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Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

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Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#31

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

yesimahuman wrote: post #13

I respect them for sticking to this, but I think it's a mistake. It's clear users in general don't care about an app being pure Mac OS controls/SDKs/etc. and their claims about it being a truly superior UX are unfounded (having used both regularly, Figma disproves that heavily). With this, Sketch isn't available on Windows nor the web (until very recently it seems?). I wouldn't die on that hill.

I agree with you, and I think this is a pretty good signal that Sketch is REALLY feeling the heat from Figma, because they aren't offering a better argument besides "we're native". The bandwagon has clearly jumped off Sketch and onto Figma, and not because it's "fashionable", but because Figma is plain awesome.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#33

Post by bbx »

I've used Sketch for years but haven't renewed my license which expired in August. I still like it to create some very quick mockups (less than an hour). But Figma is the go-to UI tool now, especially for teams, but even for a single designer like me. Their development pace is insane. They just released component variants: https://twitter.com/MaxBrunel/status/1320768394153570305

Weirdly enough, in terms of performance, the Figma Electron app feels slower to me than the Figma web app (in Chrome). Go figure. But it still feels just as quick as Sketch, so performance is not a criteria for choosing Sketch over Figma. I made the full switch only recently but it's a no-brainer. Plus, it's free.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#34

Post by GeneralTspoon »

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #25
AsyncAwait wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sketch is not libre software, so there's not much difference as long as you can export.

There is a whole world of difference. Figma's servers can be down when you need it to work, developers might want to 'phase out' the function you need, or introduce some changes that would totally break your workflow, and you will be absolutely powerless to do anything about it but conform. With locally running app you control when and where the app works, and you have way more options when developer introduces some…

Not to mention sensitive design documents that must stay on-prem can't be uploaded to cloud services like Figma (I don't know if this is possible to do in Figma somehow? I've never looked into it)

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#35

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

robertoandred wrote: post #29
untog wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People uses Macs because they want to use Macs and software that takes advantage of the reliability and consistency of that ecosystem ehhh. I think if you did some analytics of “apps Mac users use” an absolute ton would be “a web browser and very little else”. I can think of very few truly native Mac apps I depend upon and that keep me on the platform. What does keep me on Macs is that every now and then I need to…

Just because you use non-native apps doesn't mean you like them. I mean, does anyone actually like Slack?

> I mean, does anyone actually like Slack?

Should I feel ashamed or something for saying yes? I hear all the bitching about how Electron is bloated, but I run Slack and VS Code all day and never have resource issues on my MBP.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#36

Post by dhagz »

xyst wrote: post #19
robertoandred wrote: post #11

Good for them staying native and not getting caught in a least-common denominator Electron hell. People uses Macs because they want to use Macs and software that takes advantage of the reliability and consistency of that ecosystem.

> software that takes advantage of the reliability and consistency of that ecosystem probably true ~4-5 years ago, but not so much today. Catalina broke a lot of apps (due to SIP?). Big Sur is likely to break even more existing apps. In one case, it was seen that Apple apps do not obey the same rules that third party developers must abide by ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24838816 ). I use a mbp at this point…

I'm 80% certain that my next computer is going to be either a desktop or a ThinkPad X1 running Arch. A lot of what I do doesn't require a Mac, and frankly I enjoy Linux more.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#37

Post by marrone12 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #31
yesimahuman wrote: post #13

I respect them for sticking to this, but I think it's a mistake. It's clear users in general don't care about an app being pure Mac OS controls/SDKs/etc. and their claims about it being a truly superior UX are unfounded (having used both regularly, Figma disproves that heavily). With this, Sketch isn't available on Windows nor the web (until very recently it seems?). I wouldn't die on that hill.

I agree with you, and I think this is a pretty good signal that Sketch is REALLY feeling the heat from Figma, because they aren't offering a better argument besides "we're native". The bandwagon has clearly jumped off Sketch and onto Figma, and not because it's "fashionable", but because Figma is plain awesome.

Yep. Our company switched to Figma and it's been leaps and bounds better for productivity. Having multiple people working on the same design file at the same time has been huge.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#38

Post by nl »

outworlder wrote: post #22
yesimahuman wrote: post #13

I respect them for sticking to this, but I think it's a mistake. It's clear users in general don't care about an app being pure Mac OS controls/SDKs/etc. and their claims about it being a truly superior UX are unfounded (having used both regularly, Figma disproves that heavily). With this, Sketch isn't available on Windows nor the web (until very recently it seems?). I wouldn't die on that hill.

> It's clear users in general don't care about an app being pure Mac OS controls/SDKs/etc. They may not put it in those terms, but they do. They can tell when an app feels 'weird' or slow (be it actually slow or just higher latency). That depends a lot on the user base for the specific app in question. The more 'casual' the user base, the less it matters. Being native also allows you to get functionality for free tha…

VS.Code users aren't exactly casual users and in the main are happy enough to use it as their main coding interface many hours per day (and yes I understand that this is HN so now there will be a bunch of people saying "I'm not happy).

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#39

Post by andrewmcwatters »

I wouldn't be proud to keep developing on Apple's platforms considering they're an utter pain these days to continue to support as well as them being outwardly hostile.

I wouldn't bank my company's existence on a another company that could not care less if I existed. Much less would I praise and bend over backwards to promote someone else's products other than my own in my marketing materials like this.

What a bizarre corporate decision.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#40

Post by soylentgraham »

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #12

This is great, but I no longer feel that the macOS HIG represents usable design for anybody. Apple's native apps are confusing and inconsistent. XCode is perhaps the worst offender. (Is that because it's okay to ship sub-par experiences to developers? ) My opinion is that Google's UX is now best in class -- things like Google Docs that are just nearing perfection that everyone seems to have no trouble with. Youtube w…

Finding specific documents from all different people/domains when you have hundreds, with obfuscated urls, is a nightmare with docs/sheets. There is zero organisation.
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