Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used • Hacker News Board

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#151

Post by CydeWeys » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:02 PM UTC

ma2rten wrote: post #136

jefftk wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top comment when the GP comment was posted was the thread starting with "Typical Google move ... now I suppose my Chromebook will be soon a useless brick." (Disclosure: I work at Google, speaking only for myself)

Any comment can be the top comment because the time decay factor dominates until there is a comment that amassed a certain amount of upvotes.

It's 5 hours old now, so the time decay factor is insignificant, and it's still the second highest comment.

So it's not accurate to say that no one is complaining about this, or that the response was not to opinions that are actually held.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#152

Post by CydeWeys » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:03 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #149

dessant wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have a Chromebook. It was listed on the models that would support Android app, this support never came (it's still "planned", 2 years later...) You should be eligible for a refund, file a complaint with consumer protection. In most places it is illegal to mislead customers and market products with planned features that you do not deliver on in a reasonable timeframe.

“file a complaint with consumer protection” Can you clarify what you mean with this? What consumer protection?

It would be highly jurisdiction-dependent.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#153

Post by CydeWeys » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:04 PM UTC

NullPrefix wrote: post #148

Steltek wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't the PS3 refund only like $10-$20? Why even go through that effort for a Chromebook?

It's not about the $10-$20, it's about sending the message.

Costing a many billion dollar multinational corporation $10-20 isn't sending a message at all. It's just a waste of your time.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#154

Post by toomuchtodo » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:05 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #119

crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

A chrome app that people use? There’s a lot of hobby flight controllers which are/were programmed using a Chrome app. There was no alternative. And since most web apps can’t get access to the host USB (webUSB seems to exist, but still seems pretty nascent), that whole system is probably going to have to find a new app deployment method.

These should probably be native mobile apps, no?

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#155

Post by dev-il » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:05 PM UTC

wazoox wrote: post #13

Typical Google move. I have a Chromebook. It was listed on the models that would support Android app, this support never came (it's still "planned", 2 years later...). Support for Linux apps didn't come, either. So now I suppose my Chromebook will be soon a useless brick. Thanks, Google. Got the message, I'll never use any product with your badge again.

"Chromebook" should be renamed to "Chromebrick"

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#156

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:06 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #119

crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

A chrome app that people use? There’s a lot of hobby flight controllers which are/were programmed using a Chrome app. There was no alternative. And since most web apps can’t get access to the host USB (webUSB seems to exist, but still seems pretty nascent), that whole system is probably going to have to find a new app deployment method.

[deleted]

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#157

Post by zelly » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:10 PM UTC

ancarda wrote: post #46

guggle wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed... I don't even consider using their development tools now.

Just the other day I met a guy who told me he wouldn't consider learning and using Go because Google will cancel it eventually What a reputation issue they're developing. Even if their tech is pretty good, there's a growing number of people who won't even consider it (myself included)

Very reasonable concern. I like Go, but it's not sufficiently better than its competitors (Java/C#) to be professionally maintained or adopted. Then there's the huge chunk of people who use it just because of the Google halo effect. My guess, Go and its ecosystem would end up floundering like other ex-corporate languages like Object Pascal or Objective-C. Even more so if Google abandons Go because they made a brand new replacement.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#158

Post by jmull » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:11 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

I agree that this was a terrible idea from day one and am glad it has been killed and will soon be buried.

But this: "typical Google cancelling a product" is still an important message.

Google routinely floats out APIs, services, and platforms and encourages their use despite fatal flaws that mean they are doomed from day one. And some developers fall for it and later have to pay the price. Hopefully, the repeated warning will minimize this. Think of the devs right now that are mistaking Flutter for a platform that will last.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#159

Post by CydeWeys » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:12 PM UTC

laurent123456 wrote: post #129

crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

As often, the top HN comment is an answer to comments that very few people made. Almost nobody complains here, and even the article states that Chrome Apps weren't widely used.

This is not accurate in this case and feels like a response that is dismissive of but does not actually address the points made by the person you're responding to.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#160

Post by rkeene2 » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #154

falcolas wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A chrome app that people use? There’s a lot of hobby flight controllers which are/were programmed using a Chrome app. There was no alternative. And since most web apps can’t get access to the host USB (webUSB seems to exist, but still seems pretty nascent), that whole system is probably going to have to find a new app deployment method.

These should probably be native mobile apps, no?

On a Chromebook ? The Android on ChromeOS stuff isn't as complete and has a hard time seeing e.g. USB peripherals.

I've reached out to the people I work with at Google to see what this will mean for my Chrome Application [0], which is a Certificate Provider [1] that talks to a Google provided ChromeOS Application [2]. Technically I can turn it into a Chrome extension now that there's built-in PIN prompting support, but the built-in SSH Agent will suffer as a result, since it will have no way to prompt for a PIN.

[0] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cackey/lpimdiknnpi... [1] https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/certificateProvider [2] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/smart-card-connect...