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Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

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Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#191

Post by ZoomZoomZoom »

robin_reala wrote: post #183
ZoomZoomZoom wrote: post #144

I'm going to be slammed for using these two words, but for any real work you need to have as few layers of indirection between the user and the machine as possible, and this includes the UX, in the sense that it is tailored to the fastest and most comfortable data entry and process monitoring. I don't see any `web first` or Electron solution replacing Reaper or Blender in a foreseeable future. One exception I'm intri…

Figma is pretty much replacing all web design applications precisely because it’s leveraging web tech for collaboration on a single document at the same time.

I think we can safely exclude 'collaborative web design' applications from the set of hardcore tools not gaining much from being implemented as web apps for understandable reasons.

Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#192

Post by com2kid »

hootbootscoot wrote: post #133
ghettoimp wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree with the idea that lower level is better. Yes, lower-level languages allow for programs with good performance, small executables, and so forth. There are many domains where they are clearly the way to go. But higher-level languages allow for better safety, tremendous productivity, portability, exploration, and flexibility. If you keep your data in an SQL database and you can easily query and updat…

How about "being aware of what your abstraction layers cost, and being palpably aware of every needless contortion you create" know what everything does. call if from up on high? fine, but only if you literally can trace that high level call down to the machine code it emits :D C compiler suites can do that no problem "gcc -S mycode.c" For an appropriate dose of humility, so that you know that I'm not elevating mysel…

Sqlite is inanely well tested, incredibly lightweight, and will be more reliable than the vast vast majority of flat file configuration systems.

Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#193

Post by PopeDotNinja »

burke wrote: post #150
ZoomZoomZoom wrote: post #144

I'm going to be slammed for using these two words, but for any real work you need to have as few layers of indirection between the user and the machine as possible, and this includes the UX, in the sense that it is tailored to the fastest and most comfortable data entry and process monitoring. I don't see any `web first` or Electron solution replacing Reaper or Blender in a foreseeable future. One exception I'm intri…

As an Electron hater, I’m constantly surprised at just how much VS Code doesn’t suck.

My personal evolution has gone from Sublime Text 3 to Atom to VS Code to Sublime Text 3. I've never been a heavy plugin user, mainly sticking to code highlighting. The thing I really like is speed. Sublime Text rarely chokes on me. I love being able to type `cat some_one_gigabyte_file | subl` and getting it to open up with little difficulty. VS Code chokes on files of non-trivial size, and that was the thing I liked about it the least.

For anyone wondering why I'd open up a 1 GB file in a text editor, I guess the answer is largely because it's convenient. Big log file? No problem. Huge CSV? No problem. Complete list of AWS pricing for every product in every region stored as JSON? No problem.

Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#194

Post by alkonaut »

sime2009 wrote: post #180
ZoomZoomZoom wrote: post #144

I'm going to be slammed for using these two words, but for any real work you need to have as few layers of indirection between the user and the machine as possible, and this includes the UX, in the sense that it is tailored to the fastest and most comfortable data entry and process monitoring. I don't see any `web first` or Electron solution replacing Reaper or Blender in a foreseeable future. One exception I'm intri…

OnShape ( https://www.onshape.com/ ) offers professional level CAD which runs in a browser. Works great.

So is Autodesk Fusion. But you won't see Autocad stop selling their desktop software. People don't buy extreme rigs to use for production, and then trade even 5% of the perf for convenience.

Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#195

Post by SubiculumCode »

alasdair_ wrote: post #129

There are still a lot of fields where performance matters. This is especially true with apps that need low latency, like most games. Something like Stadia may be fine for a casual gamer but it still feels laggy to many, especially those used to gaming at 144Hz+ with almost zero input lag and gsync. VR is another area where native desktop is still superior. Then there is anything that is dealing with a lot of local da…

Also from a security standpoint, it seems to me that having all apps work in the browser is creating single points of failure.

Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#197

Post by nakodari »

I am running a native desktop app Jumpshare (https://jumpshare.com), a remote working communication tool that helps you share your work and ideas through instantly shareable links. Basically, it combines video recording, screenshot capture, and file sharing - all in one app. This is not something you can build using a modern browser or Electron because it does not have tight integration with the operating systems.

Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#198

Post by Harrrr »

dialamac wrote: post #188
Harrrr wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a noob question, but how do proprietary apps (IE: Slack) make it onto the AUR without having an official binary?

There’s nothing to really block much on the aur. There are some guidelines in naming and no duplicates, no maliciousness etc that are enforced, but that’s it. But anyone can upload a build script (PKGBUILD) for anything. If you want to see how it’s done search the package name and AUR and you can see the build script right on the website.

TIL! Thank you :)

Re: Ask HN: Is there still a place for native desktop apps?

#200

Post by pbhjpbhj »

feifan wrote: post #88

IMO desktop apps aren’t quite equivalent to native apps. Native apps look and behave in a consistent way. They have • Familiar UI primitives: - Controls and chrome are in the same place - Font sizes are the same across apps - Consistent icons and button shapes • Support standard keyboard shortcuts (including obscure ones that developers re-implementing these UIs might not know about) - All the Emacs-style keybindings…

Consistency is maybe overrated?

I purposefully make my FF unlike the other apps on my system. I use a couple of workarounds to prevent OS level keybinds from working in some apps. Sometimes a completely purpose made UI is better, sometimes.

In general, consistency [in desktop UI] is good, but there are good reasons to break it.

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