Why the future is local app • Hacker News Board

Re: Why the future is local app

#21

Post by palata » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:39 AM UTC

stephbook wrote: post #17

euroderf wrote: post #9

This really matters in map apps when you're on the road. Apple Maps is all very nice with transit planning but without a solid net connection it lies there mutely. Organic Maps (and others) that use downloaded OSM data work well with nothing more than GPS. You can get a transit plan (trains & trams & buses, and the transfers among them) without up-to-the-minute arrival info.

Google and Apple maps have an offline mode. Just select the area you want downloaded and that's that.

Have you ever tried Organic Maps or CoMaps?

Last time I tried with Google I could only download a relatively small area, and it would only be available temporarily.

With CoMaps, I can download entire countries and keep them forever. That's pretty different.

Re: Why the future is local app

#22

Post by curtisblaine » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:41 AM UTC

Didn't we say a thousand of times that local apps are not "winning" because they can't be monetized (a bit like web games)?

Re: Why the future is local app

#23

Post by palata » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:43 AM UTC

cryptos wrote: post #5

This article looks a bit superficial to me. The cloud has definitely advantages, like having the same data on all devices and it provides some kind of backup. The mentioned downsides could be adressed by better software archticture or e2e encryption.

> This article looks a bit superficial to me.

Yes it is, I totally agree.

> The cloud has definitely advantages, like having the same data on all devices

That's not an advantage for the user at all, is it?

> and it provides some kind of backup.

You can backup user data in an offline-first app. Better even: you can let the user backup their data themselves!

> The mentioned downsides could be adressed by better software archticture or e2e encryption.

The article is superficial, but they mention at least one thing that cannot be addressed this way: what happens when you are offline or have a very slow connection?

It really boils down to one simple fact, IMHO: offline-first is harder to do. It is better for the users, but it is harder to do for the company doing it, which means it is more expensive. Companies are there for the profit, not to please the users.

Re: Why the future is local app

#24

Post by dumbmrblah » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:44 AM UTC

neuropacabra wrote: post #2

This is a nice article and I genuinely agree with its premises. Would be nice to reclaim a privacy back. A bit. But this article would be much stringer if it was not generated by Claude

It’s a garbage article with no real content aside from being a superficial advertisement

Re: Why the future is local app

#25

Post by palata » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC

nonamee wrote: post #10

No, the opposite, the only app which is save is the app you never ship (stays in a cloud). No binary or source code available to search for exploits by ai.

> No binary or source code available to search for exploits by ai.

That's an advantage for the company, not for the user.

The best user experience is when the client app is open source, so that I can adapt it to my needs.

Re: Why the future is local app

#26

Post by palata » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:53 AM UTC

jonathanstrange wrote: post #20

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #12

I always wanted to do local and offline first app with optional sync, but the difference in amount of work is just stagering. Now with LLM to do the boiler plate of event logs, healing, retries and testing all that, it's finally reasonable for a side projet. And the result is great, the UI is reactive, it works in malls with bad signal, you get a no account experience almost for free... I do all my apps like that now…

The problem with native apps are the app stores and their requirements. For true cross-platform, you need to develop for 5 platforms (macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android), each with their own technology, favored programming language and ecosystem, deployment, certificates, regulations, requirements, guidelines, arbitrary app review policies, categories, etc. I'm doing that currently and it's madness. IMHO, it would b…

> it would be best if developers all over the world boycotted proprietary platforms entirely.

Note that Linux and Android, from your list, are open source.

> For true cross-platform, you need to develop for 5 platforms

I would argue that anyway, you should develop for multiple "kinds of devices". Writing the same code for a desktop computer and a smartphone is fundamentally a mistake: I don't want to slide big buttons with my mouse.

So first, you need to design the UI multiple times: for desktop, for smartphones, and for tablets. If you want a smart watch, you need another design for it. Web apps don't solve that better.

Second, if you can write a webapp that works everywhere, then you can write a native app that works everywhere. I don't see how that would be different. The problem is generally that if you run the exact same code everywhere, then it's not a good experience.

Re: Why the future is local app

#27

Post by palata » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:53 AM UTC

feverzsj wrote: post #7

There is not much choice when even your phone OS isn't a local app.

That makes no sense. How would the OS be an app? By definition, the OS is not an app.

Re: Why the future is local app

#28

Post by amelius » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:55 AM UTC

hexasquid wrote: post #14

I think some people who grew up with web apps didn't know local native apps preceded them.

I really loved the time when I could install shareware on my PC and I was sure that it would just keep working because nothing would update it behind my back; and that I didn't have to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep using it; and of course also that it would not send my data back to the software vendor.

The internet is great for many things, but also has huge downsides.

Re: Why the future is local app

#29

Post by springtimesun » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 10:02 AM UTC

This is true for me, but I wonder if it’s true for most. An alternative framing is not that apps moved to the cloud because they were faster or more convenient but that apps moved to the cloud because they became “free” by you paying with your attention or data. It’s worth reframing the hypothesis to “The future is (paid) local app” and see if you still think it holds.

Re: Why the future is local app

#30

Post by myaccountonhn » Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 10:04 AM UTC

jonathanstrange wrote: post #20

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #12

I always wanted to do local and offline first app with optional sync, but the difference in amount of work is just stagering. Now with LLM to do the boiler plate of event logs, healing, retries and testing all that, it's finally reasonable for a side projet. And the result is great, the UI is reactive, it works in malls with bad signal, you get a no account experience almost for free... I do all my apps like that now…

The problem with native apps are the app stores and their requirements. For true cross-platform, you need to develop for 5 platforms (macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android), each with their own technology, favored programming language and ecosystem, deployment, certificates, regulations, requirements, guidelines, arbitrary app review policies, categories, etc. I'm doing that currently and it's madness. IMHO, it would b…

Yeah for my personal stuff I prefer PWAs. Just harder to get good offline mode working on those.