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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

#311

Post by andrepd »

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…

>when I hit a share button on a page

Why would the share button be on a page? Surely this should be a native browser/OS function (as implemented km android, for instance)

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#312

Post by jakub_g »

innocenat wrote: post #299
hoseja wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could just trim the URL yourself.

Which is a behaviour I observed in most power users, but none in the non-power user group. I don't think most non-power user even want to try to trim that stuff, because they don't know what can be trimmed and what can't.

Yep unfortunately true. I recently saw an official document from local CDC in my home country. There were two URLs "find more info at" in the document:

file:///C:/Users/blabla/something.pdf

httpx://who.int/something?fbclid=

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#314

Post by equalsione »

shp0ngle wrote: post #282

> Browsers can register push notifications Oh yes I didn't notice EVERY PAGE on the planet asking me for that. (After asking me for e-mail newsletter signup and cookie consent.)

Firfox recently changed this so that you have it can only be invoked from within a button click or equivalent event[0] - I _think_ Chrome is following suit.

0 - https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Push_API

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#315

Post by frereubu »

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…

Slightly off-topic perhaps, because I think you're making a general point, but although you may want the native shared box it only works for Safari users - https://caniuse.com/#search=web%20share%20api - with apparently very little appetite for it from other browser vendors. Maybe its time will come, but I think there are lots of issues with implementation.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#316

Post by untog »

markovbot wrote: post #251
untog wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you actually read anything about either of those APIs or are you just reacting to the names? The Contacts API does not allow unrestricted access to your Contacts. It presents a picker for you to choose a contact. The SMS Receiver API is not universal access to SMS messages, it is access to one specific message and only one that contains your domain name in the message text. Both have very obvious utility to user…

> Have you actually read anything about either of those APIs or are you just reacting to the names? I admit, this is exactly what I did :( appreciate the info

Kudos for owning up to it! We all do it from time to time.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#317

Post by stickfigure »

raxxorrax wrote: post #279
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…

> Then you're out of step with what users want these days. We hear this pretty often without any evidence. He is a user, you are a user, that makes two opinions. I think the reality that companies set the rules and people just swallow what they get because alternatives require huge efforts. We also heard that users want large tiles that are all over their desktop with zero functionality.

In terms of development effort, maintaining a browser fork that merely disables these features seems pretty easy. If you think users would prefer that, why not make one?

I personally don't think it would take off, because I think most user attitudes range from "want these features" to "ambivalence". But if you're so certain, why not try?

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#318

Post by stickfigure »

cosmotic wrote: post #112
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…

Share API isn't needed for sharing content, copy and paste worked better than share api and it was around decades ago. About what percent of push notification requests do you accept? I think my percentage is 0, and the number of requests is high tens if not hundreds. I don't trust browser notifications at all. Here's some stats: https://www.businessofapps.com/marketplace/push-notification... Opt-in rates are around 6…

You only need to rely on one application to make push notifications worthwhile.

I get browser push notifications from gmail and facebook. I block everything else, but I'd be pissed if I didn't get those notifications.

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#319

Post by stickfigure »

asjw wrote: post #134
cj wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You consider them undesirable, but they are a critical feature for many applications. Specifically, chat. More specifically... support agents providing live chat support. (And for that matter, end users interacting via chat appreciate push notifications on reply) Without browser push notifications, there really isn’t a good alternative. The fact that opt in rates are close to 50% is probably a good thing! It means th…

Chat is probably one of the only functionalities that are still better served by an ad-hoc app If you need notifications, just use a native app (or even a web one wrapped in a native app) Anyway, most of these "features" are used because they are already there, remove them from the base install of the browser, distribute them as a plugin and make the devs consider that the feature could not be present and they will s…

Let's say you're using some random website and want to talk to their sales or support team. How well do you think "download this app to chat with us" is going to go over?

Re: Things you can do with a browser in 2020

#320

Post by Spivak »

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?

I wish the FUD about UPnP would finally calm down so we can finally have at least some P2P connections without the need for a rendezvous sever.
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