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An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

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Re: An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

#101

Post by ma2rten »

shinratdr wrote: post #70
ma2rten wrote: post #36

I feel like I have just seen the future and it is very bright. This would make mobile development so much easier and open up a completely new range of possibilities. Just imagine .... - writing just one app that runs on every desktop and mobile phone out there. - apps which update entirely automatically, without any extra line of code, because they are basically just cached versions of a website. - a designer, who ju…

Just imagine... - One terrible interface for everything - Apps that update to broken versions without asking you and can't be reverted - A web designer, who knows nothing about UI design for an app let alone the specific UI conventions of each device pumping out apps - An ecosystem where it's a complete free for all. That always works out right? Yeah I think I'm going to stop imagining now.

The way I see it is this: the apps, the GUI and the underlining OS would be completely decoupled from eachother (much like Linux/BSD and Gnome/KDE). The OS would be free software, because that is what FOSS is good at (not end user facing software).

For the apps and GUIs there would be a marketplace (or ideally several), where people/companies can sell or give away for free their software. Most GUIs and apps would suck (just like most apps suck today). But there would be a few ones, which are truly great, much better than Google or even Apple could ever make them. And these would not be made by big companies, but by small startups consisting of creative people.

Re: An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

#103

Post by throwaway64 »

aboodman wrote: post #90
shinratdr wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just imagine... - One terrible interface for everything - Apps that update to broken versions without asking you and can't be reverted - A web designer, who knows nothing about UI design for an app let alone the specific UI conventions of each device pumping out apps - An ecosystem where it's a complete free for all. That always works out right? Yeah I think I'm going to stop imagining now.

All software can update. There is nothing fundamentally different between a web apps' ability to update and a desktop applications' ability to update. If you need any proof of this, just look at Chrome. Once you run software on your computer, if that software can connect to the internet, it can update itself!

there is something fundamentally different, you can choose not to update a native appp, you can also choose to run an old verion. you can also continue a native app if the creator decides its not worthwhile, or google buys them out

chrome is the exception not the rule

Re: An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

#104

Post by aboodman »

throwaway64 wrote: post #103
aboodman wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All software can update. There is nothing fundamentally different between a web apps' ability to update and a desktop applications' ability to update. If you need any proof of this, just look at Chrome. Once you run software on your computer, if that software can connect to the internet, it can update itself!

there is something fundamentally different, you can choose not to update a native appp, you can also choose to run an old verion. you can also continue a native app if the creator decides its not worthwhile, or google buys them out chrome is the exception not the rule

My point is that there is nothing* preventing any native app from including code to update itself. Over time, I believe that more and more native apps will do this. For example, Firefox is moving in that direction now.

* Except for in the case of iOS. Apple has a policy that apps are not allowed to update themselves. But there's still no technical limitation.

Re: An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

#105

Post by hammersend »

Raphael wrote: post #82
hammersend wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is possible they see their OS as being suited for one-handed devices. One of the things I do not like about Ice Cream Sandwich on my Galaxy Nexus is Google has removed the "+"/"-" buttons in most of their native apps so now I have to either use some really unwieldy one-handed finger contortions or use two hands to zoom in and out. I think an argument can be made that in many instances at least on a smart phone as…

Did you try double tap to zoom?

Yes. You can't zoom out that way though.

Re: An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

#107

Post by rsanchez1 »

ma2rten wrote: post #36

I feel like I have just seen the future and it is very bright. This would make mobile development so much easier and open up a completely new range of possibilities. Just imagine .... - writing just one app that runs on every desktop and mobile phone out there. - apps which update entirely automatically, without any extra line of code, because they are basically just cached versions of a website. - a designer, who ju…

Where were you when webOS was struggling to take off?

P.S. You might want to take a look at the Enyo framework, the one aspect of webOS that has a chance of fulfilling its potential.

enyojs.com

Re: An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

#108

Post by rsanchez1 »

nextparadigms wrote: post #11

"You can run on less expensive hardware, because you've got less technology going on under the covers. You don't have to pay the penalty of a big smart phone operating system if you're running directly on the web." That's misleading. Sure, you might need fewer resources to pull something like a simple web page. But try using web apps that are the equivalent of native apps on Android or iOS, and you'll need a lot bett…

You just need to look at the original Pre. It was less expensive hardware (by today's standards) and it has webOS with web apps, and apps on the Pre always suffered inferior performance compared with apps on Android phones with similar hardware. It wasn't until the Touchpad that webOS apps had good performance, and even then the dual-core processor with 1GB RAM wasn't enough, they needed a couple of OS updates to get app performance up to speed.

Re: An entire Mobile OS built using HTML, CSS and JS - by Mozilla

#110

Post by shinratdr »

catilac wrote: post #83
shinratdr wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just imagine... - One terrible interface for everything - Apps that update to broken versions without asking you and can't be reverted - A web designer, who knows nothing about UI design for an app let alone the specific UI conventions of each device pumping out apps - An ecosystem where it's a complete free for all. That always works out right? Yeah I think I'm going to stop imagining now.

- Everything is already one terrible interface for everything. Make a better interface. - The better companies will minimize this. We still depend on cloud services like Gmail, github et.. on a day to day basis. And they still mess it up occasionally. - There are ready designers who know nothing about UI design for each particular device pumping out apps. - Look at the linux ecosystem. I think its working out.

* I don't know what programs you're using. I think the iOS interface is great and rife with amazing UIs by both Apple and 3rd party devs that I enjoy using every day. If your devices have terrible UIs that are non-unique, that's your business.

* I rely on those services via clients that beat the hell out of the native web offering. Cloud services are an inbuilt way of life, cloud or web-based apps can go die in a fire as far as I'm concerned. They have two benefits: Developer simplicity and access from anywhere. Everything else is just downsides.

* Of course, but making it easier doesn't help. Just like with all fields, most programmers and software designers are amateur and lazy. IMO making even easier for these people to create terrible apps and making it the cornerstone of a mobile OS is a really bad idea.

* ...You're joking right? I don't even know where to begin with that one, except to look at Linux on the desktop numbers and then come back to me.

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