Isn't this a throwback to the Windows Active Desktop? Windows actually had led the way to integrate webapp/webpage with the OS, but everyone hated it back then.
Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
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Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#32I know this is a prototype, but if each app is going to load in a new Firefox window, with the full chrome, no thanks. If it opens a new window without the chrome (or at least without the tabs), it might be ok.
Well, for some web apps tabs could make sense. For example, in Gmail I often open multiple messages in tabs when I need to refer to their content at the same time.
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#33So... aside from the HUD integration, which is cool, what's the difference between what they've made and having multiple browser windows open?
I assume that one major difference is that the web apps are treated as separate applications from the main browser, so they get put in their own icon on the Unity side bar, which gives them their own keyboard shortcuts and the ability to pull up just the windows related to a single webapp. For example, maybe Super+5 would be the shortcut to either activate your existing Twitter webapp window or open it if it isn't already running, regardless of whether your regular browser happens to be running or not at the time.
If you just had multiple browser windows open, they would all be together on the Firefox (or Chrome) icon and it would be difficult to distinguish them. The important part is that the name of the executable associated with a window (i.e. firefox/chrome) is no longer synonymous with the identity of the application running in it (i.e. Twitter, Gmail, Facebook, etc.).
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Win7 and IE9 had some integration, not sure if anyone used it but they are trying. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/222712/how_to_...
That looks like a copy of chrome's "create application shortcut" and is less than a tiny percentage of what ubuntu is announcing. Am I missing something?
Last time I used it, Chrome's shortcut was just a shortcut and nothing more (which launched into a chromeless browser window). Perhaps that has changed. The Windows 7 stuff integrates more deeply into the OS, so you can pin a site to the taskbar and its icon will appear like any other app, you can create what they call "jump lists" which are available on right click of the taskbar icon, and from those you can visit deep links inside of a web app.
So it's much more than the Chrome thing, but not quite as deep as this Ubuntu announce.
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#35Android was leading the way in this (best sharing between online services etc). This looks like the first other OS to "get it" and push hard to integrate with the cloud. I think in some ways this surpasses Android. Mean while we have iOS that's just congratulating itself for allowing photo uploads to twitter, meanwhile my Android phone has integration with services I've never even heard of. And MacOS and Windows... n…
I think you're a bit confused, Android doesn't do a very good job of making web apps 1st class citizens at all. Even though I don't use it, iOS does the best job there. When you create a desktop shortcut for an app, it will get an icon that looks just like all other apps' icons, it will launch into a full-screen chromeless browser that you wouldn't know was a browser at all (with a loading image, even). You can also control web apps that play HTML5 audio with the built in music controls from the multitasking pane.
Android has none of those things. I've had hit or miss experience of it even picking a decent resolution icon, and Chrome uses the favicon with an envelope behind it, so it sticks out as a second class citizen (chrome also doesn't go chromeless).
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#36I know this is a prototype, but if each app is going to load in a new Firefox window, with the full chrome, no thanks. If it opens a new window without the chrome (or at least without the tabs), it might be ok.
Gnome 3 opens them chromeless, albeit it doesn't have as deep of integration as this appears to.
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#37Isn't this a throwback to the Windows Active Desktop? Windows actually had led the way to integrate webapp/webpage with the OS, but everyone hated it back then.
Although they get a bad wrap, MS has likely been too early on many things. Things they got right: Commodity hardware, office, and directx. Active desktop put those things behind the icons of their applications making the desktop area dual purpose and thus confusing or distracting.
Given the state of HTML, the newbies inability to write proper HTML, and early browsing technology and you have a recipe for instability and system crashes.
They were too early technology wise, and also because they couldn't see entire application experiences being delivered that way.
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#38Android was leading the way in this (best sharing between online services etc). This looks like the first other OS to "get it" and push hard to integrate with the cloud. I think in some ways this surpasses Android. Mean while we have iOS that's just congratulating itself for allowing photo uploads to twitter, meanwhile my Android phone has integration with services I've never even heard of. And MacOS and Windows... n…
I think you're a bit confused, Android doesn't do a very good job of making web apps 1st class citizens at all. Even though I don't use it, iOS does the best job there. When you create a desktop shortcut for an app, it will get an icon that looks just like all other apps' icons, it will launch into a full-screen chromeless browser that you wouldn't know was a browser at all (with a loading image, even). You can also…
I think you might be missing the point. Android does a great job of integrating data from the cloud with the operating system. An example is the Google Music player streams your music from the cloud and integrates the player controls with Android on the lockscreen, in the widget, in the status bar etc. The demo video from Canonical shows this kind of integration with last.fm. Nobody is saying Android or Ubuntu is perfect or whatever but there are similarities to what Android does and what Canonical is doing here.
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#39Android was leading the way in this (best sharing between online services etc). This looks like the first other OS to "get it" and push hard to integrate with the cloud. I think in some ways this surpasses Android. Mean while we have iOS that's just congratulating itself for allowing photo uploads to twitter, meanwhile my Android phone has integration with services I've never even heard of. And MacOS and Windows... n…
I think you're a bit confused, Android doesn't do a very good job of making web apps 1st class citizens at all. Even though I don't use it, iOS does the best job there. When you create a desktop shortcut for an app, it will get an icon that looks just like all other apps' icons, it will launch into a full-screen chromeless browser that you wouldn't know was a browser at all (with a loading image, even). You can also…
I don't just want to be able to open webapps on my phone with a shortcut, I want real integration. I'm sometimes not connected to the Internet so I like to have my data offline, but I like to be able to get it online quickly. Android does this very well. Share intents, music player integration, it's just a very slick offline to online seamless system.
Re: Introducing Ubuntu Web Apps: setting the web free of the browser
#40Android was leading the way in this (best sharing between online services etc). This looks like the first other OS to "get it" and push hard to integrate with the cloud. I think in some ways this surpasses Android. Mean while we have iOS that's just congratulating itself for allowing photo uploads to twitter, meanwhile my Android phone has integration with services I've never even heard of. And MacOS and Windows... n…
I wouldn't say "first other OS to get it". Jolicloud has been doing this kind of integration for awhile.