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HTML is primitive. I'll take an internet application any day over a browser. I long for the day when my desktop is filled with application shortcuts, instead

HTML is primitive. I'll take an internet application any day over a browser. I long for the day when my desktop is filled with application shortcuts, instead of browser shortcuts. I'm already there with android, where developers have learned that more rich, interactive and controlled experience can be had with an application instead of a webpage. I'm sure this burns with HTML developers, but it's only a matter of time before HTML is only a vehicle to direct the user to the app download link.

hvidgaard 13y ago
HTML apps do have a major advantage, namely cross platform compatibility and access anywhere - you don't need to install anything, it just runs. I vastly prefer the native app, or even just one that target a managed environment like .net or Java over a "webapp", but the they're not clear-cut better than a native app and for some applications it makes perfect sense.
Gigablah 13y ago
On the contrary, it's only a matter of time before HTML/CSS/JS reaches the same performance as a native app.
- eksith 13y ago
  I think we're mostly there already. Firefox OS is, by default, hosting applications written in HTML/JS/CSS. https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS
electrichead 13y ago
I am of the opposite mindset. I think there are just way too many apps out there and apps lack many things that HTML has - discoverability, cross-platform deploys, reusability and other things. HTML is not for every use case, and native is definitely not the hammer for all use cases. Every time I go to a forum and see the giant display to download a whole app just to see their forum, it makes me throw up a little.
- unknownian 13y ago
  I think the main problem for this decade is that HTML/HTTP aren't realtime (if I worded that correctly) like IRC or something.
  - jeffasinger 13y ago
    HTTP Long Polling, while a little bit of a hack, works incredibly well for most cases. Add in WebSockets and WebRTC in more modern browsers, and you're able to do pretty much any realtime thing you can think of (if you design a server to support it).
negativity 13y ago
Oh god. What awful, awful ideas you have. Where to begin? Okay, let's start with: How on earth will you ever know what your machine is actually doing? Do you just run around downloading random .sh and .bat files and say FTW and run them without considering what they might contain? I mean, it's not like the app market actually tells you what an app really does. All you're ever informed of is those broad, vague categories of behavior an app might engage in. GPS, Camera, Microphone, Intercept phone calls, Storage access... give them all away and run the app. Millions, if not billions of operations frittered away, on your dime, for someone elses benefit. Sounds like a great idea. Just let everyone hijack your system, and do whatever they want, and don't stop to think about who or why. ...but the EXPERIENCE, man. Just think about the EXPERIENCE! ...or you could just read some words on a page, and look at some pictures, and it stops there. You get to retain a degree of control over your machine. You pretty much know it's only doing a few simple things, and you get to use the rest of your machine for your own purposes, why not?
- astrodust 13y ago
  Have you heard of sandboxing? I guess not.
  - negativity 13y ago
    Yes, well, the concept of sandboxing is wonderful, but that's all it is. A concept. An idea. A design pattern. It's not guaranteed to be effective. Many people will go about implementing many different types of sandboxes many different ways. Yeah, browsers sandbox their active content, and mobile operating systems sandbox their apps, but so what. Why should everyone acquiesce to being continually haunted by ubiquitous background processes that are constantly monitoring their every zoom, tilt, scroll, highlight and twitch? Why?
PhasmaFelis 13y ago
Funny how most of Android site apps are basically just the website with a different skin and with the annoying-ass "try our app today!" popups on every page removed.
sebkomianos 13y ago
How about Web OS though?
- noisewaterphd 13y ago
  WebOS was by far the best mobile OS available. Unfortunately for all of us, it's just not going to survive. It did so many things right, not only with the UX, but for developers as well. So sad.

hvidgaard 13y ago

HTML apps do have a major advantage, namely cross platform compatibility and access anywhere - you don't need to install anything, it just runs. I vastly prefer the native app, or even just one that target a managed environment like .net or Java over a "webapp", but the they're not clear-cut better than a native app and for some applications it makes perfect sense.

Gigablah 13y ago

On the contrary, it's only a matter of time before HTML/CSS/JS reaches the same performance as a native app.

eksith 13y ago
I think we're mostly there already. Firefox OS is, by default, hosting applications written in HTML/JS/CSS. https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS

electrichead 13y ago

I am of the opposite mindset. I think there are just way too many apps out there and apps lack many things that HTML has - discoverability, cross-platform deploys, reusability and other things. HTML is not for every use case, and native is definitely not the hammer for all use cases. Every time I go to a forum and see the giant display to download a whole app just to see their forum, it makes me throw up a little.

unknownian 13y ago
I think the main problem for this decade is that HTML/HTTP aren't realtime (if I worded that correctly) like IRC or something.
- jeffasinger 13y ago
  HTTP Long Polling, while a little bit of a hack, works incredibly well for most cases. Add in WebSockets and WebRTC in more modern browsers, and you're able to do pretty much any realtime thing you can think of (if you design a server to support it).

negativity 13y ago

Oh god. What awful, awful ideas you have. Where to begin? Okay, let's start with: How on earth will you ever know what your machine is actually doing? Do you just run around downloading random .sh and .bat files and say FTW and run them without considering what they might contain? I mean, it's not like the app market actually tells you what an app really does. All you're ever informed of is those broad, vague categories of behavior an app might engage in. GPS, Camera, Microphone, Intercept phone calls, Storage access... give them all away and run the app. Millions, if not billions of operations frittered away, on your dime, for someone elses benefit. Sounds like a great idea. Just let everyone hijack your system, and do whatever they want, and don't stop to think about who or why. ...but the EXPERIENCE, man. Just think about the EXPERIENCE! ...or you could just read some words on a page, and look at some pictures, and it stops there. You get to retain a degree of control over your machine. You pretty much know it's only doing a few simple things, and you get to use the rest of your machine for your own purposes, why not?

astrodust 13y ago
Have you heard of sandboxing? I guess not.
- negativity 13y ago
  Yes, well, the concept of sandboxing is wonderful, but that's all it is. A concept. An idea. A design pattern. It's not guaranteed to be effective. Many people will go about implementing many different types of sandboxes many different ways. Yeah, browsers sandbox their active content, and mobile operating systems sandbox their apps, but so what. Why should everyone acquiesce to being continually haunted by ubiquitous background processes that are constantly monitoring their every zoom, tilt, scroll, highlight and twitch? Why?

PhasmaFelis 13y ago

Funny how most of Android site apps are basically just the website with a different skin and with the annoying-ass "try our app today!" popups on every page removed.

sebkomianos 13y ago

How about Web OS though?

noisewaterphd 13y ago
WebOS was by far the best mobile OS available. Unfortunately for all of us, it's just not going to survive. It did so many things right, not only with the UX, but for developers as well. So sad.