I had no idea the Web Coffee API was so mature.
Subtle.
Things you can do with a browser in 2020
61–70 of 387 posts
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#62As a user, so many of these I wish did NOT exist. E.g: Push Notifications, Banners, Web Share, Contacts, Page Visibility, Badging. Uncertain about USB, Bluetooth, Locks, Keyboard Lock, and Native File System. I don't want my browser doing those things.
How about the upcoming "SMS Receiver API" and "Contacts API"? Those look absolutely terrifying, and as soon as Chrome implements it, every shitty ass newspaper that is currently refusing to display their articles in private browsing windows will refuse to display their articles unless you fork over your contact list.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#63This list doesn't include the Screen Capture API.
https://www.w3.org/TR/screen-capture/
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Screen_Capt...
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, websites that should be just documents are turning into resource-intensive applications, which is frustrating. Generally I do not want most websites using these features. On the other hand, the web as a runtime is one of the most universal platforms we have. If I run Slack in a browser, I sure do want it to be able to notify me! (Though I wish doing so felt more like the El…
It's almost like we shouldn't have tortured a document transfer system until it was able to run full-on applications.
I think there are strong Gall's-Law, worse-is-better and business reasons why a proper GUI platform could never have crossed the chasm to universally cross-platform, on-demand delivery, with no single vendor owning it.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#65As a user, so many of these I wish did NOT exist. E.g: Push Notifications, Banners, Web Share, Contacts, Page Visibility, Badging. Uncertain about USB, Bluetooth, Locks, Keyboard Lock, and Native File System. I don't want my browser doing those things.
It should be possible to turn off these features with a browser extension/plugin.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#66The credential management api is super annoying. Many websites now have a very annoying sign in with google dialog whenever I visit them and there's no way I can find to disable it.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#67... and Safari still holding out on web push - this lack is a reason many native apps get written.
I’m not sure why I read this in a negative tone, this is fantastic.
What's fantastic about a vendor intentionally ignoring multiple standards, in favor of their own walled-garden? You might be ignoring the wishes of actual users when you say it's "fantastic."
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's almost like we shouldn't have tortured a document transfer system until it was able to run full-on applications.
Would it really be better if we didn't evolve the web, and we had more OS-specific unsandboxed applications and greater fragmentation between OSes (and a stronger incentive for everyone to stick to one OS, like Windows) instead?
Yes, OS-specific applications are good, and we should have more of them. By "sticking to one OS", and apps that follow the OS's conventions, users actually have a chance to develop expertise in those apps. But the web ensures that everyone stays an amateur.
While website capabilities have evolved, the web UI itself has regressed. No major UI paradigms have emerged from the web since the 90s (except tabs, arguably). URLs, bookmarks, cmd-F Find, and clicking on links still dominate, except they work worse now compared to the 90s, because of SPAs and lazy loading.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's almost like we shouldn't have tortured a document transfer system until it was able to run full-on applications.
Would it really be better if we didn't evolve the web, and we had more OS-specific unsandboxed applications and greater fragmentation between OSes (and a stronger incentive for everyone to stick to one OS, like Windows) instead?
As opposed to a strong incentive to stick to Chrome?
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#70Worth noting is that "prefers-color-scheme" works in all major OSes at this point, mobile and desktop. If your site already has a dark theme, there is no reason at all not to be integrating it this way. Even if you don't have a dark theme already, it's a huge value-add..... (@dang?)
Fascinating, they're still Win95's ability to customize color schemes.