11–20 of 46 posts
Do we still need web apps? There's notorious sites like reddit who try to push you to visit their web page, so they can serve you ADS.
native apps can utilize advertising APIs, of which there's no way to turn off unless you install their $3.99 "Premium" app.
On a different note, I don't see native desktop apps going away since things like games and editing software require serious focus from the hardware. Web versions would be painfully slow.
I don't, however, need "native" apps that are themselves useless without an Internet connection.
Javascript can be as fast as C, but generally isn't in practice. For games, there is no practical portability benefit, as most of the game developers write things so that most of the game is common code that calls into some wrapper around the native phone APIs.
Can you elaborate or cite
Javascript can be as fast as C, but generally isn't in practice. For games, there is no practical portability benefit, as most of the game developers write things so that most of the game is common code that calls into some wrapper around the native phone APIs.
If you ask me it should be the other way around, do we need web apps at all? 1. Most web "apps" actually only work on Chrome, so there's that. So much for the open, standardized web. 2. Most web apps track the heck out of everything you do. 3. Most web apps are sluggish and use more resources than they should. 4. Most web apps are like Juicero, expensive solutions to non existent problems.
I think 4. applies to Native apps -- if we look at the App Store and the dreams of wannapreneurs it's mostly an App for that. Bet 98% of the apps on the App Store get a $1k in revenue/month
That ain't too bad. A handful of apps like that could let a developer live reasonably comfortably.
Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge all support WebAssembly today. It shouldn't be too long before we see native DOM support in WebAssembly, as well as some rudimentary implementations of UI abstractions on top of that.
I think within a few years, we'll see PWAs being written in various languages -- whether you're a classic JS developer or a hipster with a Go fetish -- and compiled to WebAssembly. PWA functionality is finally starting to be supported by Apple (mind you, it's terrible in iOS 11.3, but it's a start) which is great news. Web is still a questionable delivery mechanism for PWAs as they can be heavier (especially if people start compiling their own runtimes into their packages -- great opportunity for CDNs here I think!), but web delivery is just one way to do it. And it's not even that bad.
There won't be a separation between native and web: you'll have a project compiled to WebAssembly that is either delivered via the web, or via the Play Store/App Store/Windows Store. This is great news for devs and Microsoft (or any other company struggling in the mobile market because of the apps problem.)
If you ask me it should be the other way around, do we need web apps at all? 1. Most web "apps" actually only work on Chrome, so there's that. So much for the open, standardized web. 2. Most web apps track the heck out of everything you do. 3. Most web apps are sluggish and use more resources than they should. 4. Most web apps are like Juicero, expensive solutions to non existent problems.
I think 4. applies to Native apps -- if we look at the App Store and the dreams of wannapreneurs it's mostly an App for that. Bet 98% of the apps on the App Store get a $1k in revenue/month
Performance with javascript can approach native code, but it isn't as fast as it yet. In addition, it takes up more system resources (ram/cpu) making it so that you need more of said resources and more power is drawn (which is especially problematic on mobile devices, where battery is limited).
To the extent that it is possible to block ads in a browser, it is also possible to block said ads in a mobile app.