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Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

david.dev

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Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#391

Post by ptx »

nl wrote: post #338
ajxs wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not every developer runs a Macbook. Like many others for my laptop I use Linux running on a cheap ThinkPad with a quarter of the specs of the one you mentioned. ( I could afford to buy an overpriced Macbook, but I like my rugged $100 ThinkPad. ) As I stated elsewhere in this thread, vscode absolutely chews up my battery power. That's a practical concern. If I run several Electron apps on my laptop I'd be lucky to get…

As someone who spent years complaining about the lack of cross-platform apps that I could run on Linux, I'm grateful everyday for Electron and for MS for using it for VS.Code. The fact that it works the same on OSX and Linux is even better.

Linux wasn't exactly lacking in text editors, though.

Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#392

Post by wutbrodo »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #167
kjksf wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How short are memories. I remember how Microsoft was vilified for supposedly having secret Windows APIs that allowed Microsoft apps to get better performance. That was mostly made up and even if such APIs existed, any program could have used it. Even at the height of corporate arrogance Microsoft didn't dream of banning developers for using undocumented APIs. Apple seems intent on becoming more evil than Microsoft ev…

Apple wants to own the user's machine. They want to make it so their computers run only the software they approve. This is already true for iOS and it's only a matter of time before it also becomes true for macOS. It's the opposite of a free system. Giving up software freedom for "ease of use" seemed like a fine deal at first but then Apple started making decisions that don't quite align with what neither users not d…

It's very weird for me to see people acting like Apple is "becoming" anything. They've been pretty consistent about their spot on the user freedom/paternalism spectrum, for at least a decade. This is in line with the choices they've been making since at least the launch of the iPod. Ease of use has never been exclusive of user freedom, and Apple's desire to control users has never been about the user: any half-decent interface is capable of hiding power behind an easy to use facade.

Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#393

Post by RodoBobJon »

kristiandupont wrote: post #204
Razengan wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's a crowd in here that restates the same three points about memory, performance and native UI about once a week. Where else would users complain about undesirable developer trends if not on a developers' community?

You are right and I am sorry, that was unnecessary. For the record, I do think there are problems with Electron, just not the ones usually mentioned. A big (huge!) problem in my opinion is that two windows can't share JS context. It's the reason why VSCode is way behind in multi-monitor support for instance.

This drives me crazy with Slack. In 2019 I can't have two chats open at once? Madness.

Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#394

Post by JohnFen »

michaelmrose wrote: post #389
JohnFen wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I don't, but even if there are no such alternate packages, that doesn't mean it's OK to use one that you can't sufficiently understand. If you can't find an acceptable package, then I'd absolutely recommend writing that functionality yourself. connecting to an IMAP server and responding to events aren't complicated tasks, after all.

This is entirely feasible but what percentage of people can write replacements for problematic tools and what tools can they afford to replace time?

Among software engineers? I would expect (hope?) that the percentage that could do this approaches 100.

Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#395

Post by wutbrodo »

leadingthenet wrote: post #283
fooey wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is the thing. The option isn't electron vs native, it's electron vs nothing.

Often, nothing is better than the Electron equivalent. Case in point, if I run Slack in Safari, it runs better than the electron version. Functionally, it’s identical, except the scrolling is now native and feels a bit better integrated in macOS. So what’s the point?

I work on AVs, so we have incredibly beefy workstations: I've never managed to make my workstation seize up, even when building and running the full AV stack. Somehow, all of my coworkers who use native Slack have developed the reflex of killing and restarting the application whenever their workstation hangs. It's beyond me why they continue to use it.

(That isn't to say that the web version of Slack isn't horribly engineered too, but it poses far less of a problem)

Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#396

Post by moksly »

JohnFen wrote: post #368
moksly wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in public digitisation and while we don’t build the apps, we’re now required to publish them if we want our name as the publisher. So I’ve had the pleasure of setting up our development account and it’s easily the works service I’ve ever had to go through, and we operate 300 different IT systems, some are old terminal systems that run on mainframe. I’m not sure why the process was so complicated either. A coup…

> we’re now required to publish them if we want our name as the publisher. That seems reasonable to me -- they're just saying that if you want to be listed as the publisher, you need to be the publisher...

Sure, but that’s not actually what happened. I didn’t go into detail with that part, because it’s fine. We’re fine with someone else being the publisher and listed as such though, but you’re not allowed to do that on behalf of others anymore.

The result is 98 muniplacities having to pay Apple developer fees, but it gets better because the app can’t be called the same thing anymore. So now there are 98 apps instead of one. :p

I mean, I guess our central digitisation agency should really just pick it up, but the bureaucracy doesn’t work like that.

Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#398

Post by jolux »

saagarjha wrote: post #269
jolux wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is it possible to write a GUI app that looks native in all common desktop environments yet?

Sure, if you write the GUI portions in the native toolkit and factor out the backend into your cross-platform language of choice.

I would argue that's not really a "first-class" developer experience from the perspective of developing for Apple products on a Mac.

Re: Electron apps cannot be submitted to the Apple store

#400

Post by JohnFen »

moksly wrote: post #396
JohnFen wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we’re now required to publish them if we want our name as the publisher. That seems reasonable to me -- they're just saying that if you want to be listed as the publisher, you need to be the publisher...

Sure, but that’s not actually what happened. I didn’t go into detail with that part, because it’s fine. We’re fine with someone else being the publisher and listed as such though, but you’re not allowed to do that on behalf of others anymore. The result is 98 muniplacities having to pay Apple developer fees, but it gets better because the app can’t be called the same thing anymore. So now there are 98 apps instead of…

Forgive me if I'm not understanding correctly, but in your description here it sounds like the problem is in how your organization functions around this, not in Apple's policies.

It's not really fair to expect Apple to resolve or work around your own organizational problems.

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