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Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

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Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#391

Post by ASalazarMX »

pona-a wrote: post #301
iamcalledrob wrote: post #126

As the person who designed and fought for this app, I am a bit sad about the change. The native app was by no means perfect, but it felt like a real productivity tool that was trying to be respectful of it's environment. I've come to the conclusion that native desktop apps are just not viable from large companies, even if there is headcount. The problem is coordination cost. If you want to launch new features and exp…

As much as I hate the cowboy cryptography of it, Telegram could do it. They are a 30 person team and maintain a web version, a first-class Qt desktop app, and native iOS and Android clients. I would wager that if they wanted to simplify coordination, Flutter would easily kill iOS and Android with one stone, and optionally desktop and web if they so wish, all without a 1GB web wrapper.

Anecdata: I use WhatsApp web daily, and the tab always consumes a bit more than half a gibabyute of RAM. The problem might not be the wrapper, but the sheer waste of resources of the web version.

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#393

Post by the_gipsy »

p0w3n3d wrote: post #211
p0w3n3d wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how to?

I mean I know that I can google it up but I'm looking for a working example. I found some code in github that is obsolete. Also whatsapp requires phone code and qr scan so looks like it's designed to prevent a server-only bridge.

I got it running with NixOS https://github.com/benjajaja/nixos-rk3588/tree/main

WhatsApp does work, I use it on a daily basis. The bot/bridge makes it easy to log in with the QR code. You need to keep the phone app as you need to open it at least once a month or so.

HMU if you need more info.

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#394

Post by dickersnoodle »

iamcalledrob wrote: post #257
vintagedave wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem is coordination cost. If you want to launch new features and experiments here, there and everywhere, then the coordination complexity increases nonlinearly with the number of platforms. Why not use a common library, where platform teams can update what features they use from it at their own pace? Or why not use some other tech that allows multi-platform native shipping? The company I just started at, Re…

Personally I think the challenges with this approach (having literally used a Go shared library + native UI myself): 1. The web still exists. You can't practically use a Go shared library on the web. And you probably don't want your shared library written in JS. 2. In my experience, most of the coordination is about the UI, not the underlying implementation. So the human cost isn't reduced much with shared libraries.…

>feature teams" can't easily ship native desktop UI because feature team eng only knows web...

This is the bane of a lot of the native developer's existence. Add to that the designers that only know how to use Sigma plugins and it just makes it worse.

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#395

Post by dickersnoodle »

albinn wrote: post #355
monegator wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep fighting with devs that want to use web-everything. Luckily for me, i have the ultimate power so i can just say "Firefox doesn't support that. I don't use chrome. period." But lately i had to start saying Safari doesn't support that so we would lose all iphones, or we can start investigate after we have a working solution. God damn react.

Out of curiosity, what are you proposing instead? I'm currently working in a small company (less than 4 full time employees). And while we can never support native apps for all the platforms I have been wondering what we would use instead of a web app? The advantage of the web app is that it just works, without installation, so there's no friction there. I'd very much prefer a native app, but the overhead is quite hi…

Depends on the app and how it's built. There are ways to architect native mobile apps that give a lot of flexibility, and there are even ways to build both the native and web apps that help with information architecture and UX consistency but you have to design them with that in mind.

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#396

Post by p0w3n3d »

the_gipsy wrote: post #393
p0w3n3d wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean I know that I can google it up but I'm looking for a working example. I found some code in github that is obsolete. Also whatsapp requires phone code and qr scan so looks like it's designed to prevent a server-only bridge.

I got it running with NixOS https://github.com/benjajaja/nixos-rk3588/tree/main WhatsApp does work, I use it on a daily basis. The bot/bridge makes it easy to log in with the QR code. You need to keep the phone app as you need to open it at least once a month or so. HMU if you need more info.

thanks!

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#397

Post by 72deluxe »

estimator7292 wrote: post #296
72deluxe wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too did not know anything about Horde3D when I found it and incorporated it.

You're deliberately missing the point

I am pretty sure the point was that a skilled workforce is apparent, and that the lack of such is also apparent in its output.

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#398

Post by mwcampbell »

kridsdale1 wrote: post #371
iamcalledrob wrote: post #126

As the person who designed and fought for this app, I am a bit sad about the change. The native app was by no means perfect, but it felt like a real productivity tool that was trying to be respectful of it's environment. I've come to the conclusion that native desktop apps are just not viable from large companies, even if there is headcount. The problem is coordination cost. If you want to launch new features and exp…

I made Facebook and FB Messenger for Windows. It was considered a complete failure by management as it never got above 1% of the usage by windows users vs the website.

If you're allowed to say, are you referring to the Windows 10 ports of the iOS apps that were done via Osmeta in 2016, or the earlier WinRT-native version? If the former, that was a non-starter for me and my blind friends due to deep accessibility issues, probably having to do with the Osmeta port/reimplementation of UIKit. Edit to add: And we wanted something that was easier to use with a Windows screen reader than the desktop website, particularly for Facebook proper.

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#399

Post by dotancohen »

wohoef wrote: post #148
dotancohen wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried telegram desktop to compare? I don't use whatsapp, but I have never had a performance problem with telegram desktop and I've been using it for years on underpowered machines. I usually run some variant of Debian on them.

Yeah I tried telegram. None of my contacts did though…

Yeah, I'm sure that a lot of people notice the same thing then uninstall it. It's one of the solutions to the Fermi paradox, that both people have telegram installed at the same time.

Re: Meta replaces WhatsApp for Windows with web wrapper

#400

Post by willywanker »

What passes for a desktop app these anyway is just some variation of Electron - bundle the website along with a Chrome instance and serve up the resulting 300-400 MB bundle as a 'desktop' app. Who gives a crap about keyboard and mouse focused platform UI/UX conventions. Visually and functionally there's no difference between opening Whatsapp Web and installing this - both the earlier version and now.
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