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Things you can do with a browser in 2020

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Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#191

Post by ohbleek »

Igelau wrote: post #146
untog wrote: post #79

Earlier 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 never liked the idea until I started using a browser based pomodoro timer and I enabled the desktop notifications, it's been a useful feature. Now, I'm wondering if there are other benefits I've been missing out on since I have always disabled desktop notifications by default.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#192

Post by BenjiWiebe »

Igelau wrote: post #146
untog wrote: post #79

Earlier 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.

Is it not standard practice for browsers to prompt about push notifications? When I see the prompt I choose no, and don't ever see notifications.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#193

Post by saagarjha »

deadmutex wrote: post #169
saagarjha wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a job for safe area insets.

Thanks! I did not know about these before. It looks like a step in the right direction. Though what would be the next step? It seems like there would still the complexity of laying out all the controls/HUD (or other visual elements) in the game.

Well, it's not going to fix the layout for you, but it'll ensure that it won't end up under a curve of the screen or behind some UI protrusion.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#194

Post by Elv13 »

anoncake wrote: post #150
angelbroz wrote: post #76

Picture-in-Picture works great for Facebook videos, FB stops playing videos when the window is not focused, so this feature it's amazing :D

It's a hack that shouldn't even be necessary. It's none of FB's business whether its window is focussed.

In AwesomeWM (a linux window manager), we have APIs to lie to windows. Telling youtube it is in fullscreen mode when it isn't is very useful. A lot of websites have much better fullscreen / mobile modes.

(disclaimer, I am one of the dev)

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#195

Post by untog »

taeric wrote: post #181
untog wrote: post #79

Earlier 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…

I prefer copying the link to the page I'm on to share. No popups, native or otherwise. Similarly, I like not having an app running so that you could just send me a text. Sms is bad for security, but great see sending short notifications. Almost better, as it is so limited.

> Almost better, as it is so limited.

Except that with web push the block button is two taps away. Once I’ve given away my phone number that’s it, it can be sent to anyone, I can receive messages from anywhere.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#196

Post by AgentME »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #69
AgentME wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Chrome is open-source, cross-platform, built on open standards, securely sandboxes code run inside it, and it's interoperable with other web browsers. Considering operating systems and web browsers as app platforms, I think it's better and safer for people to use apps on app platforms that are built on open standards, that are able to freely run on many and free-and-open-source devices, and that securely sandbox apps so they don't have full access to people's data by default. (Android comes close to meeting these criteria, but my main complaints would be the difficulty in running Android apps on non-Android devices, the fact that apps are harder to run than visiting a URL, the lack of alternate implementations of the platform, Google's full control over the platform APIs, and Google's de-facto control over distributing apps.)

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#197

Post by monkin »

untog wrote: post #79
rkagerer wrote: post #28

As 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.

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…

> Then you're out of step with what users want these days.

"Developers" or average Joe's? Most people I know don't know what push notifications are. RSS? "Some kind of gov agency?". Sharing? "Facebook button!". And, no, they aren't idiots, they just don't care and see any of that. ;)

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#198

Post by myself248 »

scubbo wrote: post #187
untog wrote: post #79

Earlier 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…

This is such an important realization. I, too, personally wish most of those features didn't exist. But I acknowledge that I am in the minority.

Wishing isn't the point for me. A lot of us were taught a particular security model, and then that changed silently, and now we might make bad decisions because of it.

I wish I could at least control these things. I'd like to turn them all off and see what happens to the modern web, and at least understand what I'm allowing when I turn them back on.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#199

Post by kodablah »

choward wrote: post #104
geofft wrote: post #86

A few things that aren't mentioned: - Web MIDI - access digital keyboards/synthesizers. I believe in some browsers there's no prompt, unlike Web USB. - Screen sharing via getDisplayMedia, analogous to getUserMedia for cameras. - WebRTC, peer-to-peer connections. - Security keys (WebAuthn), specific support for cheap ($10-$50 depending on features) devices that do second-factor login to websites. Importantly, these de…

Is WebRTC really peer-to-peer if you need a server?

A while back I wrote a screen sharer that uses WebRTC and Gun.js for signaling [0]. Nowadays you could use IPFS's JS lib to do this (or webtorrent even). Now if both people are behind a restrictive NAT or something, you do need a TURN server.

0 - https://myscreen.live

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#200

Post by ken »

TheRealPomax wrote: post #83
rkagerer wrote: post #28

As 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.

Then turn them off. All these things landed because users _do_ use them. I 100% want web share, page visibility, usb, and native file system, for instance, because the browser has become a convenient replacement for a bunch of playgroup/PoC/testbed applications that I might have used 10 years ago.

First of all, that's backwards. These features had to land before anyone could use them. Users can't use them before they land, so they couldn't have landed because they were being used.

Second, how can you know if these features are widely used or not? There's been lots of technologies that have been added to web browsers over the years that weren't widely used, and were later removed.

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