresenting the intent of the Firefox OS team, or if you are honestly in error, do more research before attempting to speak authoritatively.