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Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

github.com

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Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#161

Post by skydhash »

seanwilson wrote: post #158
skydhash wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t do that though. You write your logic in a common languages and then the UI is an external layer you switch with build settings. The thing is, yiur choice is usually c|c++. Or an embedded language like lua. RN has gone the latter route and then extend it further by using React as a DSL for the UI.

> You write your logic in a common languages and then the UI is an external layer Isn't reimplementing all your UI widgets, views, layouts and interactions for multiple platforms still a ton of work though? I'm not meaning people using things like React frameworks, but the suggestion of sticking to native only.

If you do that, then you intent to take advantage of the native framework (or a mature one like qt for some platform). They are really expansive and you can create an interface very quickly. You usually get animations, themability, navigation,… for free and you’re mostly arranging the layout and writing glue code.

Also, you usually get better tooling in regards to instrumentation and the like.

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#162

Post by port11 »

hjort-e wrote: post #124
scosman wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I try this every decade. Love the first few months for speed. Then I end up paying the price later when I want to integrate "new OS feature X" or make a system gesture/style/animation feel native. Lack of swipe for back on iOS is usually the easiest way to tell I'm looking at a web view. But it's been about a decade so I'm due...

Lack of swipe back actually isn't an indicator. Apple doesn't even follow that pattern everywhere

I see some downvotes but you're correct. For example, in the App Store feature cards swipe left only bounces the card, you have to keep swiping to close. Swipe down closes it at once. It's not that far from the usual but has always felt strange to me. This same gesture won't close Home's new accessory card.

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#163

Post by dietr1ch »

hn8726 wrote: post #56
serial_dev wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s because if a webview app experience is good, you don’t notice it, you only notice if it’s bad. A while ago saw a blog link on HN that explained how Apple uses it everywhere and we never notice it because they are done well. Of course I can’t find that link now, I summon the HN gods…

Maybe this https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2022/inspecting-web-views-in-ma... and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30648424 ? On mobile the webview app experience is crap and it's immediately obvious that an app is not native. Simply nobody asks customers how they like it. The management assumes that as long as nobody complains and the users don't leave in droves, the experience must be impeccable.

It's often easy to tell, but my concern has shifted from "Why isn't this native? It's ugly/slow" to "Why isn't this a goddamn webpage? It can't justify neither its permissions nor its space".

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#164

Post by ramraj07 »

xmprt wrote: post #96
ramraj07 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as Im concerned, Snapchat is onw of the most complicated apps thats routinely used by hundreds of millions of people. You yourself listed all the features they have. And every one of them is pixel perfect, with insane amounts of time spent perfecting the user experience of every single ome of those features. In fact, the success of Snap could be attributed to how pixel perfect the app is. And then you call it…

You kind of just proved my point. If they want attention to detail and good performance then writing native is probably better. The simplicity that I was referring to was the number of views that need to be implemented. A cross platform UI framework would help if there were hundreds of views that needed to be built consistently but for the number of views in Snapchat, I think native implementations would probably be…

They famously DID NOT have any android app for a while. Contrary to what the Emacs HN keyboard warriors might think, the world actually used predominantly iPhone as the smartphone especially among the kids in the US. Their android experience didnt really matter.

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#165

Post by array_key_first »

khalic wrote: post #77
blub wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a bad idea to put the fox (front-end developers) to guard the henhouse (great, consistent user experiences).

lol, yeah what do front ender devs know about UX. SMH…

Most of UX design for the past ~15 years has been new and innovative ways to trick users, lie without really lying, and annoy your users just enough so you can extract what ever you need to extract, but not too much such that they actually leave.

If you want to create good UX, I would look at whatever the big dogs are doing (Amazon, Meta, Google, et. al.) and not do that.

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#166

Post by myko »

port11 wrote: post #162
hjort-e wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lack of swipe back actually isn't an indicator. Apple doesn't even follow that pattern everywhere

I see some downvotes but you're correct. For example, in the App Store feature cards swipe left only bounces the card, you have to keep swiping to close. Swipe down closes it at once. It's not that far from the usual but has always felt strange to me. This same gesture won't close Home's new accessory card.

Isn't the App Store heavily webview based? Apple doesn't follow it but one of the complaints in this thread is that Apple has been overusing WebViews

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#167

Post by riversflow »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #133
jmb99 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s because if a webview app experience is good, you don’t notice it, you only notice if it’s bad. Aside from Apple’s apps (which imo are noticeably worse than the old ones, but that’s beside the point), what are some good WebView apps on iOS right now?

Yes, Apple's apps are really really bad - including the app store. I am not even sure whether that app store can be considered a stand alone app or we should call it part of the OS. A webview app is by design bad. Webviews were made for one thing - web views.

The app store is the only application that I am aware of that you can't find through spotlight search. You can search the app store directly from spotlight search, but it will never list the App Store as an app. Very annoying.

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#168

Post by xmprt »

ramraj07 wrote: post #164
xmprt wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You kind of just proved my point. If they want attention to detail and good performance then writing native is probably better. The simplicity that I was referring to was the number of views that need to be implemented. A cross platform UI framework would help if there were hundreds of views that needed to be built consistently but for the number of views in Snapchat, I think native implementations would probably be…

They famously DID NOT have any android app for a while. Contrary to what the Emacs HN keyboard warriors might think, the world actually used predominantly iPhone as the smartphone especially among the kids in the US. Their android experience didnt really matter.

So once again... why focus so much on cross platform? You're glazing Snap a whole lot but not answering my question. I don't deny that they have some incredible engineering, but that's not a reason to invest a lot into a cross platform UI framework rather than just using something off the shelf like React Native or building the app natively to begin with.

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#169

Post by rayiner »

serial_dev wrote: post #42
adastra22 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never once experienced a WebView app that I would say had “a really good experience.”

It’s because if a webview app experience is good, you don’t notice it, you only notice if it’s bad. A while ago saw a blog link on HN that explained how Apple uses it everywhere and we never notice it because they are done well. Of course I can’t find that link now, I summon the HN gods…

Apple’s app experience has also been going in the toilet for the last five-six years so there’s that. It’s like slowly boiling the frog.

Re: Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance

#170

Post by 0manrho »

noitpmeder wrote: post #118
GaryBluto wrote: post #101

I cannot possibly think of something I would want to use less. A Snapchat-developed UI framework where communication is done via Discord sounds like something carefully designed to repulse me.

Tons of software projects have moved their communities to discord. Not saying it's a great thing, but you're self selecting out of the future.

Just because everyone is doing it doesn't mean it's a good idea, or that we should just shut up and accept it. That's the non-monied part of how enshittification proliferates: "Well everyone else is doing it!" "It's the future, get with the times and deal with it"
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