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Because, as an Android dev, I understand that both platforms have different strengths. Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenth

Because, as an Android dev, I understand that both platforms have different strengths. Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenths of both, is basically impossible. So the only possible scenario is making interative improvements to the chrome/web platform. But: 1) That would break backwards compatibility with Android apps. They would basically have to kill Android and replace it with Chrome OS Mobile. 2) Chrome OS platform is far, far behind Android (and operating systems in general) in many aspects.

untog 13y ago
Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenths of both, is basically impossible. Why do you say that? Add some APIs to the Android browser, allow it to open apps full-screen... there doesn't seem to be much more to it than that.
- RivieraKid 13y ago
  They would basically need to recreate the Android API in the browser if they wanted Chrome apps to be as good as native Android apps. So Chrome OS would become a virtual machine emulating the Android platform. Right now, it's quite easy to package a web app into an Android app. But users generally dislike that.
- fidotron 13y ago
  That's really not too different from what it takes to package HTML5 code into Android apps already, with the same result of apps with UIs that feel foreign to the system. The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this.
  - untog 13y ago
    The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. I'd argue that is because the functionality isn't there to make it competitive. So the Chrome Mobile team isn't really swimming against the tide, they're... whatever you do when you put things in the sea to adjust tidal flow. Mozilla, too. I have a Firefox OS phone on my desk and while it's far from ready for end users, it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML.
    - kllrnohj 13y ago
      > it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML. That statement right there is the single biggest problem that web faces. You still have to qualify it with impressive for HTML. Because the bar for HTML is just so, sooooo low compared to native. On desktop it kind of works because performance really isn't a problem - you've got boatloads of CPU & RAM to just throw at it and nobody expects 60fps. On mobile it's the exact opposite. Web isn't a viable platform for app development until people start saying "that's impressive" without the "for HTML" qualifier. And that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
  - jonknee 13y ago
    > The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this. That's quite a statement. The average Android app is already a UI nightmare that feels foreign to the system, I don't see how HTML is going to be somehow worse (especially when there would be a full set of HTML5 components to use).
    - coldtea 13y ago
      >The average Android app is already a UI nightmare that feels foreign to the system, I don't see how HTML is going to be somehow worse Well, it's gonna be worse by being even more foreign, feeling even more foreign (what's with custom components re-created for HTML5) and slower. Actually, it's not a hypothetical: you can already check "wrapped in native" HTML5 apps and proper native apps, and the former do feel inferior, unless the developers have put tons of effort in them (and still, they are not able to do cpu-intensive things that native apps do, from live video filters to audio stuff). Of course that might still be OK for simple apps, todo lists, glorified web clients, etc. But those are not what will drive mobile forward, it's just the lowest common denominator.
    - RivieraKid 13y ago
      But there are also apps that are pretty slick and that's more and more common. It's quite easy to make sure your app will have 60 FPS most of the time on modern devices.

untog 13y ago

Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenths of both, is basically impossible. Why do you say that? Add some APIs to the Android browser, allow it to open apps full-screen... there doesn't seem to be much more to it than that.

RivieraKid 13y ago
They would basically need to recreate the Android API in the browser if they wanted Chrome apps to be as good as native Android apps. So Chrome OS would become a virtual machine emulating the Android platform. Right now, it's quite easy to package a web app into an Android app. But users generally dislike that.
fidotron 13y ago
That's really not too different from what it takes to package HTML5 code into Android apps already, with the same result of apps with UIs that feel foreign to the system. The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this.
- untog 13y ago
  The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. I'd argue that is because the functionality isn't there to make it competitive. So the Chrome Mobile team isn't really swimming against the tide, they're... whatever you do when you put things in the sea to adjust tidal flow. Mozilla, too. I have a Firefox OS phone on my desk and while it's far from ready for end users, it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML.
  - kllrnohj 13y ago
    > it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML. That statement right there is the single biggest problem that web faces. You still have to qualify it with impressive for HTML. Because the bar for HTML is just so, sooooo low compared to native. On desktop it kind of works because performance really isn't a problem - you've got boatloads of CPU & RAM to just throw at it and nobody expects 60fps. On mobile it's the exact opposite. Web isn't a viable platform for app development until people start saying "that's impressive" without the "for HTML" qualifier. And that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
- jonknee 13y ago
  > The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this. That's quite a statement. The average Android app is already a UI nightmare that feels foreign to the system, I don't see how HTML is going to be somehow worse (especially when there would be a full set of HTML5 components to use).
  - coldtea 13y ago
    >The average Android app is already a UI nightmare that feels foreign to the system, I don't see how HTML is going to be somehow worse Well, it's gonna be worse by being even more foreign, feeling even more foreign (what's with custom components re-created for HTML5) and slower. Actually, it's not a hypothetical: you can already check "wrapped in native" HTML5 apps and proper native apps, and the former do feel inferior, unless the developers have put tons of effort in them (and still, they are not able to do cpu-intensive things that native apps do, from live video filters to audio stuff). Of course that might still be OK for simple apps, todo lists, glorified web clients, etc. But those are not what will drive mobile forward, it's just the lowest common denominator.
  - RivieraKid 13y ago
    But there are also apps that are pretty slick and that's more and more common. It's quite easy to make sure your app will have 60 FPS most of the time on modern devices.