More like a "things Chrome can do in 2020".
Nearly all of these are supported by Firefox as well. Apple is slower at implementing Safari features, but most of the important ones work (prefers-color-scheme, for example).
Things you can do with a browser in 2020
171–180 of 387 posts
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
> A few things that aren't mentioned: Those and all other things listed on linked article are JavaScript-lang/engine things NOT related to browser itself. You could use such using Electron, literally "outside of browser" Try disable JS in your browser OR try to use Links [0] browser — and lets see what you can do with a browser in 2020. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_(web_browser)
The article is about things you can do with a browser, not things you can do with a browser with JS disabled. I think it's accurate. Also, all these features require support from parts of the browser beyond the JS implementation. Also, Electron embeds a web browser. Also, the ability to do things with something other than a browser doesn't imply you can't do them with a browser. This is like replying to "Places you c…
Electron embeds a HTML-render + JS-engine != web browser
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then you're out of step with what users want these days. Nothing wrong with that! But to take an example, when I hit a share button on a page I want to see the native share box, not some hideous iframed monstrosity that only works with Facebook. So I want Web Share. And I don't want to download an entire native app just so that I can receive a push alert when my food order is on the way, a web site works much better…
That’s bullshit. It’s out of step with what the companies whose livelihoods depend on advertising want to establish as the desires of users. Try to realistically justify any of those use cases listed and you’ll realize what a shill you sound like.
> Try to realistically justify any of those use cases listed and you’ll realize what a shill you sound like.
Wat? What part of the examples I gave are not realistic? I guess I live a fantasy life! Good to know. Are you arguing that there is zero use for push notifications beyond things advertising companies want? Because that’s out of step with pretty much every phone user I know.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's wrong with native app? You can delete it when you are done with it, just like you can close a browser tab when you are done with the "entire" web app you downloaded.
No uBlock, no dev console, no network tab. Completely opaque. An install step just to order a pizza. Shareable URLs/deeplinks. It's a freak of luck that we have the web, an app environment with a built-in dev console and actual customization. Just think how much it contrasts with the black box of native apps and with what large companies actually want. I'm in no rush to throw it away.
No need for ublock, the dev console is called your memory, your network tab is now something the entire os can understand, and you can even opportunistically block specific network calls.
Obfuscated javascript running in the console is no better than random apps, and webasm is going to make that even more opaque.
You are talking about features that are only needed for websites and why an app doesnt have those features, when they were directly bolted on to deal with the huge amount of complexity we've already handled in the OS.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's fantastic about native apps? I mean, I know why nation-state attackers love them - it's super easy to exploit them, and once you do, you have full access to everything in the user account (including all browser login sessions). But what's the advantage to users?
> I mean, I know why nation-state attackers love them - it's super easy to exploit them, and once you do, you have full access to everything in the user account (including all browser login sessions). Not on mobile.
Sure, true. Mobile browsers also tend not to support all these features, so on mobile, I don't object to a native app.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then you're out of step with what users want these days. Nothing wrong with that! But to take an example, when I hit a share button on a page I want to see the native share box, not some hideous iframed monstrosity that only works with Facebook. So I want Web Share. And I don't want to download an entire native app just so that I can receive a push alert when my food order is on the way, a web site works much better…
What's wrong with native app? You can delete it when you are done with it, just like you can close a browser tab when you are done with the "entire" web app you downloaded.
The problem with native apps is they only work on platforms the developer supports. Web apps occasionally have this problem too, but native apps always have that problem.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then you're out of step with what users want these days. Nothing wrong with that! But to take an example, when I hit a share button on a page I want to see the native share box, not some hideous iframed monstrosity that only works with Facebook. So I want Web Share. And I don't want to download an entire native app just so that I can receive a push alert when my food order is on the way, a web site works much better…
So that's one good use case for Push Notifications. It would take about 10 minutes of browsing to find 10 bad ones.
I would strongly advocate for browsers to strengthen the UI prompt for notifications so pages can’t do it on load. In fact, Google is doing exactly that with Chrome and I think Firefox already has.
So, no, v1 wasn’t great. But we can improve on things.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
While agree that most of these are highly invasive and certainly not a requirement, the Visibility API is actually a good thing. Apps which are running continuous scripts, like games, etc, may and should detect, when they are hidden (i.e. the tab they are in isn't the front most one) and pause. This is explicitely meant to preserve resources on the client machine and to benefit the user. On the other hand, there isn'…
I don't agree, I leave a video on, switch tabs to read something else, and now it stops. There is no way to get it to keep playing and switch tabs.
Just open a new window and leave the tab with the video on top of that window. (It hasn't to be always tabs only.)
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#179As 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.
Add service workers to the list. That's IMO the biggest atrocity allowed to go into the browser. There's currently a preference to disable this crap in Firefox.
Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020
#180Worth 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?)
Yes, it's such an obscure feature that many of the people who enable it don't even realize it... Ever since I added dark mode to gwern.net, I've been getting or seeing complaints about how my website is broken or 'defaults to black-on-white' (it doesn't). :(
Looks like we need prefers-prefers-color-scheme