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Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

capacitor.ionicframework.com

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Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#21

Post by ggg9990 »

chris_engel wrote: post #7
osrec wrote: post #5

Why not just PWAs? I think the browser has come a long way, and a great number of things can now be accomplished in the browser without any additional frameworks. We built Bx ( https://usebx.com ) without any frameworks and it feels much like a native app on a phone or tablet when added to the home screen.

As soon as you like to access any sensors on the device, the PWA sadly isnt an option anymore.

Yes, but half the apps just need to maintain state without logging in.

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#22

Post by oldgun »

Love to see this happen, but how's the performance (responsiveness, memory consumptions) compared to native? I believe the main reason people are reluctant to develop web-based apps is performance, which results in poor user experience.

Any benchmarks/testings to show the performance is on par?

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#24

Post by yesimahuman »

oldgun wrote: post #22

Love to see this happen, but how's the performance (responsiveness, memory consumptions) compared to native? I believe the main reason people are reluctant to develop web-based apps is performance, which results in poor user experience. Any benchmarks/testings to show the performance is on par?

We're not building Capacitor in a vacuum, it's targeted at the existing and large community of Ionic developers that are already successfully building these web-based mobile apps today. If you need the highest performance option for your app and don't care about PWAs or Electron compatibility, you should just build a pure native app and get as close to the metal as possible.

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#25

Post by yesimahuman »

headcanon wrote: post #23

I see this is from the ionic people - What are the goals for this vs ionic? Is this supposed to eventually replace it? Will it still be pushing Angular on us, or is it possible to use any JS framework?

This is not a replacement for Ionic! Ionic provides a cross-platform UI layer for mobile web apps. Capacitor is a replacement for Cordova which manages the native SDK interaction and native app project management/tooling side of your app.

Once we integrate it into the Ionic CLI, you won't really have to think about which part is Ionic UI and which part is Capacitor.

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#26

Post by Sujan »

the-dude wrote: post #6

I stumbled upon https://blog.ionicframework.com/announcing-capacitor-1-0-0-a... last week, much more info there.

I had an early look and wrote a bit about it as well: Introduction article that touches on all the relevant bits at https://ionic.zone/capacitor/overview and an Overview of the CLI at https://ionic.zone/capacitor/cli

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#27

Post by osrec »

joshgachnang wrote: post #10
osrec wrote: post #5

Why not just PWAs? I think the browser has come a long way, and a great number of things can now be accomplished in the browser without any additional frameworks. We built Bx ( https://usebx.com ) without any frameworks and it feels much like a native app on a phone or tablet when added to the home screen.

I think there's a lot of instances you need more than is currently exposed for PWAs, especially on iOS. Push notifications is a big one. And the home screen installation on iOS (even with 11.3) leaves a lot to be desired compared to Android. P.S. Bx looks pretty awesome :)

You're right, but I see it coming soon. Service workers have just appeared in Safari, so I can expect push notifs to be there soon as well.

Also, thanks! You should check Bx in a month when we roll out the next major release which (we think) makes it even better :)

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#28

Post by osrec »

SparkyMcUnicorn wrote: post #13
chris_engel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As soon as you like to access any sensors on the device, the PWA sadly isnt an option anymore.

It depends on the sensors you need access to. An iOS PWA has access to Geolocation, Magnetometer, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Camera, Audio, Apple Pay, etc.

Also bluetooth on Chrome.

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#29

Post by Klathmon »

SparkyMcUnicorn wrote: post #13
chris_engel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As soon as you like to access any sensors on the device, the PWA sadly isnt an option anymore.

It depends on the sensors you need access to. An iOS PWA has access to Geolocation, Magnetometer, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Camera, Audio, Apple Pay, etc.

Assuming the audio happens after user interaction within what iOS consiters "one event" and/or the camera is used within a safari tab and NOT "added to home screen" (once you do that getUserMedia does not work any more).

Until iOS gets their shit together and makes it so that adding a glorified bookmark doesn't remove features, it's not a real viable option.

Re: Capacitor: Universal Web Applications

#30

Post by osrec »

chris_engel wrote: post #7
osrec wrote: post #5

Why not just PWAs? I think the browser has come a long way, and a great number of things can now be accomplished in the browser without any additional frameworks. We built Bx ( https://usebx.com ) without any frameworks and it feels much like a native app on a phone or tablet when added to the home screen.

As soon as you like to access any sensors on the device, the PWA sadly isnt an option anymore.

You're not wrong, but I see this becoming a smaller issue as time progresses. Browsers are adding features all the time and I can see this one being resolved soon as lots of devs are asking for it!
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